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TECUN UMAN, Guatemala – Latest news from a caravan of migrants from Central America in the hope of reaching the United States (all local times):
1:55 p.m.
Cristian, a 34-year-old cell phone repairer from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, says he wants to join the United States to work there.
He refused to give his family name because he had been threatened by gang members who had asked him to pay 2,000 lempiras, about $ 83 a month, to protect himself. That would be about a fifth of his income. He closed his small business instead. He can not support his four daughters with the $ 450 he earns each month.
Cristian, one of the caravan's informal leaders, estimated that about 30% of migrants wanted to apply for refugee status in Mexico. Others want to reach the United States like him.
"Honestly, I want to go to the States to contribute to this country, do any kind of work, pick up trash," he said.
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1:34 p.m.
The head of the Mexican Federal Police said his primary goal was to prevent a violent border crime committed by some 3,000 migrants trying to enter through Guatemala.
Manelich Castilla told Foro TV that migrants will enter in an orderly manner.
"It will be in conditions that have been said from the beginning: orderly, with established procedures, never by violence or force," said Castilla of the Mexican border town of Ciudad Hidalgo.
Police deployed pepper spray after migrants tried to make their way through the Mexican side.
Some migrants now form lines on the bridge, while others sit and prepare to wait a long time.
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12:55
In a mass caravan, Central American migrants clashed with the Mexican riot police guarding a border post at the southern border of the country.
About 50 migrants managed to make their way. The others withdrew after the police released pepper spray. Some in the caravan threw stones.
After the police detained the migrants, they closed the border again.
A federal police officer used a loudspeaker to address the masses, saying, "We need you to end the aggression."
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12:10
Migrants in a caravan crossing Central America have broken the gates of a border post and are heading towards a bridge to Mexico.
After arriving on Friday at the high yellow metal fence, some climbed on and offered military jeeps to the United States.
The young men started shooting hard on the fence and finally managed to demolish it.
Men, women and children then rushed to the bridge, about 137 meters away.
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11:30 am
Migrants in a mass caravan chant this phrase "we are going to go one way or another" as they head for a bridge on the border between Guatemala and Mexico.
The caravan of disorganized women, men and children headed to the border post on Friday morning.
They arrived to a closed metal door where two military jeeps were parked and where the Guatemalan police in riot gear looked silently.
The migrants also chanted: "We are not smugglers, we are immigrants."
Dozens of Mexican policemen were on deck and hundreds of others at the back.
The Mexican ambassador to Guatemala said that his country had decided to apply a "check-in" policy against the thousands of people who were asking to cross.
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10:50
Thousands of migrants traveling in a caravan briefly moved to a border crossing between Mexico and Guatemala before turning around.
They stopped about two blocks from the crossing before returning home, saying that they would wait an hour or so. Some of them talked to each other.
The border post is guarded by a heavy security force and high metal doors. Dozens of Mexican policemen are on the border bridge, and hundreds of others behind them.
Guatemala has closed its border door and stands guard with dozens of soldiers and two armored jeeps.
The Mexican ambassador to Guatemala said that his country had decided to apply a "controlled entry" policy, with thousands of migrants demanding a crossing.
The migrants hope to enter Mexico and cross the country to reach the United States.
Jose Porfirio Orellana is a 47-year-old acorn and bean farmer from Yoro Province, Honduras.
Orellana says that "the economy in Honduras is terrible, there is nothing there."
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7h
Participants from a caravan of 3,000 migrants heading to the United States gathered in a park to wait a few more hours for the group members who are still arriving.
The migrants agreed to begin their journey to the Guatemalan-Mexican border around 11 am local time.
Some plan to form a valley, with men walking on the sides, women and children walking in the middle. Others intend to cross Suchiate River on a raft.
Exhausted travelers come mainly from Honduras, but migrants from other Central American countries have joined the caravan.
Jonathan Guzman, a 22-year-old Salvadoran, said he dreamed of working in construction in Los Angeles.
"This is the third time I'm trying to cross," he said.
As the sun rose, a military helicopter could be seen overhead, presaging difficulties that migrants would encounter as they attempted to reach the United States.
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