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(SAYULA, Mexico) – Thousands of Central American migrants traveling in a caravan across southern Mexico have resumed their journey to the US by hitchhiking and driving along highways Saturday, after a governor refused them a brief offer to provide dozens of buses to take them to Mexico City faster.
Governor Miguel Angel Yunes announced on Friday night that authorities in Veracruz, in the Gulf Coast region, would not only provide humanitarian assistance to migrants, but also buses to bring them to the country's capital, three weeks later. after the start of their exhausting journey.
"It's very important that they can move quickly from Veracruz to another place," Yunes said in a video message. "For this reason, we have also offered them a means of transport so that, if possible, tomorrow … they can go to Mexico City or wherever they wish."
Organizers of the caravan of about 4,000 migrants announced to their members that they would leave the town of Sayula around 5 pm Saturday, in convoys of 10 buses for a journey of 10 to 12 hours. A caravan coordinator jubilant told the group, "We're all going there!"
But almost immediately afterwards, Yunes released a second video in which it was reported that the Mexico City water supply system is undergoing maintenance and that 7 million of its inhabitants would be without water over the weekend, it would not be correct to send the migrants there. Maintenance has been known for weeks.
The migrants expressed their surprise and disappointment at this decision before leaving on their own for La Isla, a town about 70 km away. A day before, the migrants made a 65 km trek between Juchitan, Oaxaca, and Donaji, Oaxaca, then even further up to Sayula.
"They play with our dignity. If you could only see the happiness of people last night, they told us that we were going by bus and that today we are not, "said Gerardo Perez, a 20-year-old migrant who was tired of the trip.
Saira Cabrera, a 36-year-old migrant traveling with her husband and two children aged 7 and 13, said she was frustrated.
"It's a disappointment that they first said yes, then no. People are crazy and confused, "she said.
The organizers of Caravan issued a statement in which they rejected Yunes' decision and asked him to fill his bus offer to Mexico City. The migrants' request to take a bus to the capital was also ignored by the Mexican government a few days ago while they were in Juchitan.
The latest reversal comes as the Mexican authorities seem to be in conflict and divided as to their approach to the caravan.
On Friday, another migrant caravan – this time from El Salvador – crossed the Suchiate River in Mexico, bringing 1,000 to 1,500 people to reach the US border.
This caravan attempted to cross the bridge between Guatemala and Mexico, but the Mexican authorities told those who would make it to show a passport and a visa and to enter by group of 50 to be treated .
Salvadorans feared to be deported, so they turned around and crossed a shallow stretch of the river to enter Mexico.
The police were present but did not try to stop the migrants, who then took a highway towards the nearest big city, Tapachula.
Mexico is now confronted with the unprecedented situation of three caravans spread over more than 500 km of highways in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz, with a total of more than 6,000 migrants.
On 19 October, the first and largest group of migrants, mainly Hondurans, entered Mexico. Even though this caravan numbered up to 7,000 people, it has declined considerably, even though it has become difficult to give an exact number as migrants have progressed to smaller towns. they can.
Another caravan, which also numbers between 1,000 and 1,500 people, entered Mexico earlier this week and is now in Mapastepec, Chiapas. This group includes Hondurans, Salvadorans and some Guatemalans. In addition, the government has identified a smaller group of 300 Central American migrants in the state of Veracruz on the Gulf Coast.
Immigration agents and police nibbled the edges of the two most remote caravans.
A federal official who was not allowed to mention his name said that 153 migrants belonging to the second caravan had been arrested earlier in the week during roadside inspections in Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border.
There was also pressure on the main caravan. Federal police intercepted trucks of goods and forced migrants to leave their homes, claiming that their habit of hanging on top of or alongside trucks was dangerous.
At other points along the way, the police forced the overloaded pickup trucks to drop off the migrants and ordered the vans to stop helping with transportation.
With or without the help of the Mexican government, it was still unclear how many migrants would arrive at the US border; many days of scorching heat, constant marches, chills, rain and disease have claimed lives. Mexico's Interior Ministry said nearly 3,000 of the first caravan's migrants had applied for asylum in Mexico and hundreds more had returned home.
Coming up, they expect more uncertainty.
President Donald Trump has commanded US troops on the Mexican border in response to caravans. More than 7,000 active duty soldiers have been deployed to Texas, Arizona and California.
Trump also told the US military that was mobilizing at the southwestern border that if US troops were to face migrants who were throwing stones, they should react as if they were guns. He plans to sign an order next week that could lead to large-scale detention of migrants crossing the southern border and prohibit anyone illegally taken the right to apply for asylum.
Although some migrants clashed with the Mexican police on a bridge at the Guatemalan border, they repeatedly denied coming with malicious intent, claiming that they were fleeing poverty and violence.
"We are not killers," said Stephany Lopez, a 21-year-old Salvadoran with the first caravan.
