GUATEMALA CITY (GUATEMALA) – Guatemalan authorities stepped up measures on Saturday to halt thousands of Honduras citizens, many of them accompanied by their families, travelling in a migrant caravan to the United States. This comes as a new administration is about to assume control of the White House.
Since Friday, between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants have entered the country, as per the immigration authorities and they are fleeing poverty and violence in the region which is ravaged by the pandemic and back-to-back hurricanes in November.
Video footage revealed Guatemalan security personnel clashing with a group of migrants who managed to break through a police barricade near the village of Vado Hondo, near Chiquimula in the eastern part of the country.
“A small group got through and the rest were detained. The people who got past have been located,” said Alejandra Mena, a spokeswoman for Guatemala’s immigration agency.
As many as 1,000 migrants have been sent back between Friday and Saturday said the Guatemalan government as the caravan moved towards Mexico.
The migrants are likely to face more pressure in Mexico as the nation’s migration pact with the US still holds, according to a Mexican official.
The Mexican foreign ministry on Saturday pressured local authorities to halt the movement of the caravan, pointing to the need to halt the spread of the pandemic.
The ministry issued a statement in which it lauded the Guatemalan government for acting in a “firm and responsible” manner toward migrants who “violated” the sovereignty of the nation and urged Honduras to halt further movement.
Mexico said it would only allow orderly and regulated migration and would oppose any unauthorised entry.
Be deploying thousands of troops Mexican and Central American authorities have coordinated security and public health measures to stop the caravan.
Hunger and homelessness in Honduras have led to more people joining the exodus.
“We have nothing to feed to our children, and thousands of us were left sleeping on the streets,” said Maria Jesus Paz, a mother of four who said she lost her home in the hurricanes. “This is why we make this decision, even though we know that the journey could cost us our lives,” she added.