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Guatemalan authorities on Saturday broke up a caravan of some 400 undocumented migrants on the border with Honduras, most of them citizens of Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti who are trying to reach the United States, a migration source reported.
The migrants, including children and pregnant women, were intercepted by the police at the Corinto border post, in the department of Izabal (northeast), Alejandra Mena, spokeswoman for the Guatemalan Migration Institute (IGM), told reporters.
“Most of the people in mobility are of Venezuelan, Haitian and Cuban nationality,” the official said. She added that the group was detained at the border crossing, where a contingent of riot police and military was deployed and several institutions began a dialogue to “seek migratory solutions and provide them with the corresponding assistance.”
After several hours of dialogue, the IGM authorized the “humanitarian entry of 121 people” who will be able to continue their transit in the country, Mena said, while the rest will have to return to Honduras, a process for migrants who enter Guatemala irregularly. .
“They have been informed about the refugee process, however, they indicate that they only need to transit, in order to reach Mexico and later the United States,” he added.
The government activated a protocol for migratory attention after intercepting the caravan, suspecting that another large group could enter Guatemalan territory from Honduras in the same way, although so far the mobilization has not been confirmed.
In addition to being a country of origin for migrants seeking to enter the United States irregularly, Guatemala is also a corridor for thousands of citizens of other nationalities who claim to flee poverty, violence and lack of opportunities in their countries and try to reach US soil. .
During 2018, the migratory exodus evolved with the departure of caravans, mainly from the north of Honduras. The last massive march, of some 7,500 members, was forcibly dissolved by Guatemalan police and military at the beginning of last year in the department of Chiquimula, which borders Honduras.
Operating in Mexico
More than 3,200 undocumented migrants from 50 countries were located in Mexico in different operations carried out in a single day, in 20 districts of the country, Mexican authorities reported.
On Thursday, September 22, “3,263 migrants were rescued in one day (…) with which their lives were prevented from being in danger as they passed irregularly through Mexican territory,” detailed the National Migration Institute (INM). it’s a statement.
The authorities indicated that among these people without the required documentation there are 377 minors and 777 women.
The largest group comes from Venezuela (1,259), followed by Guatemala (616), Nicaragua (364), Colombia (228), Honduras (192) and Peru (129), among other Latin American countries. There are also citizens from other regions, especially Eastern Europe and Africa.
Many of the rescued migrants are returned to their countries, while others initiate asylum claims and in some cases are able to obtain safe-conducts with a deadline to leave Mexico.
In the state of Chiapas (south), bordering Guatemala and the gateway to the bulk of the irregular migratory flow that enters Mexico, more than half of the undocumented foreigners were located.
Every year, thousands of migrants from various countries seek to reach the United States fleeing poverty and violence. On their way through Mexico they are often victims of extortion by Mexican authorities, but also by criminal gangs. The number of people trying to cross into the United States from Mexico increased with the arrival of Democrat Joe Biden to the White House in January 2021.
Mexico has reinforced its military operations to combat the irregular migratory flow. This has led undocumented immigrants to resort to increasingly dangerous means to travel through Mexico, such as traveling in overcrowded trucks.
On December 9, 2021, a trailer carrying some 160 migrants collided with a pedestrian bridge on a highway in Chiapas, leaving 56 dead. On June 27, 2022, the bodies of 53 migrants, the vast majority of them Mexican, were found in the bed of a truck in the city of San Antonio, Texas.
Since 2014, some 6,430 migrants have died or disappeared en route to the United States, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and 850 perished in accidents or due to traveling in subhuman conditions.
