A caravan of about 250 Honduran migrants left the northwest of the Central American country on Thursday in hopes of reaching the United States after fleeing violence and poverty at home, officials said, as thousands of Venezuelans cross the region looking for the american dream
The migrants, mostly young Hondurans according to images on local television, left San Pedro Sula, one of the most populous cities in Central America. Later, an unknown number of Venezuelans joined them.
“Approximately 250 (Hondurans) left. They are being joined by a group of Venezuelans who are stranded here in the country,” he told Reuters Joseana Martínez, spokesperson for the National Migration Institute (INM).
The group is in the direction of Agua Caliente, on the border with Guatemala, located about 174 kilometers southwest of San Pedro Sula. Migrants usually continue on their waycrossing Guatemala and Mexico until you reach the border with the United States.
During the long journey, they often suffer the vicissitudes of the weather and insecurity. Some are kidnapped, others perish, and several are deported by Mexican or US authorities.
74% of the almost 10 million Hondurans live in poverty. Living conditions worsened with the coronavirus pandemic and after two strong hurricanes that hit the country in late 2020.
Increasingly, thousands of Venezuelans flee the persistent crisis in their country and cross Central America in search of the American dream. However, the Mexican government recently urged people not to form caravans, saying those who do so will no longer be eligible to enter the United States under a new humanitarian scheme.
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