MEXICO CITY.- A Caravan consisting of 7,000 Migrantsmainly from Central America and the Caribbean, arrived this Wednesday in the municipality of Villa Comaltitlán, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, after leaving the nearby town of Tapachula last Sunday Border with Guatemala.
After passing through the municipality of Huixtla yesterday, Tuesday, the migrants continued their march towards the municipality of Escuintla this Wednesday. The caravan had applied for visas from the National Institute of Humanitary migration (INM) and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, but when they received no assistance, several migrants protested outside the facilities as part of an important National Guard security operation. They later made their way to the north of the state. The caravan carries a banner claiming it is in an “exodus from poverty.”
In Huixtla, migrants symbolically protested as they passed the main customs office on Mexico's southern border. They knelt for a moment and said a prayer before continuing without confrontation to Villa Comaltitlán, 60 kilometers north of their starting point.
Police, along with the National Guard, continued to monitor their movements. Immigration officials made no attempt to stop them as they passed through checkpoints.
“We just want to work,” said Honduran Marvin Orellana, also traveling with his wife and daughter, who urged politicians to look back at them so they can see what they are going through.
“Ask for protection, that they give me political protection because I cannot return to Colombia, or that they give me the opportunity to stay in a country where I can legalize myself, work and support my family,” claimed Norbey Díaz Ríos, 46 years old and traveling with his wife and two children.
With around 7,000 people, the group is the largest to have formed this year.
“We know that they will not take us into account,” said activist Luis García Villagrán, who accompanies the migrants, which is why he explained that they will continue walking. In his opinion, the immigration issue for both the United States and Mexico is “purely an electoral issue.”
Refugee caravan – AP
Migrants leave Tapachula, Mexico, on Sunday, December 24, 2023.
AP/Edgar Hernandez Clemente
“I’m afraid to stay in Cuba”
The migrants who make up the caravan do not seem to be afraid that the measures against them will be tightened.
“I'm afraid to stay in Cuba, to die of hunger, that's what scares me,” said Dayron Salazar, a Cuban taxi driver who was traveling with several friends.
“It's all or nothing,” said Honduran José Paz, who was traveling with his wife and four children, the youngest four months old and the oldest 13.
The formation of these groups has been constant in recent years due to the slowness of immigration regulatory processes in Mexico and the lack of adequate living and work opportunities so that foreigners can afford to wait for documents.
Since late 2021, authorities have often opted to let migrants tire and break up groups by offering them temporary documents, which they use in many cases to continue the journey north alone.
This time the majority are Central Americans, Venezuelans, Cubans and Colombians, but there are also migrants from African and Asian countries.
“You don’t know if you’re going to make it or what obstacles you’re going to face along the way,” added Colombian Díaz Ríos. “This is something uncertain,” he said as he walked along.
This Wednesday, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and a US delegation led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet in Mexico City to discuss, among other things, issues such as border security, entry points at the border and measures related to the to discuss migration. The meeting will also include Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House National Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, a White House statement said.
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SPRING: With information from Europa Press / AP