MEXICO CITY.- A caravan made up of 7,000 migrantsmostly Central American and Caribbean, arrived this Wednesday in the municipality of Villa Comaltitlán, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, after leaving last Sunday from the city of Tapachula, near the frontera with Guatemala.
The migrants, after passing through the municipality of Huixtla yesterday, Tuesday, resumed their march this Wednesday towards the municipality of Escuintla. The caravan had requested humanitarian visas from the National Institute of Migration (INM) and the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance, but when they did not obtain help, several migrants protested in front of the facilities within the framework of an important security deployment of the National Guard. Later, they headed towards the north of the state. The caravan carries a banner claiming to be in an “Exodus from poverty.”
In Huixtla, migrants made a symbolic protest as they passed by the main customs office on Mexico’s southern border. They knelt for a few moments and said a prayer before continuing on their way to Villa Comaltitlán, 60 kilometers north of where they began walking, without any confrontations.
The police continued to monitor their movements along with the National Guard. Immigration agents made no attempt to stop them as they passed through the checkpoints.
“The only thing we want is to work,” said Honduran Marvin Orellana, who also travels with his wife and daughter and asked politicians to look 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 regularize myself and work and raise my family,” claimed Norbey Díaz Ríos, 46 years, and who travels with his wife and two children.
The group, of about 7,000 people, is the largest that has been formed this year.
“We know that they are not going to take us into account,” said activist Luis García Villagrán, who accompanies the migrants, which is why he stated that they will continue walking. In his opinion, the immigration issue is “a purely electoral issue” for both the United States and Mexico.
“I’m afraid of staying in Cuba”
The migrants who make up the caravan do not seem concerned that the measures against them will be toughened.
“I’m afraid of staying in Cuba, of dying of hunger, that does scare me,” said Dayron Salazar, a Cuban taxi driver who was traveling with several friends.
“We are going all or nothing,” said Honduran José Paz, who was walking with his wife and four children, the youngest four months old, the oldest 13.
The formation of these groups has been constant in recent years due to the slowness of immigration regulation processes in Mexico and the lack of decent living and work options so that foreigners can afford to wait for documents.
Since the end of 2021, authorities have often opted to let migrants get tired and break up groups by offering them temporary documentation that, in many cases, they use to continue the journey north on their own.
On this occasion, 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 achieve it or what obstacles you’re going to encounter along the way,” added Colombian Díaz Ríos. “This is something uncertain,” he said as he continued walking.
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 address issues such as border security, entry points at the border, among others. measures regarding migration. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and the White House National Security Advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall, will also participate in the meeting, according to the White House in a statement.
Source: With information from Europa Press / AP
