A human caravan is traveling through Central America that begins to alarm the Biden administration even before it takes office. About 9,000 Hondurans managed to enter Guatemala last week on their way to the United States. Among them are many families and dozens of children. For the time being, the Guatemalan army has succeeded in stopping them with tear gas and batons. The majority of migrants do not seem to want to turn around and they have camped on the edge of a highway in Chiquimula province, some 200 kilometers from the capital. A few thousand managed to continue north in small groups.
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Honduras is experiencing an unprecedented economic and humanitarian crisis: In addition to the pandemic, the passage of hurricanes Iota y Eta last year destroyed a large portion of industrial infrastructure and nearly a million people found themselves in poverty overnight. Hence the attempt to escape towards the American dream, which many today seem closer to, without the ideological walls installed by Trump. It will now be essential to see how his Democratic successor will deal with this issue.
For now, it’s the neighbors who have to worry about temporary storage. The Mexican government has massed the National Guard at its southern border along the Sochiat River to block the advance of the largest migrant convoy in recent years, the first of the Biden era. According to various testimonies, after the suppression of the Guatemalan forces, the convoy collapsed and the migrants are now advancing in small groups waiting for their reunification in the north. Many will already be concentrated at the Tecn Umn border post between Guatemala and Mexico.
The march began last Friday in San Pedro Sula: No more than 3,500 people left the industrial capital of Honduras, but many other migrants joined along the road and the caravan, according to estimates, now exceeds 9,000. Honduran border policemen did little or nothing to stop them, and on Sunday morning, they outnumbered fellow Guatemalans at the El Florido border crossing. After nearly twenty kilometers, the security forces engaged in a real battle with the migrants with tear gas and batons.
What will Mexico do now and what requests can it make to the American administration? Who takes office Wednesday? The issue of immigration from the south – as well as new forms of claims and groups, such as caravans – were at the center of Biden’s conversation with Mexican President Lopez Obrador a few days before Christmas. Mexico should ensure safe and orderly migration. However, it also means a solution (and thus aid) to the economic crisis afflicting the countries of Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and even southern Mexico.
Immigrant testimonials are excitingShe told the agency: We have no work or food, so I decided to go to the United States with my daughter Afp Dania Hinestrosa, 23, worked as a maid and left behind three young children. Gisenia Ramirez, 36, echoed her entire family at home.
Jan 18, 2021 (Change Jan 18, 2021 | 13:06)
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