Migrant caravan resumes its way in southern Mexico and changes route

The migrant caravan closed this Saturday its second week of crossing through the south of Mexico, changing the route: instead of going through Oaxaca, they will continue to Tuxla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas, despite the fact that their spirits are reduced after the death of a Cuban at the hands of the National Guard and the subsequent clash with the authorities that left several detained.

This Saturday the thousands of migrants resumed their way from the municipality of Arriaga, in the southeastern state of Chiapas and very close to the border with the state of Oaxaca, bound for Mexico City and later to the northern border to reach the United States. United.

The caravan rested in the central park of Arriaga, where they took the opportunity to heal their wounds, receive medical attention and rest.

This Saturday it was two weeks since the caravan of thousands of migrants left the city of Tapachula, very close to the border with Guatemala, on October 23 without stopping their advance.

BLISTERS AND EXTREME TIREDNESS

The thousands of foreigners travel down, injured, blistered, dehydrated, in low spirits and sad after the long journey they have undertaken from Tapachula to the Arriaga section.

In this stretch of road, the migrants were not allowed to climb onto the platforms of trailers or trucks of the public or private service.

The route of this caravan is to reach the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, where they would have to walk about 135 kilometers of road in unpopulated areas. They plan to stop at some travel community although it is still uncertain which one, they reckoned. They also make short rest stops at gas stations they find.

María Molina is a migrant woman from Honduras who has managed to walk more than 200 kilometers: “I come tired, our feet are damaged and the spirits are ending, sometimes eating and sometimes not,” she declared.

Despite the long stretches that have changed, what they want “is to get to Mexico City, because I’m looking for my daughter Rizty Fabiola Andrade,” said the woman.

“The walk is too hard, I come alone, with the blessing of those who have given me strength, because in some municipalities they have supported us and in others they have not,” he added.

The woman walks with the hope of finding her daughter, since her son was killed in Honduras. She shows encouragement to be able to move forward but says it would be good to rest for two or three days “to be able to continue at 100% and continue walking”.

This Friday, the caravan tried to leave for Tuxtla Gutiérrez, but they only walked about 5 kilometers from Tonalá to Arriaga because the journey is too long and they returned to the Arriaga-Oaxaca highway to advance slowly due to reduced health.

Ángel Lara is another migrant from Honduras who travels with his family, and indicated that he has walked a lot. “We are tired but we will continue, God first, to reach our destination.”

“This caravan of migrants seeks help to get to Mexico City because most of them already have blisters on the soles of their feet, sick children and dehydrated women,” he added.

A HARD WEEK

The last week of the caravan has been long, difficult and with the presence of the National Guard that has clashed twice with the migrants.

Thousands of migrants advance amid the pain caused by the death of a Cuban migrant, who was traveling in a vehicle with other people, by gunfire by the National Guard last weekend.

In addition, last Thursday the group collided with the National Guard and agents of the National Institute of Migration (INM), leaving several arrested and five elements “with considerable injuries” between the towns of Pijijiapan and Tonalá, where several vehicles of the National Institute arrived. of Migration and the National Guard.

Later, the migrants, seeing the advance of these shock groups, began to throw stones at the security forces.

This group was launched after the Mexican authorities thwarted the advance of four caravans of migrants in the first days of September that left precisely from Tapachula, a Chiapas municipality on the border with Guatemala.

At that time, several UN agencies and NGOs criticized the use of force in the operations to disintegrate these caravans.

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