The Government of Guatemala assured this Saturday that 15 members of the security forces were injured when detaining approximately 300 migrants who wanted to enter their territory irregularly from Honduras.
The migrants were part of of a caravan that left Honduras this Saturday made up of almost 800 people in two groups, seeking to reach the United States to have better living conditions.
The Government of Guatemala detailed in a press conference on Saturday night that it was able to prevent the advance of the 300 migrants agglutinated in the afternoon, as well as another large group that had been returned to Honduras at the stroke of noon.
The migrants tried unsuccessfully to access Guatemala through the El Corinto border, located about 300 kilometers northeast of Guatemala City, in the d Department of Izabal.
In a joint press conference, the National Civil Police and the Guatemalan Army assured that 000 of its members were injured while detaining the 300 migrants, mostly Hondurans and Nicaraguans, who managed to sneak a few kilometers into the local territory.
The general director of the National Civil Police, Héctor Hernández, explained that at the conference that 7 agents of his entity were injured, as well as 8 soldiers of the Army of Guatemala.
Most of the injuries are not serious and were perpetrated with sticks and stones by the migrants, according to the Guatemalan authorities.
“A call is made (to the migrants) to desist from entering the territory irregularly,” said the Army spokesman, Rubén Téllez.
FROM SAN PEDRO SULA
This Saturday’s is the first migrant caravan in the region in 2021 and left San Pedro Sula, in the north of Honduras, in search of a job to survive, according to some people before his departure.
“We are leaving due to lack of employment , we are going to look for a better future”, said Miguel Domínguez, a commercial expert, originally from Taulabé, department of Comayagua, in the central region of Honduras.
The first migrant caravan of this type left in October 2018 from Honduras to the border point of Agua Caliente, south of El Corinto.
On January 6, the Guatemalan Government established various “protocols” after knowing information on the possible departure of a caravan from Honduras this January 15.
The established protocols include “checkpoints on the migratory route” at “strategic points” to detect those who try to enter Guatemala without the requirements required by law.
The last massive migrant caravan had been registered in January 2019 with the participation of around 9,15 Hondurans, who were blocked and dissolved in the Guatemalan border by local security forces.
However, about 3 15 Hondurans did manage to advance through Guatemala and slipped into Mexico in small groups, with the aim of reaching the United States in search of the “American dream”.
The blockade in 2021 executed by the Guatemalan security forces was a decision of the Government presided over by Alejandro Giammattei, in order not to let those who lacked identity documents and a negative covid test advance-15.
The decision is part of the immigration policy ordered by Giamm attei, since in 2018 and 2019 the migrant caravans were able to advance smoothly through Guatemalan territory.
Each year more than 800,000 Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans try to emigrate irregularly to the United States to seek better living conditions, away from poverty and violence in the region.
“If they meet the migratory and health requirements, they will be able to enter Guatemalan territory,” asserted the Guatemalan Institute of Migration, referring to identity documents, a negative test for covid-19 and complete proof of vaccination.
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