The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, evaded the claims and demands of dozens of migrants, who demanded justice for the 39 migrants who died in a fire inside a migration center in Ciudad Juárez, in northern Mexico.
Migrants upon learning of López Obrador’s visit made a demonstration at a point in the city where the president held a meeting with immigration and health authorities.
With the resounding cry of “Justice, justice!”, they pressured López Obrador and showed their disagreement. In addition, a huge black banner read the message: “No person is illegal.”
Both children, women, youth and men from different countries gathered at the scene to address the Mexican president.
One of the protesters was Ana Paola, a 13-year-old girl from Venezuela, who took the microphone to demand justice.
“We want justice, for our migrant brothers who lost their lives. The authorities abuse us, when we arrived in Matamoros the immigration authorities detained us and took our money, that is why they rush to detain migrants,” he denounced.
Later, he invited the others to sing the Venezuelan anthem and when he started, his voice broke.
“I want to give a message to President Joe Biden, he put up an application, we want him to help us overthrow that government we have (led by Nicolás Maduro), we want our country and if we want them to remove that anarchy,” he said.
Another attendee was Venezuelan Joel Vargas, who said they attended in solidarity with the migrants who died and their families.
“I was in that place and it is a prison. We ask that you give us a job option, this place is a bridge as we cross into the United States and we want to do no harm,” she said.
After the president’s meeting, the migrants held a press conference outside the offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM), the point where the events of the fire were recorded a few days ago.
“I understand why the president left, I understand that he is scared, there are 39 human beings who died here. We stand in solidarity and ask you, Mr. President, to assume your responsibility and to do justice,” said Juan Pavón, from Venezuela.
The Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection of Mexico, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, announced that the detention station where 39 migrants died will close permanently.
For her part, the prosecutor specializing in human rights from the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), Sara Irene Herrerías, pointed out that the five people detained so far as alleged perpetrators are in pretrial detention and will face a prosecution hearing. and link to process next Tuesday, after it was postponed this Friday.
These five detainees are three INM officials and two agents from the private security company CAMSA, which operated the immigration station.
Last Monday night, a fire killed 39 people, of whom six were Hondurans, seven Salvadorans, 18 Guatemalans, one Colombian, and seven Venezuelans. There were about 70 migrants at the station. Of the 28 injured, 24 remain hospitalized and four have been discharged.
With information from EFE
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