By EFE
TAPACHULA – A caravan of about 7,000 migrants left the southern border of Mexico this Monday after their frustration over the lack of progress at the Latin American Migration Summit held on October 22 and the lack of issuance of permits from the Government to be able to transit. through the country and reach the northern border.
At least six Venezuelan and Honduran men and five women came out chained and with white flags to ask for peace and transit documents to be able to leave this “jail” in which they have been stranded for days and months waiting for documentation proving their stay. legal in Mexico.
The thousands of foreigners gathered around 06:00 am and began their journey en masse, prepared with umbrellas, cardboard, backpacks and children in their arms in the hope of being able to reach the Basilica of Guadalupe, in Mexico City.
In the caravan, made up of migrants mostly from Honduras, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, El Salvador and Guatemala, there are some 3,000 children and women traveling at a slow pace, with wheelchairs, walkers and who have fled poverty, marginalization, insecurity and gangs in their countries of origin.
Migrant couple with the US as their goal despite obstacles
Ernesto Fernández and Marli Briceño are a Venezuelan couple who joined this caravan with the aim of reaching the northern border.
“My goal is to be able to reach the United States of America to be able to work there, the situation in Venezuela is tough, due to the political and economic issues we are looking for a better future for me and my wife,” Ernesto said in statements to EFE.
This migrant said that in Venezuela he was a chef, so now he is looking for a job opportunity.
Edwin, another migrant who joined the caravan, carries a lot of chains on his shoulder and said that he is tied because they do not let him move forward and leave Tapachula, where they have been assaulted and without opportunities to continue on their way.
“We have no other option to join the caravan, we have no money, no work, here in Tapachula they do not open another place for us and we have to reach our destination. We have been here for three months waiting for a permit, we come with the option of doing things well and moving forward in the best way, but they do not give us the opportunity,” he expressed.
This foreigner, who is also a cook, asked the Government of Mexico to give them real support to be able to continue on their way because they do not want to stay in Tapachula.
Emigrate to save their lives
Irineo Mújica Arzate, director of the People Without Borders Organization, assured that 7,000 people are in this caravan with the aim of saving their lives, continuing on their way, getting a document and not falling prey to organized crime and drug trafficking.
“This saves lives, really. We are going to stay here, we are going to assess how the hurricane comes and here we are going to stay and rest today,” she said.
The migrants arrived this Monday to the community of Álvaro Obregón, about 15 kilometers from Tapachula, where they stayed to rest and, depending on the weather conditions, they could consider whether to continue walking.
The situation on the southern border reflects an “unprecedented” migratory flow from the region, as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned last month, with up to 16,000 migrants arriving at Mexico’s borders a day, according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.