Thousands of Honduran migrants fleeing poverty and violence in their homeland have traveled through Guatemala and are arriving at the Mexican border. The so-called “Caravan of Migrants” reached the Guatemala-Mexico border on Friday afternoon, and their arrival led to a chaotic, sometimes violent scene as migrants clashed with border officials.
You can watch Telemundo’s livestream from the border here:
The caravan is trying to open the gate on the bridge to rush into mexico. livestream here.
Multiple broadcasts from the Mexico-Guatemala border showed a huge crowd of migrants waiting and then finally tearing down a fence on the Guatemalan border before rushing through to the Mexican border:
El Sol de Mexico estimated that at least four thousand Honduran migrants had made it to the border town of Suchiate, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The newspaper reported that the Mexican government had made an agreement with the migrants and had arranged to have an “orderly” entry of the migrants into Mexico. The plan was for the migrants to enter Mexico in groups of 50 to 100 people at a time. But Mexican government officials said that the caravan members had broken the deal, losing patience and bursting across the border all at once, instead of waiting.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that the Mexican authorities were planning to process the migrants’ asylum applications little by little, in groups of 100 or 200 a day.
The caravan initially reached the border with Mexico at about noon, local time. Migrants stood at the Guatemalan side of a metal gate chanting “We are not smugglers, we are immigrants.” They waited by the gate for an hour before some of the young men in the group yanked on the fence to bring part of it down. Others climbed the fence, and the group rushed across a bridge to the Mexico border.
Así se vivió la tensión en la frontera México-Guatemala
Video from Mexico’s El Sol de Mexico showed Mexican police in riot gear; the newspaper said that the Honduran migrants were throwing stones at police. You can watch video here, although it’s hard to see whether any stones are actually being thrown:
#AlMomento Migrantes hondureños continúan lanzando piedras al cerco de la Policía Federal
Video: Omar Escamilla / @diariosur_oem
You can see more video of the clashes here:
Reports from Suchiate say police may have used tear gas against the migrants:
Tear gas was definitely deployed by Mexican federal police against #CaravanaDelMigrante on the border bridge. Possibly other things. Some migrants have jumped into river, many turning back to Guatemala now
You can see photos of people rushing across the bridge to the Mexican border, here:
Tras burlar la seguridad así entraron los migrantes hondureños a territorio Mexicano
Video: Omar Escamilla / @diariosur_oem
and video of the bridge crossing, here:
The #CaravanaDelMigrante got through Guatemala fence and marches toward Mexico border gate