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Thousands of Venezuelans who fled their country in the face of the electoral crisis set out on Sunday in a caravan to the United States from the southern border of Mexico, where they asked the governments of both countries on Saturday to consider their situation.
The migrants gathered on Saturday afternoon at Bicentennial Park, the main point of irregular migration, from where they left early Sunday morning heading to Mexico City and then to the northern border.
Carlos Enrique, who left Venezuela after the elections last July, told EFE that he fled his country out of fear for his life, since he belonged to the opposition to the government of President Nicolás Maduro, so he decided to cross Central America with the aim of reaching the United States.
“I belonged to an opposition political group and because of that I am here trying to find a better future for the United States and looking for a better life for my family and to be able to help myself. I left my brothers, my father, my uncles and my cousins so I could work and work hard to help my family,” he said.
Migrants from Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Haiti, Peru, Ecuador, and mostly from Venezuela will join this caravan.
Migration operations to prevent caravans
The Mexican government, through the National Institute of Migration (INM), launched an operation in Bicentennial Park to prevent migrants from leaving on foot in a caravan early Sunday morning.
Venezuelan migrant Carlos agreed to board the trucks to avoid walking six hours to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, instead of arriving in three or four days on foot.
For his part, Antonio Sánchez, from Honduras, who is traveling with his wife, told EFE that they are happy for the help from the Mexican government and commented that they avoid visiting these places because of the danger involved.
“They told us that they are going to give us a permit for 10 days so that we can wait for the CBP ONE appointment (US immigration portal) and they are going to take us to Tuxtla Gutiérrez,” he said.
Authorities said that this approach to the population in the context of human mobility is carried out during tours of the areas where migrants are concentrated, which seeks to raise awareness in this sector about the dangers involved in going out for a walk in search of crossing the border irregularly.
The agents informed the migrants about the complications they may face on the road, such as inclement weather, dangers to their physical integrity, and even the possibility of putting their lives at risk when they are exposed to long walks on the road.
They were also informed about the procedures that those seeking refuge in Mexico can initiate, providing guidance on the steps to follow to regularize their immigration status in an orderly manner.
