Photo: Daniel Ricardez / EFE
The caravan of migrants , mostly Central Americans seeking to reach the border with the United States, advanced others 12 miles on foot through the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca tired and a decreased contingent compared to previous days.
The group, which has already advanced some 315 kilometers since its start in Tapachula (Chiapas), arrived this Wednesday in Santo Domingo Zanatepec, on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca , the second state of Mexico that they intend to cross on their way through Mexico after almost 20 crossing days.
This day they walked for four hours the stretch of 12 kilometers from the town of El Jícaro to Santo Domingo Zanatepec, the longest walk that has t located in this region.
Although they left at dawn to avoid further fatigue due to the heat, after the first two hours of walking the temperature increased considerably due to the warm climate of the region, which in this time of year exceeds 30 degrees centigrade.
Along the road, and with heat increased by the asphalt, the migrants advanced with difficulties and with great fatigue.
During the journey they were accompanied by Oaxaca Civil Protection patrols and, to avoid accidents, the road was closed to the circulation of vehicles.
Exhausted amid high temperatures
Saraí, student of 17 years old and who truncated his studies from the Bachelor of Administration in El Salvador, pushed this On Wednesday the wheelchair they bought when they left the southeastern state of Chiapas.
This chair serves as transportation for his mother Yanet, who a his 46 years old has his feet bandaged by the damage caused by long journeys.
“ I have sores on my feet. I hurt my feet but I’m going to heal now and we will keep going because in my country there are no sources of employment, ”Yanet told Efe.
“I don’t want to go back, I don’t want to go back to my country. Maybe wherever I go I will find a better opportunity ”, added Saraí.
Give up and go to migration
Others could not follow and approached the elements of the Beta Group for the Protection of Migrants of the National Institute of Migration (INM) who are supposedly offering them a safe conduct to be in Mexico for a year.
During the passage of the caravan this Wednesday, some 50 migrants decided to surrender to the authorities .
This Tuesday night, when the caravan crossed an INM checkpoint, dozens of migrants also decided not to continue despite pleas and shouts from the group.
In this way, immigration agents estimated that the caravan reduced this Tuesday his number up to about 1, 000 members.
And they also calculated that , in the last 25 hours, others .
Many migrants who decided to continue, distrusted this measure because they believe that they will be imprisoned and deported to their countries, from who no longer want to know anything.
The caravan -which intends to reach the northern border of Mexico- will remain this Wednesday in Santo Domingo Zanatepec and then will advance towards Santiago Niltepec, which is located 32 kilometers further north.
The migratory wave
Migrants advance amid the pain caused in recent days by the death by gunfire by the Guardi a National of a Cuban migrant, who was traveling in a vehicle together with other people.
Also, last week occurred at except for a clash with the National Guard between migrants and agents , with several detainees and also security personnel injured.
This group was launched after the Mexican authorities thwarted the advance of four migrant caravans in the first days of September that left Tapachula, a Chiapas municipality bordering Guatemala.
Then, several UN agencies and NGOs criticized the use of force in the operations to disintegrate these caravans.
The region is experiencing a migratory flow record towards the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “found” more than 1.5 million undocumented immigrants on the border with Mexico in the fiscal year 2021, which ended on 30 of September.
In addition, Mexico has detected more than 190, 000 undocumented immigrants from January to September , close to triple that of 2020, in addition to having deported almost 74,300, agree with the Migration Policy Unit of the Ministry of the Interior.
The United States Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, recognized this Tuesday “the way painful ”of the migrant caravan that left Chiapas, in the southeast of the country, but accused the traffickers of deceiving travelers and profiting from them.
It may interest you:
·
At the cry of “freedom”, the caravan of migrants broke the military siege and headed for Mexico City
· VIDEO: Migrant caravan seeks to reach Huixtla Chiapas on its third day of march towards CDMX and the US