UPDATE 6-Guatemalan military clears U.S.-bound migrant caravan from road
VADO HONDO, Guatemala, Jan 18- Guatemalan security forces on Monday cleared a road of hundreds of people in a mostly Honduran migrant caravan that had camped out overnight when authorities barred it from advancing toward the United States. The Guatemalan government said the road in the eastern part of the country reopened to traffic after troops with batons…
By Luis Echeverria
VADO HONDO, Guatemala, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Guatemalansecurity forces on Monday cleared a road of hundreds of peoplein a mostly Honduran migrant caravan that had camped outovernight when authorities barred it from advancing toward theUnited States.
The Guatemalan government said the road in the eastern partof the country reopened to traffic after troops with batons andplastic shields closed in on the migrants just beyond thevillage of Vado Hondo, about 35 miles (56 km) from bordercrossings into Honduras and El Salvador.
With soldiers looking on, groups of migrants, many withchildren and carrying bags and luggage, then waited in lines toboard buses returning them to the El Florido border crossingwith Honduras, video footage on social media showed.
The removal of the large group was the latest effort byGuatemalan authorities to break up the caravan, whichauthorities said numbered nearly 8,000 people, within hours ofits departure for the United States from Honduras last week.
About 2,000 of the migrants installed themselves on the roadafter they clashed with Guatemalan security forces on Sundayduring a failed effort to make their way past them.
Some people were injured as troops forced the crowd from theroad, said Andres Gomez, a Guatemalan in the caravan.
“This isn’t a war. It’s a caravan with women and children.The soldiers have no right to beat anyone,” he said. “There arewomen who’ve been beaten, it’s an act of violence.”
Ruben Tellez, a spokesman for Guatemala’s military, laterdefended soldiers’ use of force, describing it as minimal andproportionate.
“Their right to migrate is being respected so long as theyprove that their entry into the country complies with migratoryand sanitary requirements,” Tellez told Reuters, referring tovalid identification documents as well as a negative COVID-19test taken in the past 48 hours.
After the clearance, groups of migrants went back into VadoHondo looking for alternative routes, the government said. Itwas unclear how many were turning back altogether.
WHITE HOUSE CHANGE
Many of the migrants say they are fleeing poverty andlawlessness in a region rocked by the coronavirus pandemic andtwo devastating hurricanes in November.
Guatemala’s migration authority said late on Monday thatabout 1,800 Honduran migrants have been returned home since lastThursday, as well as about 100 Salvadorans sent back to ElSalvador over the same time.
Nearly 20% of the deported migrants from the caravan wereaccompanied minors, according to the migration authority.
The confrontation with the migrant caravan, the first of2021, occurred as Democratic U.S. President-elect Joe Bidenprepares to take office on Wednesday. He has pledged more humanemigration policies than outgoing Republican President DonaldTrump, who favored a hard-line approach.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Mondaywarned migrants not to try to enter countries by force, and saidhe was in touch with both the outgoing and incoming U.S.administrations over the migrant caravan.
Lopez Obrador said he was hopeful that Biden would carry outimmigration reform and work with Mexico and Central America on aplan that could provide alternatives to migration.
Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo said on Monday hewas surprised that Honduras did not want to collaborate instopping the caravan, citing earlier joint discussions on it.
The head of the Honduran border police, Julian Hernandez,said more than 800 security officials had tried to stop thecaravan at the Guatemalan border, but migrants pushed throughthe barrier, some using children “as shields.”
“We weren’t there with our arms folded,” he told Reuters.(Reporting by Luis Echeverria in Vado Hondo, Sofia Menchu inGuatemala City, Laura Gottesdiener in Tapachula, Mexico andGustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa; Writing by Cassandra Garrison;Editing by Howard Goller, Jonathan Oatis and Paul Simao)
