US-bound migrants cross into Mexico through river, hurl stones at military as soldiers block road (VIDEOS)
Hundreds of men, women and children crossed from Guatemala into Mexico through a river on Monday as a migrant caravan continues its journey onwards toward the US border, only to be met by a wall of soldiers on the other side.
Live footage from the scene showed migrants wading right into the shallow waters of the Suchiate river after Mexican National Guards had blocked their path into Guatemala via a nearby bridge over the weekend.
Initially, people crossed into Mexico, walking right passed Mexican soldiers as they watched on, but the military soon blocked off the route and appeared to prevent further passage using riot shields. Some of the migrants hurled rocks at the soldiers and tried to flee past them.
//www.youtube.com/embed/tb94faxHLFM
#ÚltimaHora Enfrentamiento entre migrantes y Guardia Nacional al pasar por el río Suchiate. Vía: Alejandro Gómez | Diario del Sur pic.twitter.com/dZotgGyjcI
— Diario del Sur (@diariosur_oem) January 20, 2020
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#AHORA ? | | Integrantes de la Caravana del Migrante cruzan el Río Suchiate, en la frontera México-Guatemala, ya están en el cauce del lado chiapaneco.
La tensión crece y la Guardia Nacional aumenta el cerco. pic.twitter.com/e9J5a6xDSY
— Ahora Tabasco (@AhoraTabasco) January 20, 2020
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#GuardiaNacional atiende cruce ilegal de migrantes hondureños en el río Suchiate, en la frontera México-Guatemala. pic.twitter.com/A3g6U7ydp5
— Azteca Noticias (@AztecaNoticias) January 20, 2020
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#AlMomento | Decenas de migrantes cruzan el río Suchiate, frontera entre México y Guatemala pic.twitter.com/yiBwjvcFCk
— XHVX- XEVX | Grupo VX (@XHVXTabasco) January 20, 2020
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Así pasa la caravana migrante 2020 en la frontera de México y Guatemala, ya caminan hacia Tapachula, Chiapas.#EnLaBarraTV#NoTenemosMadre#FronteraPorosa pic.twitter.com/gCQ8WgmS5x
— En La Barra (@EnLaBarra2) January 20, 2020
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The group, mostly originating in Honduras and El Salvador, intends to travel onwards to the US, and Mexico is under increasing pressure from US President Donald Trump to stop them. Mexican authorities recently deployed an additional 200 National Guards to the Guatemalan border area in a bid to block the caravan’s movement north, while President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered 4,000 jobs to the migrants if they agreed to stay in Mexico instead of continuing north to the US.
Migrants entering the country without registering with Mexican immigration authorities will not be allowed through, the government said earlier, but offered entry to people seeking asylum or other protections. The bridge border crossing was closed on Saturday.
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