Migrants leave Ulapa, Chiapas state, late Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. The migrant caravan heading north in southern Mexico has so far been allowed to walk unimpeded, a change from the Mexican government's reaction to other attempted mass migrations.
(AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)
EDGAR H. CLEMENTE
Thu, November 4, 2021]
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — A group of migrants trying to walk across southern Mexico pelted officers of Mexico’s National Guard with a hail of rocks Thursday, injuring five guard officers.
The guards were tailing the march and had apparently tried to detain some of the mainly Central American migrants, when a group of 100 to 150 males started throwing rocks at two truckloads of guard officers equipped with plastic shields and helmets.
The Guard said in a statement that four male officers and one female officer suffered “considerable” injuries, and were hospitalized. It said that “at no time did the officers respond to the attack.”
So heavy was the rain of rocks that at least two guard officers tumbled from the trucks onto the highway below near the town of Pijijiapan, in the southern state of Chiapas.
Video footage showed one of the guardsmen unconscious, with some migrants trying to help him while another threw a punch at him.
Migrants injured after clashes with National Guard troops in southern Mexico
National Guard officers have been wary of confronting migrants since a shooting incident Sunday left one migrant dead.
Confrontations between law enforcement and migrants had been relatively rare in Mexico, but National Guard officers opened fire on a pickup truck carrying migrants Sunday when the vehicle tried to avoid an immigration checkpoint; the Guard said it had tried to ram a patrol vehicle.
A Cuban migrant was killed and four other migrants were wounded.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador later said the shooting was unjustified, and that the pickup — apparently driven by a suspected migrant trafficker — had simply tried to run past the checkpoint, not ram the Guard vehicle. The guard officers involved are now subject to a federal criminal investigation.
Apparently, the migrants in the truck were not part of some 4,000 mainly Central Americans who are seeking to reach Mexico City on foot. The shooting occurred about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from where the migrant march was at the time.
An estimated 4,000 migrants set out from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, on foot on Oct. 23. They have made slow progress trudging along highways amid the brutal heat of the region, advancing only about 95 miles (150 kilometers) in almost two weeks.
The Mexican government has been attempting to discourage the march, saying the poor conditions are putting the migrants’ lives at risk. The National Immigration Institute said six cases of the tropical fever dengue had been detected among members of the migrant march.
Much larger caravans crossed Mexico in 2018 and 2019, but those migrants never tried to walk the whole distance. They usually caught rides aboard passing trucks.
But Mexico has told truckers not to pick up migrants, saying they could face charges of migrant trafficking. The migrants are also afraid of becoming separated from the group, for fear they will be rounded up and deported.
A National Guard officer was killed by suspected immigrant traffickers in September.
And a dozen members of an elite police force in the northern border state of Tamaulipas are on trial for allegedly killing 14 Guatemalan migrants and five other people, whose bodies were found shot and burned near the U.S. border in late January.
Frustration has been growing for months among the thousands of migrants waiting in Tapachula near the Guatemala border. Mexico’s strategy had been to contain migrants in the south, far from the U.S. border, while allowing them to apply for asylum in Mexico.
But Mexico’s asylum system has been overwhelmed and the slow process led many to decide it was not worth waiting.
EDGAR H. CLEMENTE
Thu, November 4, 2021]
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — A group of migrants trying to walk across southern Mexico pelted officers of Mexico’s National Guard with a hail of rocks Thursday, injuring five guard officers.
The guards were tailing the march and had apparently tried to detain some of the mainly Central American migrants, when a group of 100 to 150 males started throwing rocks at two truckloads of guard officers equipped with plastic shields and helmets.
The Guard said in a statement that four male officers and one female officer suffered “considerable” injuries, and were hospitalized. It said that “at no time did the officers respond to the attack.”
So heavy was the rain of rocks that at least two guard officers tumbled from the trucks onto the highway below near the town of Pijijiapan, in the southern state of Chiapas.
Video footage showed one of the guardsmen unconscious, with some migrants trying to help him while another threw a punch at him.
Migrants injured after clashes with National Guard troops in southern Mexico
Migrants rest as they take part in a caravan heading to Mexico City, in Pijijiapan
National Guard officers have been wary of confronting migrants since a shooting incident Sunday left one migrant dead.
Confrontations between law enforcement and migrants had been relatively rare in Mexico, but National Guard officers opened fire on a pickup truck carrying migrants Sunday when the vehicle tried to avoid an immigration checkpoint; the Guard said it had tried to ram a patrol vehicle.
A Cuban migrant was killed and four other migrants were wounded.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador later said the shooting was unjustified, and that the pickup — apparently driven by a suspected migrant trafficker — had simply tried to run past the checkpoint, not ram the Guard vehicle. The guard officers involved are now subject to a federal criminal investigation.
Apparently, the migrants in the truck were not part of some 4,000 mainly Central Americans who are seeking to reach Mexico City on foot. The shooting occurred about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from where the migrant march was at the time.
An estimated 4,000 migrants set out from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, on foot on Oct. 23. They have made slow progress trudging along highways amid the brutal heat of the region, advancing only about 95 miles (150 kilometers) in almost two weeks.
The Mexican government has been attempting to discourage the march, saying the poor conditions are putting the migrants’ lives at risk. The National Immigration Institute said six cases of the tropical fever dengue had been detected among members of the migrant march.
Much larger caravans crossed Mexico in 2018 and 2019, but those migrants never tried to walk the whole distance. They usually caught rides aboard passing trucks.
But Mexico has told truckers not to pick up migrants, saying they could face charges of migrant trafficking. The migrants are also afraid of becoming separated from the group, for fear they will be rounded up and deported.
A National Guard officer was killed by suspected immigrant traffickers in September.
And a dozen members of an elite police force in the northern border state of Tamaulipas are on trial for allegedly killing 14 Guatemalan migrants and five other people, whose bodies were found shot and burned near the U.S. border in late January.
Frustration has been growing for months among the thousands of migrants waiting in Tapachula near the Guatemala border. Mexico’s strategy had been to contain migrants in the south, far from the U.S. border, while allowing them to apply for asylum in Mexico.
But Mexico’s asylum system has been overwhelmed and the slow process led many to decide it was not worth waiting.
Migrants injured after clashes with National Guard troops in southern Mexico
Migrants injured after clashes with National Guard troops in southern Mexico
Migrants rest as they take part in a caravan heading to Mexico City, in Pijijiapan
Thu, November 4, 2021
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Dozens of migrants traveling north to Mexico City clashed with the National Guard in the southern state of Chiapas on Thursday, near to where a Cuban national was killed on Sunday by the militarized police force.
The group of mostly Central American women and children resumed their journey on Monday in the Pijijiapan municipality of Chiapas, after fatigue and illnesses among some members prompted a two day break.
Thu, November 4, 2021
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Dozens of migrants traveling north to Mexico City clashed with the National Guard in the southern state of Chiapas on Thursday, near to where a Cuban national was killed on Sunday by the militarized police force.
The group of mostly Central American women and children resumed their journey on Monday in the Pijijiapan municipality of Chiapas, after fatigue and illnesses among some members prompted a two day break.
Migrants injured after clashes with National Guard troops in southern Mexico
Migrants rest as they take part in a caravan heading to Mexico City, in Pijijiapan
"There are two injured migrants, they were badly beaten. The officers tried to surround them with their shields," Luis Garcia, who helped organize the migrant caravan, told Reuters over the phone.
"Everything was chaotic. It's not right that the authorities keep acting this way. Despite all the repression we're not going to stop," Garcia said, adding that authorities had escorted away migrants in at least four buses.
The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
National Guard troops, who donned helmets and riot shields, confronted migrants, according to images on social media. Other videos shared with Reuters showed several migrants being detained by National Migration Institute agents.
"There are two injured migrants, they were badly beaten. The officers tried to surround them with their shields," Luis Garcia, who helped organize the migrant caravan, told Reuters over the phone.
"Everything was chaotic. It's not right that the authorities keep acting this way. Despite all the repression we're not going to stop," Garcia said, adding that authorities had escorted away migrants in at least four buses.
The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
National Guard troops, who donned helmets and riot shields, confronted migrants, according to images on social media. Other videos shared with Reuters showed several migrants being detained by National Migration Institute agents.
Migrants injured after clashes with National Guard troops in southern Mexico
Agents of the National Institute of Migration (INM) and members of the National Guard follow a migrant caravan in Pijijiapan
The National Migration Institute also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The clashes occurred near to where a Cuban migrant was shot https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-national-guard-kills-cuban-migrant-wounds-four-others-caravan-advances-2021-11-02 dead by the National Guard while four others were wounded by National Guard officers early on Sunday in an area where a caravan of migrants was heading towards the U.S. border.
About 3,000 people set off on foot last month from the Mexican city of Tapachula on the Guatemalan border. Many have rejected visas https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/migrant-caravan-advances-slowly-southern-mexico-some-reject-visas-2021-10-30 offered by Mexico, saying they distrust the authorities.
The clashes occurred near to where a Cuban migrant was shot https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexicos-national-guard-kills-cuban-migrant-wounds-four-others-caravan-advances-2021-11-02 dead by the National Guard while four others were wounded by National Guard officers early on Sunday in an area where a caravan of migrants was heading towards the U.S. border.
About 3,000 people set off on foot last month from the Mexican city of Tapachula on the Guatemalan border. Many have rejected visas https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/migrant-caravan-advances-slowly-southern-mexico-some-reject-visas-2021-10-30 offered by Mexico, saying they distrust the authorities.
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