police in guatemala have fired tear gas
at a group of migrants from honduras
who are heading for the united states
between seven and eight thousand people
including families and young children
have entered guatemala since friday our
central america correspondent will grant
reports
once again central america's poorest and
most vulnerable are met by the full
might of the region's security forces
between six and nine thousand migrants
fleeing a dire combination
of poverty drug gang violence and
hurricane damage
have been received in guatemala by
batons riot shields
and tear gas
the clashes took place in the chikimula
department as the caravan of migrants
pushed north in an effort to first reach
mexico and then the united states
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they set off several days ago from san
pedro sula in honduras
a hastily organized group of men women
and children
exhausted after their crops and
livelihoods were destroyed by hurricanes
etta and iota
in november already they've progressed
further than most
recent migrant caravans haven't managed
to leave the borders of honduras
but over the weekend this group made it
into neighboring guatemala
however the trump administration has
placed huge pressure on regional
governments to clamp down
hard on migrant caravans and although
the group crossed the border
the guatemalan military have little
intention of letting them pass
we were informed last night the elements
of the honduran marist gangs and
organized crime had infiltrated the
group
this worried us but fortunately the law
enforcement officers had a conditions
plan for these cases
and controlled this it was a battle
for those determined to continue this is
what awaits them in mexico
on the other side of the succiati river
the border with central america
a huge deployment of national guard has
been sent to ensure this latest caravan
gets no further
with the trump administration just days
away from leaving office
this group of weary poor immigrants is a
powerful symbol of one of the priorities
which his successor joe biden must
address
the reality is however that the incoming
biden administration appears no more
likely to ease their passage across the
border
even if they do make it that far