Intense minutes passed when one of the Honduran police officers in charge of the first checkpoint was struck in the head with a stone, while a woman fell unconscious; Meanwhile, a wall of armed agents and military tanks awaited them from the early morning hours on the Guatemalan side.
The caravan of thousands of Hondurans leaving the north of their country to reach the United States this Friday forcibly broke two police lines at the El Florido customs point at night and entered Guatemalan territory.
Efe was able to verify that police and migrants were injured in the incident.
One of the Honduran policemen in charge of the first checkpoint was wounded to the head with a stone, while in Guatemalan territory a woman passed out when the roughly 2,000 migrants came face to face with the armed forces. from the neighboring country.
Migrants, who had reached the El Florido point in the last hours of the day, having ruled out going through Agua Caliente, in the Ocotepeque department, They were far outnumbered by the policemen at the two Honduran checkpoints and crossed Guatemala while singing the national anthem.
As they move towards the American dream, more migrants have joined. More than 4,000 people crossed the border into Guatemala on Friday evening. Photo EFE
Moment when migrants in a group violently crossed one of the police checkpoints on Friday evening. Photo EFE
On the Guatemala side, the Hondurans reached the first police cordon, which was unarmed, and asked the migrants to organize.
In addition, they reiterated that they must register and prove they are not infected with covid-19 in order to continue on their route.
The decision not to confront the migrants, according to a police officer, was made when they discovered that there were many families with minors in the group. Using tear gas with children in the dark could have been fatal, he said.
In the second Guatemalan security cordon, Efe was able to verify that its elements carry weapons, and that under the Guatemalan customs office there are tanks in support of the security forces.
A woman passed out on the Guatemala side when the migrants came face to face with the police. Photo EFE
Photo EFE
When migrants were expected, men, women and children they would reach an agreement to continue the caravan Saturday early, A large group, singing the national anthem, confronted the first police cordon and did the same to the second during the race, crossing over to Guatemalan soil.
During the incident that lasted several minutes, stones and sticks were thrown and several people, including police and migrants, were injured, on Honduran soil.
The Honduran authorities have made no mention of the incident that took place around 8:00 pm local time (02:00 GMT), a few hours after the migrants arrived in El Florido, after they decided to change their route plan, which is basically it would leave via Agua Caliente, both bordering Guatemala.
El Florido is located in the department of Copán, eleven kilometers from the Mayan archaeological site of Copán Ruinas, one of the main tourist attractions in Honduras.
The possibility of leaving even in the early hours of Saturday was discussed by the migrants because it was nighttime and because many of their companions were behind in the caravan, Honduran José Bardales had told EFE hours earlier.
Police officers were waiting for the huge caravan to arrive. Photo EFE
At around 9:00 pm local time (3:00 am GMT), about 300 Honduran immigrants were stationed on the highway, in their country, in front of the El Florido customs point, perhaps waiting for Saturday to leave on a regular basis.
Efe wanted to know the opinion of some of them, but they preferred not to speak.
The Guatemalan Migration Institute reported this Friday that about 2,000 Honduran migrants are waiting at the border to enter the country to reach the United States, while local security forces try to block their passage.
The agency said the caravan passed the Honduran police checkpoints at the El Florido border point, located in the Chiquimula department, some 200 kilometers west of the Guatemalan capital.