Oaxaca/National: Caravan of Migrants arrives to Mexico City

"We are migrants, not delinquents" (@Cuarto Oscuro) — “We are migrants, not criminals” (@Cuarto Oscuro)

On June 1, the Caravan for Migrants‘ Free Transit left Ciudad Ixtepec, Oaxaca, in order to reach the capital of Mexico, with the aim of seeking dialogue with the relevant authorities and so as to denounce the treatments received by migrants en route to the United States. Father Alejandro Solalinde, director of the migrant shelter “Hermanos en el Camino,” called various Central American ambassadors to engage in dialogue with federal Mexican officials so as to find real solutions to the migrant movement’s demands.

Arriving in Mexico City, migrants from Guatemala and Nicaragua expressed outrage at the cancellation of the round-tables they were supposed to have with their consuls in the premises of the Human Rights Commission of the Federal District (CDHDF): no one gave them a solid argument to justify such a cancellation. Only the charge d’affaires of the Embassy of El Salvador and the vice-consul of Honduras arrived to the round-tables. The meetings that took place addressed issues related to insecurity suffered by migrants crossing the country, the discrimination faced by Mexicans, and the extortion of victims by various police forces.

The migrant Gonzalo Gonzalez said: “As a Guatemalan I feel outraged that none of our representative authorities is here, when, supposedly, they ensure that the rights of Guatemalans are respected. Where are they? What‘s up? What do they fear? A simple migrant that dares to speak out for the first time?”