Most People In The Caravan Are From Honduras This Is Why Theyre Fleeing Their Country

[Judi Lynn]

The majority of people in the caravan that has inflamed tensions between the US and Mexico are from Honduras. Will many more follow?

Posted on April 5, 2018, at 3:55 p.m.
Karla Zabludovsky
BuzzFeed News Reporter

MEXICO CITY — Two out of three people making their way through Mexico as part of a “caravan” that drew President Donald J. Trump’s ire this week have fled Honduras — part of a recent trend that has seen growing numbers of people escape the country’s exorbitant homicide rates, crippling corruption, increasing political persecution, and a floundering economy.

That is a sharp, recent rise — the number of Hondurans apprehended by US Customs and Border Control increased by 66% from Dec. 2017 to March, according to the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group. In February, Mexican authorities detained and deported 4,128 Hondurans, up from 2,780 the previous month. It was the highest number since November 2016.

This exodus comes at a time of extraordinary tensions even for Honduras, a country still reeling from the effects of a coup d'état in 2009. A highly contested presidential election in November drew thousands of demonstrators to the streets, where at least 22 protesters and bystanders were killed, most of them by security forces.

“Honduras is a pressure cooker in every single aspect,” said Bertha Oliva, director of the Committee for Families of the Disappeared and Detainees in Honduras. “We are seeing an unprecedented violation of human rights.”

More:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/karlazabludovsky/most-people-in-the-caravan-are-from-honduras-this-is-why?utm_term=.rxe7vEG05#.ondByvVLG

[Judi Lynn]

1. Caravan of Central American Migrants Holds a Mirror to Cruel US Immigration Policy and Imperialism

Thursday, April 05, 2018
By Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now! | Video Interview

Despite efforts by Mexican immigration authorities to disband a caravan of Central American migrants, hundreds are still bound for the US-Mexico border. This comes after an early-morning tweet from President Trump that said the caravan "is largely broken up thanks to the strong immigration laws of Mexico and their willingness to use them so as not to cause a giant scene." The group People Without Borders, or Pueblo Sin Fronteras, has organized the caravan since 2010 to draw attention to the right to seek asylum and refuge. This year its members are disproportionately from Honduras, which remains in political upheaval after US-backed right-wing President Juan Orlando Hernández was inaugurated for a second term despite allegations of widespread voting fraud in November. We get an update from Arturo Vizcarra, a volunteer with People Without Borders. He just returned from the caravan.

TRANSCRIPT
NERMEEN SHAIKH: We turn now to a caravan of more than a thousand Central American migrants who are on a 2,000-mile journey to the US from the Mexico-Guatemalan border. Some say it's prompted President Trump's crackdown on border security. Despite efforts by Mexican immigration authorities to disband the caravan, hundreds are still bound for the US-Mexico border.

This comes after an early-morning tweet from President Trump that said, quote, "The Caravan is largely broken up thanks to the strong immigration laws of Mexico and their willingness to use them so as not to cause a giant scene at our Border. Because of the Trump Administrations actions, Border crossings are at a still UNACCEPTABLE 46 year low. Stop drugs!"

Trump's tweet followed a flurry of threats that began on Easter Sunday to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, unless Mexico agrees to join his crackdown on immigration. By Tuesday afternoon, Trump had taken credit for the reduced number of migrants in the caravan.

More:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/44075-caravan-of-central-american-migrants-holds-a-mirror-to-cruel-us-immigration-policy-and-imperialism

[GatoGordo]

2. What a shame that the 2009 "Presidente Galactico" wouldn't abide by his own nations Constitution

Zelaya was removed from office BY FORCE because he was fast-tracking Honduras into Marxist/Leninist despotism. A recurring theme in Latin America.