The thousands of migrants They travel on the roof of wagons Mexico or who wait in kilometer-long lines next to the tracks to board a train to reach USA this week caused the closure of one of the border crossings and forced the largest Mexican railway company to suspend dozens of trains of merchandise.
But they have also revealed a much larger phenomenon: an almost unbroken chain of migrants going from Colombia through the Darien jungle to Panama on an industrial scale that could number around 500,000 people this year.
These migrants move without interruption through Central America to Mexico and, from there, to the border with the United States.
“Thousands more come behind us. It is continuous”said Juan Carlos Leal, a Venezuelan migrant who was waiting along the tracks with his 5-year-old son on Wednesday, about 55 kilometers (35 miles) north of Mexico City.
He and other migrants waiting to board passing trains — some even running — in the town of Huehuetoca noted that 3,500 people leave jungle camps organized by traffickers on the Colombian side of the Darien jungle every day. because that is the capacity of each settlement.
The dangerous journey through the jungle has been reduced from more than a week to just two days for the fittest thanks to a network of guides, permanent camps and rudimentary trails that begin in Necoclí, on the Colombian side.
Venezuelan migrants in Huehuetoca stated that the Darién operation appears to be controlled by Colombian paramilitary groups, which derive part of their benefits to autonomous indigenous groups in Panama.
The Panamanian government said last week it will increase deportations to address the record number of migrants arriving through the jungle.
The human smuggling network can now take migrants from Venezuela to central Mexico in just over two weeks, an odyssey that once could take months. Arrests at the border between Mexico and the United States increased by 33% from June to July, according to US government figures, after the decline caused by the entry into force of new asylum restrictions in May.
“Honestly, what happens is that (…) it is convenient for them that people arrive and leave,” stated José Javier Fereira, another Venezuelan migrant, about the gangs that control human trafficking. “This is not going to stop. To stop it, the Necoclí mafia has to be stopped.”
Fereira, who was a taxi driver in his country, said that he could not earn a living there because gasoline is too expensive for those who do not have political contacts. At the same time, he decided to leave his family behind because the journey was too dangerous.
But that is not always the case. In Huehuetoca, entire families waited to board the cars.
Mayerlin Bracamontes hugged and played with her five-month-old daughter while waiting for the train. “If it is dangerous”, recognized, but indicated that she was traveling accompanied by other Venezuelans who helped her pass the baby to those who were already on board.
Migrants continue to fall prey to corrupt officials, gangs, thieves and sex offenders almost every step of the way. At least half a dozen of those in Huehuetoca reported seeing bodies — a woman and her newborn baby, a young couple, a portly old man — decomposing on a trail in the Darien.
They also agree on the details of the human smuggling industry in Colombia: traffickers place two bracelets — similar to those handed out at concerts — to those who pay a minimum fee of US$350. has paid the band fee and the other part has been given to the Panamanian indigenous groups through whose territories they have to cross.
Beyond the jungle, migrants have fewer complaints about Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua and say most officials seem to want them to move quickly to get them out of their countries soon. In Guatemala, however, almost everyone reported repeated sexual abuse and extortion by the police.
But it is in Mexico where perhaps the most lethal part of their journey awaits them, once they have overcome the jungle: boarding the freight trains. Migrants have been crossing the country for years on the wagons of what is known as “The beast”at levels that fluctuate depending on the efforts to prevent it.
They normally go up when the convoy stops to change tracks. They prefer to climb onto freight cars, which are flat-topped and have stairs and railings to hold on to. But in desperation, some crowd into the narrow roofs of fuel stations, where falling asleep or being jostled can lead to a fatal fall.
Ferromex, the country’s largest railway company, announced on Tuesday the temporary stoppage of 60 freight trains due to the “severe risk” What the use of this transportation to get around represents for migrants. In the last days, “About half a dozen unfortunate cases of injuries or deaths were recorded”he indicated in a statement.
The company, which is part of the Grupo México corporation, indicated that some jumped onto moving freight cars “despite the serious danger that this represents.”
The rush of arrivals into Eagle Pass, Texas, led U.S. Customs and Border Protection to close one of two bridges connecting the city to the Mexican town of Piedras Negras. According to the agency, the temporary closure of the infrastructure was intended “redirect staff to assist Border Patrol in detaining migrants.”
For those who had already traveled thousands of miles, the idea of catching a ride on the train was overwhelming.
“If I had known, how dangerous it is, I would stay with my family to die in Venezuela”said Félix Rodríguez, a native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, who was traveling with his wife and 13- and 14-year-old children.
Rodríguez refused to risk boarding a train that passed through Huehuetoca on Tuesday night, considering it too dangerous.
Instead, he stayed off the tracks, saying they would sell food on the streets or clean car windows until they raised enough money to buy bus tickets to the border.
“It is dangerous to ride with children. “People die, and all to fulfill their dream,” Rodriguez stated.
That alternative carries its own risks. Migrants prefer the train not only because the trip is free, but because Mexican police and immigration agents often take them off the buses, claiming that the humanitarian visa or asylum application documents they have do not allow them to travel to the north of the country.
This migratory wave cannot be compared to the caravans of 10,000 or 15,000 people, mostly Central Americans, who crossed the country on foot or hitchhiking in organized groups in 2018 and 2019.
Those who crossed Mexican territory on trains this week did not know which border city they were going to and were traveling only with a few family members or a small group of friends.
“We Venezuelans take care of each other, it is one thing we have,” said one migrant as he offered to help load Bracamontes’ baby onto a train.
Source: AP
Source: Gestion
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