ZCZC
BFF-07
GUATEMALA-HONDURAS-US-MIGRANTS
Guatemala president orders capture of US-bound Honduran migrants
PUERTO BARRIOS, Guatemala, Oct 2, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Guatemalan President
Alejandro Giammattei on Thursday ordered the detention of thousands of
Hondurans who entered his country as part of a US-bound caravan of migrants.
“At this moment the order has been issued to detain in Guatemalan territory
all of those (Hondurans) who have entered the country illegally,” Giammattei
said in an address to the nation.
The migrants surged across the border into Guatemala on Thursday, defying
restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
Giammattei said that the migrants would be returned to the border and
handed over to Honduran authorities.
However he urged the migrants “to please return” voluntarily to their
country.
Constitutional rights were suspended for 15 days in six northeastern
provinces bordering Honduras, after “a massive group of Hondurans violently
broke in” at the border town of Corinto, in Izabal province.
“Amid the current health emergency, not only did they fail to respect
measures to enter the country but also health measures established to protect
our citizens,” he said.
Giammattei accused the migrants of arriving with unaccompanied children,
and of using women and the elderly as human shields.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0922 hrs