Over 3,000 Hondurans Friday departed from San Pedro Sula to the border with Guatemala. It is the second migrant caravan to leave the country this week, hoping to reach the U.S.
RELATED:
Honduras: Protests Demand Return of Disappeared Garifuna Youth
The caravan left due to the extreme poverty and the crisis left by the pandemic and the passage of two hurricanes in November 2020.
In early Friday, the Hondurans started the walk towards the border with Guatemala, 100 kilometers away from San Pedro Sula. They plan to meet up with a caravan that left for the Corinto border crossing on Thursday.
The NGO Doctors without Borders handed out biosecurity kits to migrants to prevent them from getting infected with COVID-19 during their journey.
"Thousands of people leave in a migrant caravan from Honduras to the U.S. Since yesterday, they gathered at the San Pedro Sula terminal to leave for the border with Guatemala and continue their journey north."
However, "the chances of catching the disease are still very high due to the exposure to precarious health conditions along the way," Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Nelly Jerez said.
Migrants expect U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to be more flexible than Donald Trump, a possibility already rejected by Washington.
"People who join this irregular exodus are in danger. Most of these calls are made by organized crime. Migrants could be captured, swindled, or killed," Jerez warned.
Over a dozen caravans have left Honduras since October 2018. Trump's deployment of thousands of border guards has prevented their crossing.