{"id":108660,"date":"2021-01-17T17:34:48","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T17:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=108660"},"modified":"2021-01-17T17:34:48","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T17:34:48","slug":"guatemalan-forces-clash-with-major-u-s-bound-migrant-caravan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/guatemalan-forces-clash-with-major-u-s-bound-migrant-caravan\/","title":{"rendered":"Guatemalan forces clash with major U.S.-bound migrant caravan"},"content":{"rendered":"
VADO HONDO, Guatemala (Reuters) – Guatemalan security forces used sticks to beat back a migrant caravan early on Sunday after thousands of people set off from Honduras for the United States this week, just as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to enter the White House.<\/p> Between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants have entered Guatemala since Friday, according to Guatemala\u2019s immigration authority, fleeing poverty and violence in a region hammered by the coronavirus pandemic and back-to-back hurricanes in November.<\/p>\n However, around 3,000 Guatemalan security officials mustered in the village of Vado Hondo in eastern Guatemala to hold up the caravan, leading to the clashes on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n Video footage shared by the Guatemalan government showed hundreds of migrants pressing into a wall of security forces, which used sticks to repel the surge of people. An unspecified number of people have been injured, authorities said.<\/p>\n Between Friday and Saturday, Guatemala had sent back almost 1,000 migrants entering from Honduras, the Guatemalan government said, as the caravan tried to advance towards Mexico.<\/p>\n The caravan is likely to come under more pressure in Mexico.<\/p>\n On Saturday evening, the Mexican foreign ministry pressed Central American authorities to halt the caravan\u2019s progress, pointing to the need to contain the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n Mexico, it said, was committed to orderly and regulated migration and would oppose any form of unauthorized entry.<\/p>\n The first migrant caravan of the year comes less than a week before U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes power, promising a more humane approach to migration, in contrast to outgoing President Donald Trump\u2019s hardline policies.<\/p>\n Mexican and Central American authorities have coordinated security and public health measures in a bid to deter mass movement of people across the region.<\/p>\n