Approximately 500 Honduran and Venezuelan migrants initiate a caravan towards the U.S. from Honduras

According to reports from human rights organizations, between 700 and 1,000 Hondurans leave their country daily, facing the harsh reality of criminal violence that claims at least ten lives each day. This Central American country has also become a transit point for thousands of migrants from South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia.

Last Friday, dozens of migrants, including Hondurans and foreigners, gathered at the bus terminal in San Pedro Sula, the second-largest city in Honduras, with the intention of heading to the United States in a caravan scheduled for Saturday. Men, women, and numerous children, some of them under five years old, arrived at the Metropolitan Central of San Pedro Sula around 7:00 p.m.

Migrants from Venezuela

One of the migrants, originally from Venezuela and traveling alone, explained that he left his country due to a lack of job opportunities and with the goal of reaching the United States. Three Hondurans claimed to be from Aramecina, in the Valle department, south of Honduras, near the border with El Salvador, and mentioned that the lack of employment pushed them to join the caravan. A woman from Jesús de Otoro, in the Intibucá department in western Honduras, stated that she is seeking a better life for her two children, which is why she is leaving her country.

Initially, most of the migrants were resting in a green area of the Metropolitan Central, but rain forced them to move to covered spaces in the same bus terminal.

Around 11:00 p.m. on Friday, the migrants still did not know if they would depart in a caravan, on foot, or by bus, and they were uncertain about which border point with Guatemala they planned to exit from. The nearest options included Corinto, in the Cortés department, less than 100 kilometers away, and Agua Caliente, in the Ocotepeque department, over 220 kilometers from San Pedro Sula, bordering Guatemala and El Salvador.

According to the National Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras (Conadeh), at least 5,709 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, entered Honduras irregularly in the first week of January.