TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — A new caravan of migrants began walking from southern Mexico on Thursday toward the U.S. border, starting out from the city of Tapachula near the border with Guatemala.
The majority of the migrants are from Venezuela, but they also include people from Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru and Ecuador. They've said they are tired of being blocked from crossing Mexico by the government.
Though previous caravans have said they intend to reach the border — something that was almost never achieved — the migrants in the new caravan appear to be less clear about where they were headed. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to prevent migrants from entering the United States and stage mass deportations of those already in the country.
Many of the migrants said they were simply tired of being bottled up in Tapachula — a city tired of hosting thousands of migrants and one where they cannot find much work.
Giscarlis Colmenares, a 29-year-old from Venezuela, has been waiting for almost three months for an asylum appointment through the U.S. CBP One app.
Colmenares said her immediate goal was to reach Mexico City to find “work, so that we see whether we can get, ahead, or stay here and earn enough money to return to Venezuela.”
An improvised migrant camp in downtown Mexico City was already full to overflowing with migrants.
Some recognized the difficulties involved in reaching the U.S.
Douglas Ernesto, from El Salvador, trudged along with the caravan on Thursday, with his wife and 10-year-old son.
“Our goal is the United States, but if not, we'll stay in Mexico,” Ernesto said, acknowledging “that getting beyond Tapachula is very difficult.”
The caravan has little or no chance of making it more than a few dozen miles. In November, Mexican officials broke up two similar migrant caravans not far from Tapchula.
Apart from the much larger first caravans in 2018 and 2019 — which were provided buses to ride part of the way north — no caravan has ever reached the U.S. border walking or hitchhiking in any cohesive way, though some individuals have made it.
For years, migrant caravans have often been blocked, harassed or prevented from hitching rides by Mexican police and immigration agents. They have also frequently been rounded up or returned to areas near the Guatemalan border.
Migrants walk through Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
A migrant sleeps on a park bench in Huehuetan, Chiapas state, Mexico, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025, as his caravan makes a rest stop on its way by foot to the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
Migrants walk through Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in an attempt to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
A migrant carries a child through Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as part of a caravan of migrants trying to reach the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, who the United States recognized as the winner of last year's presidential election, kicked off a tour of Latin America on Saturday, just days before President Nicolás Maduro is set to be sworn in for a third term in defiance of international pressure.
A crowd of a few hundred Venezuelan migrants broke into shouts of “Edmundo, Presidente” as González emerged from a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei to wave to supporters from the balcony of the iconic Casa Rosada, or Pink House, in Buenos Aires.
“We are doing whatever the cause of freedom requires,” Milei, an effusive far-right supporter of the Venezuelan opposition, said as he welcomed González to the presidential palace with honors normally reserved for a head of state.
González, a retired diplomat, fled into exile in Spain in September after a judge issued an arrest warrant following the July 28 presidential election, in which Maduro was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council, which is stacked with governing party loyalists.
In recent weeks, he has been vowing to travel to Venezuela to be sworn in for the presidential term, which according to law must begin on Jan. 10. But he hasn't said how he plans to return or wrest power from Maduro, whose party controls all institutions and the military.
On Thursday, Maduro’s government raised the stakes even further, announcing a $100,000 reward for information on González’s whereabouts and plastering the wanted-like bulletin with the retired diplomat's photo on social media and the arrivals board at the country's main airport.
“By whatever means necessary, I’m going to be there” on Jan. 10, González said in response to a journalist’s question following a meeting with Argentina’s foreign minister.
González, who twice served as Venezuela's ambassador to Argentina more than two decades ago, used his visit to highlight the plight of hundreds of Venezuelans who remain imprisoned as part of a post-election crackdown by Maduro.
During his meeting with Milei, the two discussed the well being of five Maduro opponents who have been sheltering in the Argentine ambassador’s residence in Caracas for nearly 10 months. Maduro's government broke relations with Argentina and expelled its diplomats after Milei and other regional leaders refused to recognize Maduro's reelection.
But it has denied the activists holed up in the diplomatic compound safe passage so they can take up exile in Argentina. As part of the diplomatic standoff, Maduro's government last month also arrested an Argentine national guardsman as he was entering the country, accusing him of terrorism. Argentina said the officer, Nahuel Gallo, traveled to Venezuela to visit his wife and her family, who are from Venezuela.
An estimated 220,000 Venezuelans are believed to reside in Argentina — part of an exodus of more than 7 million who have fled political turmoil, economic chaos and political repression by Maduro since 2014.
Janet Avila, a 51-year old school teacher who left Venezuela two years ago, was among those gathered outside the presidential palace to greet González.
“I'm very grateful to the Argentines, they've been beautiful to me, but I want to go home, to be with my family,” she said.
The Biden administration and most European governments have rejected the election's official results, pointing out that authorities didn't provide detailed results as they have in past elections. Meanwhile, copies of tally sheets collected by the opposition from 85% of the nation’s electronic voting machines show that González prevailed by a more than two-to-one margin.
González, 75, was a previously unknown career diplomat when he was thrust into rallying the anti-Maduro coalition as a last-minute stand-in for opposition stalwart María Corina Machado, whom the government banned from running for office.
After speaking with Milei on Saturday, González is scheduled to cross the Rio de la Plata for a meeting with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou.
Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, center, his wife Mercedes Lopez, right, and Argentine President Javier Milei stand at the balcony of the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, center right, and Argentine President Javier Milei hold hands from the government house balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, center right, and Argentine President Javier Milei wave to supporters from the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and his wife Mercedes Lopez hold hands from the government house balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, center, his wife Mercedes Lopez, right, and Argentine President Javier Milei stand at the balcony of the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People watch Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and Argentine President Javier Milei wave to supporters from the government house balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Leo Zambrano, supporter of Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, holds a Venezuela's flag at Plaza de Mayo, outside the government house where he meets with Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, right, and Argentine President Javier Milei hold hands from the government house balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A wanted sign of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez is displayed on the list of departure flights at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, near Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
