The images became viral during the past weekend: thousands of people crowded the bridge Rodolfo Robles that unites Guatemala and Mexico in the hope of crossing the border and moving towards north.

Thousands of women, girls, boys and men were left there waiting, in the open, under the scorching sun, at 30 degrees, little water and no medical assistance. It is the ‘migrants caravan’, which left Honduras at the beginning of October. They are heading north, determined to reach the United States.

They are looking for a better life, for a chance to live, for an opportunity to work, study, building a decent life.

On the other side of the fence, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto held meetings with US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, under Donald Trump's orders to "stop the caravan”.

Meanwhile, US President, Donald Trump, announced via Twitter that he will implement the threat he made to the countries of the Northern Triangle: "Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to stop the people from leaving their country to come to the United States illegally. Now we will begin to cut, or substantially reduce, the massive foreign aid that has been routinely given to them”.

Trump also added that he is sending troops to the US-Mexican border to prevent migrants from crossing.

The migrants caravan left behind 400  kilometres

How did the caravan, which already left 400 kilometres behind, started? Why have so many people decided to leave their country?

Whitney Godoy, a photojournalist with the program El Perro Amarillo (the Yellow Dog), accompanies the migrant caravan and, in an interview with NODAL, tells the stories of those who are traveling.

“According to figures from the migrant house in Chiapas, - Godoy told Nodal - there are 7,200 people, including 1,300 children, and then there are those who stay on the Rodolfo Robles bridge waiting for some legal procedure to take place. In addition, we know that there is another caravan coming here from Hidalgo, in Guatemala. There are a thousand people ... there are caravans from El Salvador and Guatemala that are coordinating to be able to join this main one, but the Honduran authorities have closed the Honduras-Guatemala border to prevent the passage of more migrants”. The caravan, made up in its majority by Hondurans, has been joined by Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Mexicans along the way.

Caravan began with a post on social media

The caravan began with a poster posted on social media, said Godoy, calling on people who wanted to leave the country to the United States, due to poverty, unemployment and violence.

Former deputy Bartolo Fuentes coordinated and stayed with them, organizing them to have better control. “What he does not expect - said Godoy - was to see thousands attend the meeting point on October 13 last. It is not the first time that Fuentes travels in a caravan of migrants. In the month of June of this year he accompanied another group giving the caravan journalistic coverage. Their involvement in the fight for the rights of migrants is part of a work they have been doing for 20 years and began with the organization of caravans of mothers in search of their children”.

Former deputy fighting for migrants’ rights detained

The former deputy however did not manage to walk along with the caravan, as on 16 October when they had just crossed the border, in Chiquimula, he was arrested by Guatemalan police and remains in a migration shelter awaiting to be deported back to Honduras.

Migrants are staying in shelters, stadiums, churches, parks and others on the street. Medical assistance is scarce, there is really only the one in the communities. The Guatemalans have received the caravan and migrants well, they have given them a place, they have come out of their homes to give the migrants water and food, and a place to spend the night.

There are around 10 thousand Honduran in the territory of Guatemala trying to cross Mexican soil to reach the United States.

Their motto is “We didn’t leave because we wanted to, we were expelled from violence and poverty”.

Honduras has more than 60% of its population living on the poverty line

Honduras has more than 60 percent of its population living on the poverty line and this year 300 thousand new poor people were added to the list.

The fact that migrants are increasing is due to the lack of employment and conditions that would help them to generate a better life for them.

The people who participate in the caravan are mostly mothers with their children, peasants, the elderly and many young people They are on this journey. The majority of the people are from the northern part of the country, and they are being directed by area coordinators from where they lived. They are groups of more than a hundred people who are seen on the road, who stay together, asking for a lift to cars, buses, trying to advance as much as possible.

The different Central American governments, as well as the US, have made declarations against this caravan.