Guatemalan police used tear gas to disperse thousands of Honduran migrants trying to enter the United States on foot, and the army suppressed a group that tried to break through the barricades, AFP reports.
Members of the security forces surrounded a caravan of migrants on the road in the city of Vado Ondo in southeastern Guatemala, not far from the border with Honduras.
About 1,000 migrants returned due to smoke and explosions, while hundreds fled to nearby mountains.
Many, fleeing the army, left all their belongings.
Some who tried to break through the fence were beaten by uniformed police officers.
Some sources say more migrants were injured.
Blocking caravan: Guatemalan soldiers clash with migrants from Honduras pic.twitter.com/Wcg0afmPYB
— RT (@RT_com) January 17, 2021
Claiming to flee poverty, unemployment, gangs, violence, and drugs, as well as the severe consequences of the hurricane, the migrants set off on foot across Guatemala and Mexico towards the United States, on a journey of thousands of kilometers.
