THOUSANDS of migrants left southern Mexico with the intention of heading to the United States yesterday, where the Summit of the Americas, with migration on the agenda, is starting this week.

Non-governmental organisation Human Dignity Centre coordinator Luis Garcia Villagran, accompanying the caravan, said there will be “more than 15,000” people in the group, which departed the city of Tapachula.

“We say to the leaders of the countries who are meeting at the Summit of the Americas today: migrant women and children, migrant families, we are not currency exchange for political and ideological interests.

“We are walking for our freedom because we have the right to migrate.”

United States president Joe Biden, host of the summit in Los Angeles, is hoping to reach a regional agreement on migration.

However, his plans took a hit yesterday, when Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose country Central American migrant caravans passed through en route to the US, announced he will not be attending the summit.

Lopez Obrador criticised the US for refusing to invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which Washington considers oppressive and undemocratic countries.

Migrants chanted “Freedom!” and “We want visas!” and carried small flags from Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as they set off on the 3,000km journey to the US border.

“Migrants are not criminals, we are international workers,” read one banner.

Migrant caravans that traversed Mexico sparked tensions with the administration of then US president Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019.

Mexico has stepped up its border controls since then, and more than 300,000 undocumented migrants were detained there last year.

Since Biden succeeded Trump in January last year, the number of migrants attempting to reach the US has increased. – AFP, June 7, 2022.