Around 3,000 migrants block highway in Mexico

The migrants set out from Tapachula on foot on October 30. Pic/AP

About 3,000 migrants from Central America, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti on Wednesday blocked traffic on one of Mexico's main southern highways to demand transit or exit visas to reach the US border.

The caravan of migrants set out on foot from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, on October 30, walking north toward the US. The contingent - including many women and children - later stopped walking at Huixtla, another town in the southern state of Chiapas, where they tried to get temporary travel documents to cross Mexico.

On Wednesday, the migrants blocked highway inspection booths just outside Huixtla. Activist Irineo Mújica, one of the organisers of the march, said the blockade would continue, because migrants are afraid of criminals, smugglers and extortionists who could prey on them if they continue walking. Many migrants would also prefer to take buses, but are often prevented from doing so if they don't have papers. "We know we are causing discomfort for Mexicans, and we apologize," Mújica said. "But the drug cartels are kidnapping us, killing us."

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