MEXICO CITY—Tension intensified Monday at Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala as thousands of Central American migrants forded the shallow waters of the Suchiate River in an attempt to continue their march to the U.S.
Mexican security forces used tear gas to break up a group of about 2,000 migrants, most of them Hondurans fleeing poverty and violence, who attempted to enter Mexico after being denied access on Saturday and earlier Monday.
Later in the day, migrants threw bottles and rocks at National Guard officers. Some of them managed to breach the security cordon and ran into the Mexican border town of Ciudad Hidalgo. But most were contained on the Mexican side of the river and in the middle of the river, left bare by shallow waters. Others opted to return to shelters in the Guatemalan town of Tecún Umán, residents said.