Guatemalan security forces intercepted last Wednesday 56 undocumented immigrants, most of them Cuban and Haitian nationals.
The Ministry of the Interior indicated that the immigrants were located by agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) when they were traveling as “passengers” on buses through the east of the Central American country.
The security forces located 41 people, 24 Cubans, 15 Haitians, one Salvadoran and one Honduran, on a bus that was intercepted at kilometer 41 of the route to the Atlantic, in the department of El Progreso.
The other group, some 15 migrants of Haitian origin, was found on a bus at kilometer 145 of the Inter-American Highway, in the department of Zacapa.
The two groups, which initially intended to get to Mexican territory, were transferred to a shelter run by the Guatemalan Migration Institute to resolve their legal situation.
Due to its geographical position, Guatemala is used as a bridge for the traffic of people to the United States and since last year several caravans of migrants, mostly Hondurans and Salvadorans, seeking an opportunity on U.S. soil, have passed through the territory.
The government of Guatemala recently signed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security an agreement to bilaterally combat irregular migration and as part of this agreement the Central American country does not rule out fast DNA tests to prevent the caravans of immigrants from being used for the transfer of stolen or abducted minors.
Police agents of the Ports, Airports and Border Posts Division have announced that they are carrying out constant operations in strategic places to verify that the foreigners have the documents to remain in Guatemala.
The growing presence of Mexican security forces, mostly from the Naval Police, on the slopes of the Suchiate River, which separates Mexico from Guatemala, has also led to a marked decrease in the crossing of undocumented migrants at this traditional border crossing point.
