ISLA, Mexico (AP) - The Latest on the caravans of migrants making their way through Mexico to the United States (all times local):
4:25 p.m.
Members of the 4,000-strong caravan of Central American migrants winding their way toward the U.S. border lambasted Mexican officials for directing them northward through the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, calling it “the route of death.”
The group said in a statement that some migrants branched off on their own Saturday in the belief that they were near the metropolises of Puebla and Mexico City, where they aimed to rest and receive medical attention after three weeks on the road.
A trek via the sugar fields and fruit groves of Veracruz takes the travelers through a state where hundreds of migrants have disappeared in recent years, falling prey to kidnappers looking for ransom payments.
Authorities in Veracruz said in September they had discovered remains from at least 174 people buried in clandestine graves. Some security experts have questioned whether those bodies belonged to migrants.
Veracruz Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes reneged on a Friday offer to provide buses to leapfrog the migrants to the Mexican capital or some other destination.
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12:30 p.m.
Tensions are fraying the edges of the caravan of Central American migrants making their way through southern Mexico.
The majority of the roughly 4,000 migrants are gathering in the towns of Juan Rodriguez Clara, Veracruz and Isla, Veracruz, which are about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from their previous rest stop in Sayula. Another contingent is trying to make additional headway by pushing to Tierra Blanca, Veracruz, which lies about 80 extra miles (128 kilometers) to the north.
But many appear to be growing increasingly angry with caravan organizers after confusion broke out regarding buses that would have taken migrants to Mexico City more quickly.
On Friday, the state governor of the Gulf coast state of Veracruz reneged on a brief offer to provide transportation.
Almost immediately afterward, Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes released a second video saying that it would not be correct to send the migrants to Mexico City because the city’s water system was undergoing maintenance and 7 million of its people would be without water over the weekend.
In the lapse between the announcements, organizers told members of the caravan that buses would indeed be available.
Human rights activist Ernesto Castaneda said there’s still a possibility that bulk transportation will be arranged for the group later Saturday.
The caravan is currently hundreds of miles from the closest U.S. border.
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9:40 a.m.
Thousands of Central American migrants traveling in a caravan through southern Mexico resumed their journey Saturday toward the United States by hitchhiking and walking along highways.
A day prior, a state governor reneged on a brief offer to provide dozens of buses to take them to Mexico City more quickly.
Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes announced Friday evening that authorities in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz would be providing humanitarian assistance to the migrants and buses to leapfrog them to the country’s capital.
But almost immediately afterward, Yunes released a second video saying that it would not be correct to send the migrants to Mexico City because the city’s water system was undergoing maintenance and 7 million of its people would be without water over the weekend. The maintenance has been known about for weeks.
Migrants expressed disappointment at the decision before setting out by their own means for La Isla, a town about 43 miles (70 kilometers) away.
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