For the majority of Hondurans who, for various reasons, must face consequences produced by our bad governments, like surviving on less than a dollar per day, the famous “American dream” seems like the best option. Even though they know that the risk of going to the States illegally include the possibility of losing their lives, the precarious conditions of poverty, the high rates of violence and for young people, the possible consequences of refusing to join dangerous local gangs are the main reasons that, with great pain, force them to abandon their lands, their families and venture on a journey that extends for countless miles. As a result, Hondurans have invented the famous caravans, consisting of crowds of people, including entire families with children in their arms. that travel to the United States on foot, a journey of more than 3000 kilometers, exposing themselves to a true nightmare.
On their way, they come across multiple police checkpoints in the countries they pass through, that is, Guatemala and Mexico, and the police sometimes confront them with violence and force them to dissolve into various groups, with families even getting separated on many occasions. Only a small percentage of them manage to reach the north, where families are separated from their children, who are then sheltered in places with inhuman conditions and the children remaining in these places away from their parents for months or years while their fate is decided.
On their way, the people are exposed to multiple risks such as hunger, cold, heat, fatigue, abuse of all kinds, police violence, diseases, heatstroke, attacks by wild animals, dangers when crossing mighty rivers on their way… The most dangerous risk are posed by the criminal cartels who take advantage of the vulnerability of these people and have dedicated themselves to kidnapping them as a business. In many cases, if the families cannot raise money for the liberation of the migrant, they kill them without any compassion.
A telling case is the fate of Luis, my young correspondent who, in the face of threats from the gangs in Honduras for refusing to join them, decided to flee to save his life, leaving his little children stranded. He told me that on his journey he was the victim of a famous cartel of hitmen, drug traffickers and kidnappers in Mexico, where they held him as a prisoner for more than two weeks in the middle of a forest in a tiny cabin. There, he was permanently guarded by heavily armed men, who threatened to kill him if his family did not pay the ransom, intimidating him with videos of recorded murders of people who had not paid, which left him with great trauma. With much sacrifice and with the help of his community, his parents managed to raise the large sum for the ransom.
Another of the greatest dangers they face is the fearsome “Beast”, which are the freight trains that they board to advance, but accidents are very frequent in this attempt, causing many deaths and amputations.
Cases like Luis’s are numerous and despite knowing them in Honduras, our young people have no other alternative to get ahead and so decide to risk everything for the opportunity to live a life not of wealth, but of worth and safety.