Migrant Caravan: Thousands rest in southern Mexican town of Huixtla

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Europe

02:43

Shifting to the migrant crisis in Central America, The caravan from Honduras continues to make its way through southern Mexico.

There're still more than a thousand kilometers from the U.S./Mexico border. The United Nations estimates that some seven thousand people are taking part in the trip, many still determined to reach the United States. CGTN's Franc Contreras is traveling with them.

A day of rest and recuperation. After traveling nearly 780 kilometers, much of that distance by foot, the Honduran migrants are stopping to bath in a local river.

The migrant caravan paused this day in the southern Mexican town of Huixtla, located in Chiapas state. The tropical heat is taking its toll on them.

FRANC CONTRERAS HUIXTLA, MEXICO "This is the first time in over a week that these people have had a time to stop, rest, bath themselves, wash their clothing and taking advantage of it before they move away for this small Mexican town."

40-year-old Celio Arteaga is making his first attempt to reach the United States with no immigration papers. He hopes to be able to send money back to his wife and children in Honduras.

CELIO ARGEAGA HONDURAN MIGRANT "I have four children. One is here with me, and the other three are back home. All of them were in school. But getting an education in Honduras means spending lots of money. I can't even pay for their school supplies. Things like that made me take the decision to leave."

Huixtla is a rural town with a weak economy. Still, residents are handing out food and drinks to the migrants --- for free.

The town's mayor, Jose Luis Laparra, has been in office for just weeks. He belongs to the Morena Party, which won the presidential election in July. Laparra expects the U.S. president to use this situation for electoral gains.

JOSE LUIS LAPARRA CALDERON HUIXTLA, CHIAPAS MAYOR "I believe this will become Donald Trump's excuse for building the wall more quickly. He will take this as a threat to U.S. national security. But these people have no bombs. They only bring a desire to work."

On this scorching hot day, the migrants took time to heal their blistered feet and consider whether to continue traveling down the long and potentially dangerous road ahead. Or stay in Mexico.

Mexico's interior ministry says a little more than one thousand Hondurans in the caravan have decided to seek asylum in Mexico as refugees fleeing violence and poverty back home. FC, CGTN, Huixtla, Mexico.