Human rights activists are sounding the alarm for approximately 100 Central Americans who went missing as part of the migrant caravan currently in the coastal Mexican state of Veracruz.
The group was traveling along the roads near the town of Isla when they climbed into two trucks and have not been heard from since the weekend, Revista Proceso reported.
Human rights activist Arturo Peimbert Calvo, with Pueblo of Oaxaca, said the migrants were warned by NGOs and authorities against climbing into unknown trucks. The missing caravan participants reportedly loaded into two trucks with license plates 183-EC-3 and KY-88-765.
The Central Americans in question are part of the caravan which departed from Honduras last month with the public intent of reaching the U.S. border. Last month, members of this caravan clashed with Mexican and Guatemalan authorities who were trying to keep them from illegally entering the country. That was followed by a second caravan whose members also took part in violence, triggering the Mexican government to publicly warn about the use of Molotov cocktails and firearms against federal cops, Breitbart News reported.
Mexico offered members of the caravan temporary employment, health care, and education if they agreed to stay in the southern states and follow immigration law. The request was publicly turned down and officials claim that only 111 migrants signed up for the program, Breitbart News reported.
Several drug cartels in Mexico are fighting for control of a busy shipping port, drug trafficking routes, and human smuggling corridor in Veracruz. Ruthless organizations such as Los Zetas, Cartel Jalisco New Generation, the Gulf Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel are linked to thousands of kidnappings and murders in the area. This year, authorities in Veracruz uncovered a mass grave with more than 166 human skulls and other bone fragments, including several children and infants, Breitbart News reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.