On Thursday, December 9, 55 people lost their lives in a road accident involving a cargo truck carrying more than 100 people attempting to cross the border on the Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas route, precisely at the Belisario Domínguez Bridge and Ribera Cauharé on the Chiapa de Corzo-Tuxtla highway.
The remaining people were reportedly injured and taken to hospitals for medical attention; however, the policies adopted in Mexico by the federal government, headed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, have been applauded by former U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexico agreed, at the time, to be the firewall for migrants.
For this reason, Peninsula 360 Press, together with Global Exchange, Nuestra Red MX, and Molino Informativo, held a roundtable discussion moderated by Manuel Ortiz in which experts on migration as a political and social phenomenon were present.
Marco Antonio Castillo is the co-director of Global Exchange, and he reflected on the cause that led to the death of 55 people. "These people were already coming in overcrowded conditions and, eventually, due to asphyxiation they could have lost their lives." In addition, he pointed out that human trafficking is a problem that has not been extinguished and that is in full view of the Mexican government. He indicated that organized crime dedicated to human trafficking is making profits similar to trafficking from other illegal sources.
For his part, Raúl Romero, sociologist, commented that what the migrant community experienced yesterday is an event with regrettable consequences and called for the sensitization of all sectors of the population. "The phenomenon of forced displacement in the country (?) is criminal, we cannot live like this", he said. Romero also sent his condolences to the families of the victims of the accident in Chiapas. He called on the population to show solidarity with the migrant crisis faced by our Latin American brothers and sisters and those from other continents.
Magui Núñez, an anthropologist, urged Internet users to search, on social networks, for foundations and organizations dedicated to the care of people in transit because, she says, "there are people who, from their very daily lives, open their lives to receive and make the living conditions of migrants more dignified, as well as their transit" through our country. He highlighted the courage of the people who dare to leave their places of origin for better living conditions towards a "struggle for a world without borders regardless of visa, passport or immigration status".
Peninsula 360 Press offered its live streaming platform this morning to report on the migratory phenomenon at the borders of sister nations. If you wish to see the complete program, you can do so here.
