Immigration
Poster war: this is how governments tried to dissuade migrants from joining the new caravan (Photos)
Unlike previous caravans, the effort to recruit migrants was met with a well-prepared bombardment of government propaganda, both from the United States and Honduras, designed to stifle the exodus, using the slogan "Your North Is Here."
This is the poster that first announced the new caravan that began appearing in social media in November.
Facebook
Hundreds of Hondurans left in a caravan to the United States from San Pedro Sula, in northern Honduras, on the night of January 14, 2019.
AFP/Orlando Sierra
The governments of the United States and Hondurs tried to stop the caravan with ads like this: "Do not fool yourself!" says this message on the social networks of the US embassy in Honduras in a campaign using the slogan #YourNorthIsHere.
@usembassyhn/Twitter
The authorities believe that this campaign has dissuaded some migrants, but there are already more than 3,000 members of this caravan who have reached Mexico.
Orlando Sierra/AFP
Among the messages by the Honduran government to curb illegal migration, there is a campaign focused on reporting sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Gobierno de Honduras
"Illegal migration in most cases causes pain," reads one of the government campaign ads targeting sexual abuse of migrants.
Gobierno de Honduras
As on previous occasions, the goal of the majority of migrants is to reach the United States. When traveling in a caravan, the Central Americans avoid paying coyotes as they feel more secure in a group.
AP photo
The anti-migration ad campaign highlights the role of coyotes: "The coyote plays with your life", reads this Honduran government poster about the risks of migrating.
Gobierno de Honduras
Hundreds of Central American migrants crossed from Guatemala to Mexico at dawn on Friday without passing security controls. Esteban Biba / EFE
Esteban Biba / Efe
People from a caravan of Central American migrants wait in line to cross the Guatemala-Mexico border and register at an immigration office in Mexico on January 19, 2019 in Tecun Uman, Guatemala.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Another ad by the Honduran government warns migrants about the dangers of the 'coyotes.'
Gobierno de Honduras
Once they reach Mexico, migration authorities give the migrants wristbands with a bar code with the data of their cases. "This is to claim the Mexican credential. They say that it's a one-year permit," says Henry Arce, 30, of Choloma, Honduras.
Reuters
This message was posted on Twitter by the US embassy in Honduras. "Both the coyotes and the caravan leaders lie, they try to convince you to risk everything to try to enter the US illegally," says acting US ambassador to Honduras, Heide Bronke.
In Mexico, migrants also received posters and pamphlets with information about their rights.
Migrants from Honduras, who are part of a new Central American caravan trying to reach the United States, waiting to be processed in an immigration facility in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on January 17, 2019.
REUTERS Jose Cabezas
Unlike previous caravans, the effort to recruit migrants was met with a well-prepared bombardment of government propaganda, both from the United States and Honduras.
ALEJANDRO MELENDEZ / AFP / Getty Images)
The government of Honduras, together with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), offers assistance to migrants who decide to return voluntarily to their homes.
Maya Averbuch/UnivisionRelacionados: