El periodista hondureño Bartolo Fuentes fue detenido en Guatemala el 16 de octubre cuando documentaba la #CaravanaMigrante y expulsado tres días después. Este miércoles informó “he salido de Honduras porque la persecución política amenaza mi seguridad”.https://t.co/mvYaL75D0F
— PrensaComunitaria (@PrensaComunitar) November 1, 2018
Expression
On 16th October 2018, the Guatemalan police arrested Honduran journalist and activist Bartolo Fuentes. Fuentes had entered Guatemala the previous day with the "Migrant Caravan" that began in the city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and was currently passing through Guatemala on its way to the United States. According to reports, he was accused "of an administration infraction with regard to his entry into Guatemala" and deported three days later. The Comité por la Libre Expresión (Committee for Free Expression, C-Libre) condemned the incident and claimed this was a case of "selective detention" against Bartolo for his role in documenting the migrant caravan and the human rights violations that migrants and refugees are facing while trying to reach the US.
Fuentes’ partner, Dunia Montoya, denounced the "hostile climate generated by the stigmatization campaign against [Fuentes] and the Caravan and the institutional obstacles that she faced while trying to advocate for and safeguard her partners’ rights". As Montoya explains, this is a response of Guatemalan and Honduran authorities to the US-Government's pressure that wants to stop the caravan before it gets to the US-Mexico border.
🆘 #WHRDAlert GUATEMALA, HONDURAS / Stigmatization campaign and obstacles to exercising the right to defend the rights of Dunia Montoya and participants in Migrant Caravan ▶️https://t.co/T1Ic8HRhZU@ForstMichel @mbachelet @PauloAbrao @CIDH @UNHumanRights pic.twitter.com/4wsoNuNPSe
— IM-Defensoras (@IM_Defensoras) October 22, 2018
The Honduran "Migrant Caravan" arrived on 15th October 2018 to Guatemalan, in an effort to reach the United States due to the "violence, repression, corruption and impunity in Honduras." It was reported that the caravan was stopped by Guatemalan police at several checkpoints.
Honduran migrant caravan is not a security threat, but an act of survival by 100s of people escaping extreme violence, poverty, exclusion, and the inability of their government to protect their rights. The response to this human drama should be one of solidarity and compassion 🤝 pic.twitter.com/R5N7zg18US
— Erika Guevara-Rosas (@ErikaGuevaraR) October 19, 2018
Peaceful Assembly
On 17th October 2018, a protest organised by doctors demanding an increase in their salaries was held in the vicinity of the Guatemala Congress. No incidents were reported during the demonstration.