Around 250 Honduran migrants head toward United States fleeing poverty

TEGUCIGALPA: Around 250 Honduran migrants were joined by a group of Venezuelans fleeing poverty and seeking to reach the United States, a migration official said on Thursday.

Local TV showed the group of mostly young Hondurans leaving the northern city of San Pedro de Sula, a traditional departure point since 2018 for migrants looking to reach the United States.

Honduras' National Immigration Institute (INM) said members of the group have since early morning been walking along the so-called Western Highway, which runs toward Guatemala, looking to reach a border post known as Agua Caliente.

"Around 250 Hondurans left and they are being joined by a group of Venezuelans who are stranded here in the country," INM spokeswoman Joseana Martinez told Reuters.

The INM did not specify how many Venezuelans were in the group.

When leftist President Xiomara Castro came into power in January, she promised to adopt measures to discourage mass migration from the Central American country, where close to three-quarters of the population live in conditions of poverty and severe financial stress.

Analysts say flooding and mudslides caused by storm Julia in recent weeks have exacerbated economic problem and poor living conditions, compounding the devastating impacts of tropical storm Eta and Hurricane Iota in 2020.