800 migrants leave Tapachula in a caravan

 A caravan of some 800 migrants left Tapachula, Chiapas, yesterday for northern Mexico, because processing at the southern border takes months, and there are no jobs to sustain the wait.

The contingent left Bicentennial Park and then joined the state's coastal highway to advance toward Huehuetán, where their first stop will be.

The group is guarded by National Guard patrols , state police, and an ambulance from the Ministry of Health.

At one point along the road, agents from the National Migration Institute ( INM ) offered them help with their regularization procedures so they wouldn't continue walking, but the migrants refused.

Peruvian Angelo Miguel, questioned about the recent incident in which six migrants—including one of his fellow countrymen—were killed by gunfire from the Mexican Army , expressed his dismay and acknowledged the risks of the journey.

" The situation is very difficult. We learned that one of our fellow countrymen was recently killed. We feel very sad because, truly, all we ask for in Mexico is respect as human beings. We also respect them because we are in a foreign country. We want them to give us the necessary support ," the Peruvian native said in an interview .