Around 2,000 Honduran migrants, part of a caravan of Central Americans heading to the US, were on Saturday on their way back to their home country with the help of authorities, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said, according to dpa. Another 500 were being transported back in buses, Morales told reporters after a meeting with his Honduran counterpart Juan Orlando Hernandez to develop a strategy on the "safe" return of the migrants. Thousands of migrants fleeing violence and poverty had gathered over the past week on the border between Guatemala and Mexico, while US President Donald Trump vowed that they would not be allowed to enter the US. He also threatened to cut off aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador if they failed to stop migrants crossing their borders on the way to the US. Morales estimated that between 5,000 and 5,400 migrants from Honduras and other countries were on Guatemalan territory of whom 2,000 had returned, while Mexico said that 640 had applied for asylum in Mexico. Morales said he and Hernandez had also discussed the situation on the Guatemalan-Mexican border with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. The caravan set off over a week ago from San Pedro Sula in Honduras, one of the most violent countries in Central America, with more people joining along the way. Most arrived at the border on Friday after a 600-kilometre journey, with thousands camping on a bridge over the river that divides Mexico and Guatemala.
