Mexico detains migrant who would have caused the fire in the Ciudad Juárez detention center

Authorities in Mexico confirmed the capture of the migrant accused of causing the fire that killed 39 people in a detention center for undocumented foreigners in Ciudad Juárez, on the border with the United States.

Until now, the General Prosecutor of the Republic had announced the arrest of five of those allegedly responsible for the tragedy that occurred last Monday night, although without specifying whether the migrant was one of those people.

A judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of six suspects: three officials from the Migration’s national institute (INM), two private security guards and the migrant, accused of homicide and injuries.

The capture of a private guard remains to be carried out, said the prosecutor specializing in Human Rights, Sara Irene Herrerías, at a press conference.

Herrerías did not reveal the nationality or the name of the migrant who allegedly set fire to mattresses in the cell where he was staying with 67 other menin the midst of a protest over a possible deportation.

Local media assure that it is a Venezuelan citizen.

“As for the migrant, (the arrest) was made with the consular attention (of the country of origin), once it was requested and the arrest warrant was granted,” said the prosecutor.

In the events, 18 Guatemalans, seven Salvadorans, seven Venezuelans, six Hondurans and one Colombian died. other 28 people were injuredof which four have already been discharged.

The immigration station was closed, the Secretary of Security, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, announced at the same conference.

we are not criminals

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has guaranteed that the case will not go unpunished, traveled to Ciudad Juárez this Friday to verify medical care for the survivors.

Several of them are still in serious condition, especially due to “severe burns of the respiratory tract,” due to which they receive mechanical ventilation, the General Hospital in Ciudad Juárez reported this Friday, where eleven of the injured are hospitalized.

A man suffered the amputation of four fingers on one hand, the report added.

López Obrador held meetings at a school in the city, a neighbor of Step, Texas. Half a hundred migrants demonstrated in front of the building to denounce that they are being criminalized for trying to seek a better future in the United States.

“We are not criminals. We have been fleeing our countries as a result of bad policies,” a man with a microphone harangued.

The Secretary of Security promised to investigate the complaints of human rights violations by INM personnel.

In parallel, television media showed dozens of migrants as they walked this Friday along a highway in the southern state of Chiapas, after escaping from a detention center in the municipality of Berriozábal.

“We just want to reach our destination, here people treated us like dogs. They have us like in a jail,” a woman with a child on her shoulders told the Milenio network.

I complain to me

Earlier, in his usual press conference, López Obrador renewed his demand that the United States allocate more resources to prevent irregular migration in poor regions of Latin America.

Without detailing the figure, the president said that Washington’s investment in Central America pales in comparison to the billions of dollars it has allocated in military aid for Ukraine to face the Russian invasion.

In the United States “they have a conception of wanting to face social problems only with the use of force, and the causes are not addressed,” but “we are going to continue insisting,” said the president.

The president recalled that Mexico has allocated 100 million dollars to social programs in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, which according to him has contributed to dissuading many young people from leaving their communities.

However, he recognized that a temporary visa program adopted by Biden has helped to reduce the migratory flow “considerably”, and advocated that any aid be delivered directly and not through NGOs, which he even accused of trafficking with the need of the people.

López Obrador also announced a “reform” to the INM, which manages immigration detention centers.