Caravan of migrants in Mexico starts moving towards US

New Mexico government has pledged to curb migrant flow

Central American migrants remain at a warehouse used as shelter in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, in teh border with the US on February 14, 2019.  Around 1,700 migrants traveling in caravan reached the US-Mexican border last week. / AFP / Julio Cesar AGUILAR
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A caravan of about 1,200 migrants from Central America and Cuba began moving towards the US border from southern Mexico this weekend, migration authorities said.

The National Migration Institute said the migrants were already inside Mexico when they opted to form a caravan in the southern city of Tapachula on the border with Guatemala.

Early on Saturday, the large group of people set off towards the town of Huixtla in the southern state of Chiapas, a route followed by previous groups heading north, the institute said.

Caravans of migrants bound for the US have sparked friction with US President Donald Trump, who has accused Mexico of failing to contain illegal immigration and wants a border wall built to stop people crossing.

The new government of leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has pledged to curb the migrant flows by better regulating the movement of people, and by offering job opportunities and better pay for those willing to stay.

The migration institute said the migrants were from Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba.