Mexico president blames migrant caravans on smugglers

Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador says that recent caravans of Central American migrants were organized by human smugglers.

Lpez Obrador’s remarks Thursday were his most direct about the origins of the migrant caravans that transited Mexico last year and early this year and more closely parallel the position of U.S. immigration authorities. He had previously suggested the caravans had been infiltrated.

Lpez Obrador said smugglers ” charge considerable amounts to transport migrants and they are the ones who organize these caravans. It’s not that they arise spontaneously. It’s a network that exists. ”

He said those smugglers are committing a crime and Mexico is cracking down on them.

The president’s comments came after several days of protests by migrants outside an immigration detention center in the southern city of Tapachula.