Not the cake walk they were expecting. Guerrero is a suspect in a 1987 bombing in Honduras that targeted and wounded American soldiers. He was also part of a group which claimed responsibility for a plane hijacking which again involved Americans.
Members of the migrant caravan, backed by Pueblo Sin Fronteras, kicked Alfonso Guerrero out of the El Barretal shelter Tuesday morning after a tense confrontation over a proposed march.
Guerrero, who last week delivered a letter to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana asking President Donald Trump to give each migrant $50,000 to go back home, tried to organize a follow-up march about 6 a.m. Tuesday.
About 30 of his supporters joined the march. But as they left El Barretal a group of 40 migrants stopped them.
“What he wants to do will hurt the entire caravan, especially the women and children,” said Luis Cruz, 41, of Pueblo Sin Fronteras. “That is why we stopped him and asked authorities to remove him from the shelter.”
Municipal and federal police detained Guerrero for “altering the public order” by trying to organize a march to the border, according to their press release.
Guerrero’s supporter dispute that claim. They insist the peaceful march was to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana and the purpose was to follow up on last week’s letter.
Tuesday’s confrontation revealed an ongoing power struggle within the caravan. The group of migrants who removed Guerrero said he had no authority to speak on behalf of the caravan while his supporters say Guerrero stepped up when other leaders abandoned them.
“The problem is that this man wrote a letter demanding $50,000,” said Walter Coello Burtillo, 41, of Honduras. “Here, nobody speaks on behalf of the entire caravan and if they do we hold an assembly first so the people can decide. The assembly rules.”
Burtillo, who said he supports Pueblo Sin Fronteras but is not a member of the organization, said the caravan has not organized an assembly in the last two weeks. He insisted there would be an assembly in El Barretal Tuesday about 6 p.m.
“There is no direction, there is division,” he said. “We need to organize.”
Burtillo recorded a video of Guerrero, draped in an Honduran flag, being taken away. People shouted, “out, out,” as a police officer put him inside the vehicle.