AMBIENCE: sound, traffic ...

WE'RE STANDING ON THE BANKS OF THE SUCHIATE RIVER IN THE GUATEMALAN CITY OF TECUN UMAN ... ON THE OTHER SIDE IS THE MEXICAN STATE OF CHIAPAS... IT'S A BUSY PLACE, EL RIO SUCHIATE ...

AMBIENCE: water sound and kids talking... "Halo, que tal..."

ALONG WITH SWIMMING CHILDREN, THE RIVER IS FULL OF WHAT THEY CALL "CAMAREROS" -- LARGE RAFTS FASHIONED FROM HUGE INNER TUBES THAT FERRY PEOPLE AND MERCHANDISE ACROSS THE WATERS ... THE GUARDS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE BORDER DON'T SEEM TO MIND PEOPLE NOT USING THE INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE TO CROSS. ACCORDING TO A NUMBER OF REPORTS, IN EXCHANGE FOR A PAYMENT, THEY PERMIT THIS INFORMAL CROSSING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN MEXICO AND GUATEMALA ... AND IT IS HERE, ON THE BANKS OF THE SUCHIATE, THAT MANY CENTRAL AMERICANS WAIT, FOR THE RIGHT TIME TO CROSS INTO MEXICO, AND IF THEY'RE LUCKY, EVENTUALLY INTO THE UNITED STATES... ONE OF THEM WAS THIS YOUNG MAN WHO WAS RECENTLY DEPORTED AND NOW WAITS TO GO BACK ...

ACT #1: "I'm from Nicaragua, but I've been in the United States for fourteen years ... WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE NOW? ... What am I doing here? IÕm trying to go back ... thatÕs what I'm trying to do here ... to tell you the truth, everybody trying to do it over there."

INDEED, ONE AGENCY IN THIS BORDER TOWN HAS REPORTED A TEN FOLD INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS CROSSING INTO MEXICO SINCE HURRICANE MITCH SLAMMED INTO CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN LAST OCTOBER ... TAKING THOUSANDS OF LIVES AND THE INFRASTRUCTURES OF HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, AND MOST OF CENTRAL AMERICA BACK HALF A CENTURY ... AND IF IT WAS TRUE BEFORE, IT'S EVEN MORE SO NOW THAT MIGRANTS FROM THOSE COUNTRIES ARE PART OF THE EVERYDAY SCENE IN TECUN UMAN.

ACT #2: "Aqui hay salvadorenos, nicaraguenses, hondurenos, Costa Rica no, Costa Rica tiene muy bien su gente ... y yo creo que asi es pues, digo ahora con el Mitch que paso... pues ellos estan buscando donde sobrevivir, como sobrevivir."

ACT 2: V/O "HERE YOU CAN FIND SALVADORANS, NICARAGUANS, HONDURANS ... NOT MANY FROM COSTA RICA BECAUSE THEY TREAT THEIR PEOPLE WELL... BUT SINCE HURRICANE MITCH, WELL, PEOPLE ARE JUST LOOKING FOR WHERE AND HOW TO SURVIVE ..."

AMBIENCE: STORE

RUBINA MARROQUIN DE VASQUEZ RUNS A SMALL STORE A FEW BLOCKS FROM THE RIVER ... IN THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, SHE'S SEEN TECUN UMAN BECOME MORE AND MORE, A TOWN OF MIGRANTS ...

ACT 3: "Segun ellos van buscando el dolar ... pero a veces unos lo encuentran y otros encuentran la muerte ... entonces, unos y otros que a veces ya no se van a su pais, se quedan aqui, terminan en la calle ... y a veces tambien este ... a veces tambien se quedan haciendo dano ... verdad, como es el ladronismo, pues ellos tienen razon ... pues quien les va dar de comer? afuera de su pais? afuera de su familia?"

ACT 3: V/O "THEY SAY THEY COME LOOKING FOR THE DOLLAR ... BUT OFTEN TIMES, WHAT THEY FIND IS DEATH, ONCE IN A WHILE, THEY RETURN TO THEIR COUNTRY ... BUT MORE OFTEN, THEY WIND UP ON THE STREET, SOMETIMES AS CRIMINALS OR BEGGARS ... BECAUSE WHO'S GONG TO GIVE FEED THEM AWAY FROM THEIR COUNTRY AND AWAY FROM THEIR FAMILY?"

THE STREETS OF TECUN UMAN ARE FILLED WITH MIGRANTS ... NOT ONLY THOSE ON THEIR WAY UP NORTH ... BUT MORE OFTEN, THOSE WHOSE DREAM OF A BETTER LIFE THERE HAS ENDED ... MIGRANTS WHO'VE TRIED GOING NORTH, AND FAILED ... WHO'VE BEEN DEPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES, AND MUCH MORE OFTEN NOW, FROM MEXICO ... THEY SIT IN TECUN UMAN, WITH NO MORE DREAMS, AND NO MORE MONEY.

ACT 4: "Mi nombre es Israel Isaias Estrada ... y yo llegue aqui a Guatemala en la Casa del Migrante porque fuimos deportados de frontera de Matamoros ... frontera de Mexico con Estados Unidos."

THIRTY YEAR OLD ISRAEL ESTRADA HAS BEEN BACK IN TECUN UMAN FOR SEVERAL DAYS NOW ... HE WAS DEPORTED FROM THE MEXICAN BORDER TRYING TO GET TO RELATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES ... HURRICANE MITCH HAD LEFT HIM HOMELESS AND JOBLESS ... HE FIRST CAME TO THIS BORDER TOWN IN FEBRUARY, TRAVELING WITH NELSON JOVANA, AGE 22, AND ALSO FROM HONDURAS ... THE TWO OF THEM TELL A HARROWING STORY.

ACT 5: "Los companeros con que nosotros veniamos a medio camino nos robaron, todo lo que traiamos nos dejaron solo con la ropita que andabamos ... lo mismo hondurenos, luego nos agarro la immigracion, y nos trataron drasticamente mal a uno."

ACT 5: V/O "FIRST OF ALL, THE PEOPLE WE WERE TRAVELING WITH ROBBED US, THEY JUST LEFT US WITH ONLY THE CLOTHES ON OUR BACKS ... AND THEN THE MEXICAN IMMIGRATION PEOPLE ARRESTED US, AND TREATED US VERY BADLY."

ACT 6: "Quiero contarles esto que yo ya creia que no volveria a ver a mi familia."

ACT 6: V/O "I HAVE TO TELL YOU I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER SEE MY FAMILY AGAIN ... WE WERE LOST IN A JUNGLE FOR A MONTH AND A HALF AND COULDN'T GET OUT OF THERE."

AND WHEN THEY DID, NELSON AND ISRAEL DID WHAT SO MANY OTHER MIGRANTS HEADING NORTH FROM THE GUATEMALAN BORDER DO -- THEY RODE ATOP A FREIGHT TRAIN NORTH FROM THE BORDER ... IT'S AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS JOURNEY ... MANY MIGRANTS HAVE FALLEN OFF, LOSING ARMS AND LEGS, AND THERE ARE OTHER DANGERS.

ACT 7: "El caso de nosotros ibamos en el tren y llega una pandilla de la MS que le llaman ellos ... podiamos ver que habian dos jovencitas de 13, 14 bien joven, y las violaron."

ACT 7: V/O "ONE TIME WE WERE RIDING ON TOP OF THE TRAIN, AND A GANG CAME ON, THE ONE THEY CALL MARA SALVATRUCHA ... AND THERE WERE TWO YOUNG GIRLS ABOUT 13 OR 14 YEARS OLD ... THEY RAPED THEM, IN A VERY UGLY WAY ... AND THEN THEY THREATENED TO RAPE US ... WE JUMPED OFF THE MOVING TRAIN, AND SO DID SOME OTHER COMPANEROS, WHO BROKE THEIR LEGS ... WE HAVE SEEN SO MANY TERRIBLE THINGS ... JUST TERRIBLE.""

MIGRANTS LIKE ISRAEL AND NELSON, FAR FROM HOME AND WITH NO MONEY TO RETURN, HAVE HAD FEW OPTIONS IN TECUN UMAN OTHER THAN BEGGING OR STEALING ... BUT FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, A REFUGE CALLED LA CASA DEL MIGRANTE, THE HOME OF THE IMMIGRANT, HAS PROVIDED SOME OF THEM WITH A MEASURE OF HELP ... MEDICAL AID, HOT MEALS AND SHELTER FOR A FEW DAYS.

ACT 8: "BEFORE MITCH WE HAD RECEIVED IN DECEMBER A HUNDRED MIGRANTS, AND LAST DECEMBER WE RECEIVED EIGHT HUNDRED MIGRANTS ... IN JANUARY OF LAST YEAR THREE HUNDRED, AND THIS YEAR A THOUSAND AND THREE HUNDRED."

THAT'S AN INCREASE OF FOUR TO EIGHT HUNDRED PER CENT IN THE NUMBER OF MIGRANTS EVERY MONTH SINCE MITCH OVER LAST YEAR, SAYS FATHER ADEMAR BARRILLI, THE FOUNDER OF THE CASA DEL MIGRANTE ... PRIOR TO COMING TO THIS BORDER, BARRILLI WORKED ON THE OTHER BORDER, HELPING IMMIGRANTS, IN TIJUANA ... ON BOTH BORDERS, HE SAYS, HE'S SEEN A DRAMATIC INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN MEXICO AGAINST CENTRAL AMERICAN IMMIGRANTS.

ACT 9: "Sobre todo son detenciones irregulares, son abusos de autoridad en Mexico, tratos crueles e inhumanos ... los lugares en donde permanecen los imgrantes a veces no tienen agua, no tienen comida ... habido casos en que los imigrantes estuvieron en una sala, una sala hasta con un difunto ... por cuatro dias con un muerto adentro de la sala ... robos, muchisimos, y golpes, por parte de autoridades y por parte de la poblacion civil."

ACT 9: V/O "ABOVE ALL, THERE ARE ILLEGAL DETENTIONS, ABUSES OF AUTHORITY ... THE PLACES WHERE THEY ARE DETAINED OFTEN HAVE NO WATER, THE MIGRANTS ARE NOT FED...THERE WAS A CASE WHERE PEOPLE WHERE KEPT IN A CELL WITH A DEAD BODY FOR FOUR DAYS ... THERE ARE MANY ROBBERIES, BEATINGS, AND THREATS FROM THE CIVILIAN POPULATION, AND THE AUTHORITIES AGAINST THE MIGRANTS ... AND PEOPLE ARE TOO AFRAID TO SAY ANYTHING ... WE ASK PEOPLE THEM, HOW DID YOU GET ALL THE WAY TO MATAMOROS? IT'S BRIBES IT'S BECAUSE THEY'VE PAID UP TO ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS AT EACH IMMIGRATION POST."

MIGRANTS ON THEIR WAY UP NORTH ARE PREY TO EVERYONE, SAYS BARRILLI. THEY HAVE SCRAPED, BEGGED, AND BORROWED IN ORDER TO MAKE THE TRIP. EVERYONE KNOWS THIS, FROM COYOTES, TO FELLOW TRAVELERS, TO MEXICAN IMMIGRATION AGENTS ... AND THAT'S SOMETHING, SAYS BARRILLI, THAT THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT IS NOT WILLING TO ADMIT.

ACT 10: "Lo mismo que Mexico exije de Estados Unidos, no lo esta cumpliendo en el sur ... por eso digo que casi todos los gobiernos solo miran hacia el norte, no miran hacia el sur ... no quieren ver lo que pasa en la espalda y son las peores cosas que estan pasando..."

ACT 10: V/O "THE VERY THING THAT MEXICO DEMANDS OF THE UNITED STATES, IT'S NOT DOING ON IT'S SOUTHERN BORDER. THAT'S WHY I SAY THAT GOVERNMENTS ONLY LOOK TO THE NORTH, NOT TO THE SOUTH ... AND THAT'S WHERE THE WORSE THINGS ARE TAKING PLACE."

BUT DESPITE THE TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES THEY MAY FACE, THE MIGRANTS HE SAYS WILL KEEP ON COMING.

ACT 11: "Los migrantes no se van a detener ... se ha hecho una ayuda a corto plazo para el Mitch ... pero los migrantes no van a comer solo una semana o un mes ... van a seguir comiendo."

ACT 11: V/O "NOTHING IS GOING TO STOP THE MIGRANTS ... SOME COUNTRIES HAVE RECEIVED SHORT TERM HELP AFTER MITCH ... BUT PEOPLE CAN'T JUST EAT FOR A WEEK OR A MONTH. THEY HAVE TO KEEP ON EATING."

FATHER BARRILLI BECOMES PASSIONATE WHEN HE SPEAKS ABOUT SO MANY THINGS HE'D LIKE FOR POLITICIANS AND GOVERNMENTS TO DO ... LONG TERM PROJECTS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE THAT WOULD HELP POOR CENTRAL AMERICANS MAKE A DECENT LIVING ... MORE IMMEDIATELY, HONDURANS. NICARAGUANS, AND SALVADORANS, HE SAYS, ARE NOT DEPORTED ANY FURTHER THAN TECUN UMAN ... HE WANTS THE GOVERNMENTS OF THESE COUNTRIES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR CITIZENS LEFT AT HIS AND GUATEMALAÕS DOORSTEP.

ACT 12: "Tambien nosotros queremos concientizar un poco a la poblacion que miren esas obras sociales ... y tambien que se esta usando el migrante como chivo expiatorio ... se esta usando el imigrante para hacer muchas cosas ... para enriquezer a mucha gente ... se usa el imigrante que trae beneficios desde Estados Unidos, pero desde aqui que tambien y desde otros lugares, no se esta haciendo mucho para los imigrantes."

ACT 12: V/O "WE WANT TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT WHAT SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS LIKE OURS ARE DOING WITHOUT GOVERNMENT SUPPORT... ABOUT THE FACT THAT EVERYONE USES THE MIGRANTS AS A SCAPEGOAT. EVERYONEÕS GETTING RICH OFF THE MIGRANTS, BUT NO ONE IS DOING THAT MUCH FOR THEM."

FATHER ADEMAR BARRILLI, BORN IN BRAZIL, BELONGS TO THE MISSIONARY ORDER KNOWN AS THE SCALABRINI FATHERS ... THEY'RE NAMED AFTER AN ITALIAN PRIEST, JUAN BAUTISTA SCALABRINI, WHO DEVOTED HIS LIFE TO MAKING LIFE BETTER FOR MIGRANTS FROM ITALY ... IN THE LATE EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS, SCALABRINI, TRAVELED TO MINISTER TO ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, AND ARGENTINA ... SCALABRINI WAS CALLED THE APOSTLE OF MIGRANTS ... NOW HIS PICTURE HANGS IN THE CASA DEL MIGRANTE IN TECUN UMAN ... THE COUNTRIES, AND THE BORDERS MAY CHANGE, SAYS FATHER BARRILI, BUT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MIGRANTS.

FOR LATINO USA, I'M MARIA MARTIN.