WASHINGTON/GUATEMALA CITY--President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to deploy the military and close the southern U.S. border if Mexico does not halt a caravan of Central America migrants heading north, raising the risk of huge disruptions to trade.
Stretching almost 2,000 miles (3,200 km), the U.S.-Mexican border is one of the busiest in the world, processing thousands of commuters daily and much of the half a trillion dollars of annual trade between Mexico and the United States.
"I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
Several thousand Honduran migrants moved this week through Guatemala, and some were trying to cross to Mexico on Thursday, local media said. Some hope to eventually enter the United States to escape violence and poverty.
Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in the northern city of Saltillo on Thursday that his designated foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, would speak with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday to explore a solution to the caravan issue.
"An agreement can be reached," said Lopez Obrador, who takes office in December. "We're going to take care of our relationship with the United States government. It's very important to have a relationship of friendship."
Trump told a political rally in Montana on Thursday night that he wanted "to thank the Mexican government because they are stopping it hopefully before it ever gets to Mexico."
Central American migrants hiked from Honduras through muddy jungle and residential streets, some toting babies along with backpacks, Reuters images show. In Guatemala City, where migrant shelters filled with people, waves of people departed at daybreak on roads leading to Mexico. The nearest border is about 110 miles (177 km) away.
"If we don't get across, we're going to try the same thing again," said Gustavo Perez, a builder from Honduras, speaking at a shelter in Guatemala City.
"We hope that in this big caravan group, they let us in," he added, referring to the United States.
Mexico's peso weakened over 1.5 percent against the dollar on Thursday, partly driven by Trump's comments, analysts said. Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it would ask the United Nations refugee agency for help coordinating with Central American governments on people seeking refugee status at Mexico's southern border.
Trump, who has sought to curtail immigration and build a border wall on the Mexican border, threatened this week to halt aid if Central American governments did not act. Trump ran for office vowing to toughen U.S. immigration policies and build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Illegal immigration is likely to be a top issue in Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections.
Trump said migrants in the caravan were being used by his political opponents. "A lot of money has been passing to people to come up to try and get to the border by Election Day," he said, without providing evidence.
