Mike Pence: Honduras President Says Migrant Caravan Is Funded by Venezuela

"Organized by leftist groups in Honduras, financed by Venezuela"

Vice President Mike Pence said that Venezuela may be funding the migrant caravan heading towards the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I spoke to President Hernandez of Honduras. He told me that the caravan that’s now making its way through Mexico headed for the southern border was organized by leftist organizations and financed by Venezuela,” Pence said in a video alongside President Donald Trump on Oct. 23.

“What the President [of] Honduras told me, [this] was organized by leftist groups in Honduras, financed by Venezuela, and sent north to challenge our sovereignty and challenge our border,” Pence also told The Washington Post, which uploaded a live video of his statements to one of its reporters.

In the clip, Pence said he held discussions with Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales and Mexican officials about the caravan, which is believed to be 7,200-strong.

Meanwhile, the vice president defended President Donald Trump’s statement that people from the Middle East make up part of the caravan.

“It’s inconceivable that there are not people of Middle Eastern descent in a crowd of more than 7,000 people advancing toward our border,” Pence said. “In the last fiscal year, we apprehended more than 10 terrorists or suspected terrorists per day at our southern border from countries that are referred to in the lexicon as ‘other than Mexico’—that means from the Middle East region.”

A migrant caravan walks into the interior of Mexico after crossing the Guatemalan border near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on Oct. 21, 2018. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Honduran authorities say that at least two men have died so far on Mexican roads during the advance of the caravan. One of the men fell off a truck in Mexico, and the other died trying to get onto a truck in Guatemala, authorities said, according to Reuters.

The caravan, according to the news agency, is about 1,110 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Oct. 18 that he’s going to stop aid to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala due to those countries not stopping the caravan and “seem to have almost no control over their population.”

He added: “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!.”

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