Troops fire tear gas as migrants try to storm into Mexico

Central American migrants - mostly Hondurans travelling in caravan to the US- cross the Suchiate River, the natural border between , Guatemala, with Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico. (AFP Photo)

Hundreds of Central Americans from a new migrant caravan tried to enter Mexico by force Monday by crossing the river that divides the country from Guatemala, prompting the National Guard to fire tear gas, an AFP correspondent said.

The Central Americans, from the so-called "2020 Caravan" of around 3,500 undocumented migrants, gathered on the Guatemalan side of the Suchiate River at dawn, demanding to be allowed to continue their journey to the United States.

When migration authorities did not respond, they began fording the river, as Mexican troops fired tear gas in an attempt to force them back.