Freie Universität Berlin
Lateinamerika-Institut
Migration in den Amerikas, SoSe 2021
Theodoros Iliadis
5077906
La Bestia
The Train of death
“Como le puedes llamar de otra manera… la bestia… la bestia es el mismo diablo… es la bestia un diablo de acero que si no tienes cuidado te quita la vida en cualquier momento. Caiga quien caiga en la vía no se va a detener… sigue su camino”
In this short paper I try to give an overview of La Bestia – The Train of death, which has a central position in Central-North American migrations. The information is primarily derived from articles in established newspapers in many different countries and in documentaries and video archives online. It feels odd using words and even worse numbers to treat topics of such enormous human suffering, but still it is a useful endeavour.
La Bestia is a series of commercial train lines that connect the south with the north Mexican border. Their primary function is to act as an artery of raw materials coming from Central America and southern Mexico. Over the years it has been recognized as a choice of preference for thousands of migrants from CA who try to reach the US border. The reason that they board this train is on the one hand because it is free, i.e. they don’t pay ticket as they board on the roof and between the wagons illegally, and on the other hand because they don’t otherwise know the way north- it is very easy to get lost- and because they are not very often searched- although they occasionally do- get searched by la Migra, the feared Mexican “immigrant police”.
The following picture shows the route followed by the trains. As can be read from the map, two different lines start from the south of Mexico and they eventually merge in Veracruz. From there three different lines start with direction to the north. The first and shortest one- and arguably the most dangerous- is the eastern one which reaches the Rio Grande Valley. The middle one ends in Ciudad Juarez with possible entry points in western Texas and New Mexico. Finally, the western line ends near the border with Arizona and California.
The biggest sub-group is formed by Honduran migrants and it is also the group about which the most data is available. It is being reported that 700 Hondurans have suffered mutilations during the journey, losing arms, legs, or both. The train has many sharp turns and it also has to press the breaks, which can cause people to fall from it, especially during the night when many are sleeping. The mood of the driver is also a question of life or death for the migrants depending of whether he goes fast or relatively slow. Other dangers include low-lying branches, especially in the dense jungles of the south, that have also caused people who were inattentive to fall off. But the worst danger of all, maybe unsurprisingly, is the human factor. Attacks by armed bandits are all but infrequent and the abuse suffered by people is difficult to comprehend. There are broad statistics that suggest that 80% of women have experienced rape and sexual violation and 60% of men physical abuse, mainly when they fight or speak back. And this is only one aspect. There are many reports about abductions, forced recruitment, even assassinations. The train itself does not have a public schedule exactly with the aim that bandits won´t know when it is going to pass. This of course leads to migrants often on days on end near the rails not knowing when the train is going to pass nor of course where and when it is going to stop, so that people have to jump on it while the train still moves, and many do so with their children.
There are notable differences between the first and second half of the journey. In the first have most migrants have also to deal with hunger and thrist as there are few population centers on the way and therefore scant food and water rations. If it doesn’t rain, it is possible to resort to trying to catch cocos when the train stops to drink its water and it is also possible to resort to eating leaves in some cases. This situation of need normally comes to an end when the train reaches the state of Veracruz, as there is a center along the rails called Las Patronas which is dedicated to supplying migrants with food and water. It is an initiative of locals, mainly mothers and abuelas, hence the name, which is supported financially mainly through donations of local businesses. They prepare basic meals, normally consisting of tortillas, rice and beans, put them in plastic boxes, and then in a plastic bag which they seal tightly and then throw on the train while it is passing.
Then there remain around 1000 km to the US border, at which point the train change. The trains to the north are more modern and faster which makes them also more dangerous for the migrants. Of course, significantly less migrants get to change trains as many could not make it until that point, either because of serious injury and even mutilation or because they chose to not take the risk and try another way. The last part of the journey has other challenges. On the one hand, the train in the north has to cross big deserts which are on average on an altitude of around 2000 m. This makes it extremely hot in the day and extremely cold in the winter. On the other hand, the danger of armed groups, especially those connected with drug cartels, are significantly increased in the north as there is less presence of the state there and relative impunity for criminals. One informant called the place a desert graveyard.
For those “fortunate” enough to reach the end, the “adventure” does not end there; in many cases it just begins. In later years it has becomes incomparably harder to cross the border and many do not make it and have to stay in Mexico or get deported. It is not uncommon for deportees to start over the journey with the bestia again in order to have a second chance. Often groups form around these “veterans”, often with people of the same home province, so as to have someone who knows the perils of the way and how to better deal with them. It has also become more common for families to try together, not least because under certain US legislation- which got repealed during some time of the Trump administration- there is special status for migrant children and it is significantly more difficult to deport a parent with a child on US soil. For this reason, the US is pouring great amounts of money to Mexico with the aim to contain the problem there. La Migra is financed partly with US means, Mexico has established more checkpoints and has stepped up raids in migrant camps and the bestia. Mexico is under heavy pressure to intensify its controls and has put measures in place like hefty fines for truckers and motorists that give lifts to migrants; all the more reason for migrants to assume the perilous journey with the bestia as alternatives dry up.
It is difficult for an external observer to comprehend what can drive someone to such a scary and realistically dangerous act as to board the bestia in order to reach the US border. To understand such a decision it is necessary to look into the situation many of the migrants left behind- which in many cases looks extremely worse, as many were threatened by the maras even for reasons as obscure as a gang member´s anger over some family member of the victim. It is necessary to look into what alternatives there are and which there are not; for example, it is seldom possible to hitchhike because of the fine for the driver for picking up migrants and of the risk of being abducted; it is possibly even more dangerous to take local buses, as this makes it more possible that the police is alarmed and arrests them (the police has a reputation of being as abusive as criminal groups in many occasions especially in areas of limited statehood); the alternative to walk sounds also unrealistic, because the journey comprehends thousands of kilometres more often than not through difficult terrain and again with a bigger chance of being detected by the police (this does not mean of course that there are none who choose this alternative).
Under the light of such considerations, it becomes more understandable why many people would choose la bestia despite its risks. It is relatively fast, they know were they are going, they have less chance of being arrested by the police and they have other migrants to fall back on in case of need. Most of them are, however, conscious of risks involved. Many women, for example, take pills for the probable case that they will be raped on the journey either by gang or police members, so as to avoid becoming pregnant. But even if someone begins to understand the conditions of the situation, it does not make the situation itself any less horrible. Migrant routes, whether in the Mexican deserts or the Aegean waters, are graveyards that give testament to the current state of humanity.
Bibliography
Mcdonnell, Patrick. “As Mexico Cracks down on Migrants, More Risk the Dangerous Train Known as La Bestia.” Los Angeles Times. June 2, 2019. https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-la-bestia-20190602-story.html.
Schrank, Delphine. “Victims of ‘La Bestia,’ Mexico’s Notorious Migrant Train, Learn to Walk Again.” Reuters, August 22, 2019. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-mexico-idUSKCN1VC1XO.
Valeria, Luiselli. “Riding ‘the Beast’: Child Migrants Reveal Full Horror of Their Journeys to America.” The Guardian, n.d. https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/oct/05/riding-the-beast-child-migrants-reveal-full-horror-of-their-journeys-to-us.
Wilson, Sayre. “Riding ‘The Beast’ Across Mexico To The U.S. Border.” Npr, June 5, 2014. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/06/05/318905712/riding-the-beast-across-mexico-to-the-u-s-border.
ARTEDocumentary
PS. For those interested, there is this incredible and terribly eloquent animated short film of the experience of riding la bestia
Tags: Dokumentarfilm
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