Mexican officials cut off new migrant caravan

Mexican forces cut off a new migrant caravan bound for the U.S. on Sunday, breaking up the main group near the southern town of Huixtla and detaining several people.

Before dawn, agents with riot shields and batons bore down on the group of around 400 people - coming from Central America, Haiti and Venezuela - and surrounding them on the edge of town.

Hundreds of migrants, many accompanied by children or carrying babies in their arms, fled for the banks of the River Huixtla.

An eyewitness told Reuters some officials threw stones at members of the group to detain them.

As dawn came, some stragglers continued to resist against authorities.

The Mexican National Guard and the National Institute of Migration have been accused of using excessive force in their intervention.

Local priest and migrant advocate Heyman Vazquez, described the early morning swoop as an "inhumane" and "cruel" abuse of power that spread fear and alarm among travelers.

"I know that our president is stubborn and he always says that things have changed, that the national guard are honest. I think some of them might be honest, but he needs to recognize that many elements in the national guard aren't honest, they are corrupt and especially the National Migration Institute."

The Mexican government recently condemned acts of violence captured on video against a previous caravan.

Mexican authorities ramped up crackdowns on caravans, after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he wanted undocumented migrants to stay in Southern Mexico.

The number of children seeking to cross Mexico to get to the U.S. has risen dramatically since the start of this year, as many families try to flee poverty, violence and natural disasters.