Dangers Of Traveling In Chiapas

Chiapas is Mexico’s southernmost state and is known as “the beast” because of the dangers such as needing to follow the rules of not riding buses, not riding trains alone, and never trusting anyone. Chiapas is also dangerous because the trains that the illegal immigrants travel on often maim or seriously injure them, and there are many bandits hiding in the woods. Enrique learned that when traveling in Chiapas, he must not ride buses because they pass through many immigration checkpoints, riding on trains is safest when there is fog so that the immigration police won’t notice him, and don’t trust anyone because most residents of Chiapas despise the immigrants. Although the trains have advantages to other methods of traveling, they are also
quite dangerous because their wheels can grind up the riders when they aren’t fast enough. An example of this is a seventeen-year-old boy named Carlos Roberto, who had his leg sliced off by the rapid train wheels. The immigrants also face the danger of encountering bandits who are hiding and waiting for unsuspecting travelers. The bandits use candy or money to hire children as lookouts and pretend to be a fieldworker until the immigrants approach and they spring their traps. Chiapas is one of the most dangerous parts of the travelers’ journeys, and they will need dedication and strategy to survive.