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A Mexican artist' s large sculpture in the shape of a coyote , also a word used for people smugglers , provides United States-bound migrants with water, a map of their intended route , a list of shelters , and even medicine .
And it does so with no strings attached.
"This is a coyote that's there to give, not take away. It's a way to extend a hand to a migrant who gets off the train confused, who doesn't know where to go," Alfredo "Libre" Gutiérrez , a native of the northwestern border city of Tijuana, said in a telephone interview with EFE.
Gutiérrez
has been making drawings of coyotes in several areas of the country as a show of solidarity with undocumented migrants , but he came up with the idea for the sculpture a year ago when he began working with these people at a shelter in Tacubaya , southwest of downtown Mexico City .
The sculpture , located at the Lecheria station in the central state of Mexico , is made of recycled wood, stands 2.6 meters tall, contains a map of Mexico on its left side and a list of the 85 migrant shelters in 21 Mexican states with their addresses and telephone numbers on its right side.
The goal of this work of art , which costs between MXN $60,000-70,000 (between USD $3,218-$3,755), depending on transportation costs, is to let migrants know that they are not alone and that someone is concerned about their plight.
"I've been able to hear migrants ' stories over the past few months. Many of them don't know which states they have to cross to get to the United States , and that's why I decided to put the map of Mexico on the coyote and a list of 85 shelters to facilitate their journey ," Gutiérrez said.
The coyote 's tail also offers a space for people to leave water or medicine .
The artist said he planned to make several of the sculptures and place them near stations where a northbound cargo train known as "La Bestia" stops. The idea is for them to serve as a link between local residents an d Central American migrants crossing Mexico from south to north aboard the train .
Undocumented Central American migrants
who undertake the hazardous journey across Mexico in hopes of reaching the U.S. are vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers .
They also are often preyed upon by corrupt Mexican officials and by gangs who kidnap them or try to recruit them into their ranks or target them in extortion schemes.
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