Guatemalan Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note to the US State Department asking to monitor the case and determine cause of death.
RAXRUHA, GUATEMALA(TIP): The body of a seven-year-old girl who died while in custody of the US Border Patrol arrived in her native Guatemala on Sunday, December 23 and was being driven hours into the countryside to be handed over to family members for a last goodbye.
A white coffin containing Jakelin Caal was received in the afternoon at Guatemala City’s international airport by representatives of the country’s Foreign Ministry and then loaded into the back of a black hearse by workers in orange vests.
No family members were on hand. Domingo Caal, the girl’s grandfather, told The Associated Press that the family didn’t have enough money to travel from their poor hamlet to Guatemala’s capital.
At Domingo Caal’s home in the village of San Antonio Secortez, in the department of Alta Verapaz, relatives set up a small wooden altar flanked by vases overflowing with flowers, with photographs of Jakelin and the hand-lettered message, “We miss you.” Behind the house, dozens of women prepared tamales and beans to feed mourners.
Relatives expected the body to arrive in the pre-dawn hours Monday in the hamlet of about 420 people who mostly live off growing corn and beans. The village has no paved streets, running water or electricity, and residents say declining crop yields and a lack of work have pushed many in the community to emigrate in recent years.
(Source: The Independent)