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59-year-old Elvira Choc, Jakelin's grandmother Amei Rosmery Caal, lays her head on her hand in front of her home in Raxruha, Guatemala on Saturday, December 15, 2018. The 7 A one-year-old girl died in a Texas hospital two days after being stopped by Border Patrol officers in a remote corner of the New Mexico desert. (AP Photo / Oliver de Ros)
GUATEMALA CITY – The body of a 7-year-old girl who died while he was in the custody of the US Border Patrol arrived Sunday in his home country, Guatemala , and was driven several hours to the countryside to be handed over to his family. A last goodbye.
A white coffin containing Jakelin Caal was received in the afternoon at Guatemala City International Airport by representatives of the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then loaded into the back of the country. a black hearse by workers in orange vest. [19659005] No family members were present. Domingo Caal, the girl 's grandfather, told The Associated Press that the family did not have money to travel from their poor hamlet to the Guatemalan capital.
At Domingo Caal, in the village of San Antonio Secortez, in the department of Alta Verapaz. parents set up a small wooden altar flanked by vases filled with flowers, with photographs of Jakelin and the handwritten message "We miss you". Behind the house, dozens of women have prepared tamales and beans to feed those in mourning.
Relatives were waiting for the body to arrive Monday before dawn in the hamlet of about 420 people who live mainly from growing maize and beans. The village has no paved streets, running water, or electricity, and locals say that declining yields and lack of work have caused many community members to emigrate in recent years.
Caal and his father, Nery Caal, traveled with a group of 163 migrants who arrived at the New Mexico border earlier this month. After their arrest on December 6, the father told an American officer that the girl was sick and vomited.
The father signed a paper stating that Jakelin was in good health, but we do not know how much he understood what. It said. The form was in English and the agents read it in Spanish.
A bus carrying the two men left the Antelope Wells port of entry for Lordsburg Station, about 90 minutes away. According to a declaration by the Customs and Border Protection, Jakelin's temperature reached 40.7 degrees Celsius (105.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Emergency medical technicians had to revive her.
She was then flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died the next day.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Marta Larra, said the ministry had sent a diplomatic note to the minister. The US State Department asks him to follow the case and determine the cause of death.
Domingo Caal said that his son had a date on January 3rd in the United States to determine his migratory status.
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Journalist Sonia Perez D. of San Antonio Secortez, Guatemala, contributed to this report.
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