Jeff Abbott
Despite heavy rains, hundreds of supporters from surrounding communities traveled to meet the caravan bringing Claudia's body home.
The weather seemed to match the mood on May 31, as the remains of twenty-year-old Claudia Goméz Gonzalez arrived late in the afternoon to Salcaja, in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, near her home in the village of La Union las Mendoza. The heavy rains did not stop hundreds of supporters from the surrounding indigenous Maya Mam communities from traveling to meet the caravan carrying Gonzalez’s remains.
Claudia Gonzalez was shot in the head by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on May 23 as she tried to cross the border in Río Bravo, Texas.
A local resident, Marta Martinez, filmed events following the murder on a cellphone and uploaded the video to Facebook. Customs and Border Protection officials initially claimed the agent was attacked by a group of migrants, but later softened this to say the group ran at the agent.
“The people from the United States are received well in Guatemala, but when our brothers and sisters arrive to the U.S., they are treated like animals.”
U.S. Border Patrol agents have become increasingly aggressive in their response to migrants seeking to cross the border with Mexico. Since 2010, at least 97 people have been killed by Border Patrol agents, including the 2013 shooting of José Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was shot eighteen times. The agent, Lonnie Swartz was acquitted in 2017 of the murder.
“How can something like this happen in a developed country and a country of laws?” asked Sergio Mendez, Claudia’s cousin, at the service held for her. “This is unacceptable. This is not even acceptable in third world countries.”
The murder has deeply affected Claudia’s family and rocked the Mam communities of western Guatemala. Many people waiting to meet the caravan were already indignant over Trump’s recent comments comparing some migrants to “animals.”
Two hours before the caravan with Claudia’s body arrived in Salcaja, a group of indigenous women blocked the highway leading to Guatemala’s second-largest city, Quetzaltenango, in protest of her murder.
“The people from the United States are received well in Guatemala, but when our brothers and sisters arrive to the U.S., they are treated like animals,” said one woman from San Juan Ostuncalco as people gathered at the landmark monument honoring migrants in Salcaja. “This is unjust.”
On June 1, Claudia’s family held a wake at the family’s home in La Union las Mendoza. Hundreds of people attended to pay their respects.
“We came to give our condolences to the family for this cruel act,” said Carlos Gomez, a resident of a nearby community.
Jeff Abbott
Claudia's family described her as a loving and dedicated young woman with a goal of continuing her education.
The show of solidarity humbled the family.
“There are no words to describe the support from the community,” Mendez said. “The support is immense. It has come from not only the community but people in the U.S, Puerto Rico, Honduras, and other places.”
As people lined up in to pay their respects, the women of La Union los Mendoza collectively prepared Ta'l ich (in the language Maya Mam), a traditional beef soup, to feed those who arrived to give their respects.
The Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has yet to comment on the incident.
“They have not contacted us or offered support,” said Claudia’s aunt, Domingo Vicente. “I ask the president, what do you think of the case of my niece?”
Claudia’s family described her as being a loving young woman who was dedicated to working towards her goals, including continuing her education. She left Guatemala to travel to the United States in order to earn money to continue her studies, with hopes of eventually working in a company in Guatemala.
Many other Guatemalans are forced to leave for similar reasons, especially from the departments of Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, and Huehuetenango, which have some of the highest rates of migration.
According to the World Bank, at least 59.3 percent of Guatemala’s population currently lives in poverty, especially in rural communities. Nearly 80 percent of those affected by poverty are indigenous peoples, who continue to lack access to state-supported services despite agreements for their inclusion in the 1996 peace accords that ended the country’s thirty-six-year-long internal armed conflict.
Many farmers in La Union las Mendoza struggle to support their families. Most have between two and five small plots that do not exceed twenty meters squared. To subsidize their production, farmers either rent land on the coast or migrate to the United States.
“Many young women travel to the U.S. because there is no work here, there are necessities, and there is poverty,” Vicente said. “If there was work here, then they would not go to other countries. They leave to improve their lives.”
The lack of access to social services owes largely to one of Guatemala’s major problems: corruption.
“The corruption in Guatemala forces many people out of their communities, and has forced our people to risk their lives on the borders,” said Eduardo Jimenez, who works with the Asociación Grupo Cajola and helped return Claudia’s body to Guatemala. “We are pushed from our communities and cultures to migrate.”
Economic migrants face a perilous journey.
For every dollar the Guatemalan government spends on social services in ladino, or non-indigenous communities, only forty-five cents is invested in indigenous communities, according to data from the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies. This disparity, coupled with historic discrimination, has driven many to migrate to the United States.
“There is money here in Guatemala, but the government makes poor investments,” Vicente said. “They do not give attention to providing education. They spend their time focusing on the wealthy, and not the poor. How can a farmer pay for a good education for their children when they earn so little?”
And as Claudia Gonzalez’s experience underscores, economic migrants face a perilous journey. According to human rights organizations working on the border, U.S. border enforcement agencies are fueling a missing persons crisis, involving thousands of people disappeared, including at least 544 migrants in 2015 alone. Many others disappear during the journey through Mexico.
“There are many cases that have remained uninvestigated,” Jimenez said. “The violence at the hands of the governments of the U.S., Mexico, and the drug traffickers is all part of the system. The death of Claudia should lead to the awakening for organizations, communities, and governments, that they will begin to work for justice and give a better opportunity for the people.”
Claudia’s family buried her on the morning of June 2. But, as her aunt notes, they continues to demand justice for her murder.
“My niece did not go to the U.S. to rob, and she did not have a weapon to justify how [the border agent] treated her,” Vicente said. “This pains us. We hope that he faces justice.”
Jeff Abbott is an independent journalist currently based in Guatemala. His work has appeared in NACLA Report on the Americas, Truthout, and In These Times as well as The Progressive. Follow him on Twitter @palabrasdeabajo.