7 News Belize

To Recover A Child…
posted (January 4, 2019)
Last night, we introduced you to Raquel Cocom, the mother from Orange Walk who ended up in a year-long custody battle with the father of her baby daughter. This man, a Russian National who had been living in Belize for 10 years, left back in 2017 with their daughter.

Cocom thought that she was giving permission for her child to be taken on a 2-week-long vacation. Little did Cocom know that her baby's dad had other plans, and he basically kidnapped his own child and held her for an entire year, away from Cocom.

Yesterday, she told our colleagues from CTV 3 that there were points during the custody battle that she nearly gave up due to frustration:

Raquel Cocom - Mother
"Well at the beginning, I could say that I gave a verbal agreement to make my child travel to the U.S but I didn't have any...how can I say, that he was going to do certain things that retain my child to the U.S. So, from that point when I came to realize I discovered some chats, emails and we translated and that's when I got help from Elisa Castellanos and then on we started to move on with the Hague convention. So, we started this about one year so from that year we are fighting to bring my child back to Belize because she's a born Belizean. The situation is that he only told me that they were going for a two-week's vacation, rather than that no more. He didn't tell me that they were going to stay for more time. He's the biological father. She went form here in November 5th 2017, so she was just one year going for 2 years so I have been missing her second birthday, her 3rd birthday. Truly, it has been so hard for me because as a mother in a way losing a child... that she's has been far away. Not seeing her, thing is she's a baby, and growing. Thanks to the good Lord, He's giving me the strength to fight for what I believe is the right thing as a mother, I would fight for my children no matter what, I will fight for them. To Miss Elisa Castellanos, I'm so glad that she has been here for me even though it has been a tough time because they are moments that I may want to throw the towel, I just wanted to leave because it's a year that we have been fighting and we have been spending a lot of money. From there to now, we don't have that money now to cover all the necessitates that we need to travel but thanks to God there have been people here that have been saying that they will help with the flight, the human development, they are going to cover the flight, so I'm so happy. Those people they know who they are, I'm so thankful for them."

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