The Guatemalan Perspective...

I decided to move this up to the top (instead of buried in the comments) because it is an important lesson in understanding in the Guatemala Perspective. The translation is in black and I added my comments in blue italics.

{English translation sent to us by Esperanza}

Esperanza wrote: What follows is my husband's translation of an article that appeared in the Prensa Libre newspaper in Guatemala City on Saturday, July 1, 2006. You can read the original article (in Spanish) at: http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2006/julio/01/145715.html. Perhaps it helps explain some of the reported slowdown in the PGN's processing of cases (?).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alarm over the theft of children By: Olga López

More than 25 children have been stolen in the first half of this year,and organizations that watch over this sector of the population are expressing fear that they are being illegally sold for adoptions. Groups supporting the welfare of children back up their perceptions with statistics from the National Civil Police (PNC), where it has been reported that the theft of minors from 0 to 3 years old has increased, on the streets and in public hospitals. Investigators say that these are the ages that child thieves prefer, because they are not yet able to speak well.

In Central America, children are often stolen for prostitution and slavery which is unrelated to adoption. The DNA test makes it quite difficult to steal a child for adoption since the majority of adoptions are to US citizens. If an attempt is made to process it as an abandonment, then it becomes a lengthy process where the court attempts to find the birth mother or birth family.

The PN has also received 10 reports from the la Procuraduría General de la Nación (PGN), that it has detected irregularities in the processing of adoptions. Josefina Arellano, head of the office of Children, from the PGN, states that DNA tests have detected that many children are not the children of the women who have placed them for adoption.

I would love to know statistics here. I would not be surprised that there would be some findings of children who did not match with the relinquisher. However, this is why the DNA match is necessary to deter folks from such dispicable actions. I have also seen that sometimes birthmother's in fear have abandoned their children with relatives, with midwives or aquaintances in hopes that they will not be detected. In ANY case where there is a DNA mismatch, the adoption would not be allowed to go through and the child and case goes to the Court of Minors which is tasked with investigating. The point of any law or *test* should be in order to CATCH predators..but it cannot prevent attempts to circumvent the law.

As for the irregularities of PGN....well, yeah...seems that PGN has had a hard time figuring out what constitutes a legitimate adoption. Somehow, stalling the cases or inventing issues does not seem to be the answer. Seems to me that the biggest irregularity in PGN is PGN itself!

The Attorney General, Mario Gordillo, predicts that there will be an increase in the number of adoptions this year, due to the warning from the United States that it will suspend adoptions from Guatemala in 2007 if Guatemala does not approve a law that protects minors.

There has been an increase due to this threat. It may also play a part in the timelines we are seeing. Afterall, there are no increases in staff to handle them. The threat is legit. I just question the motives of all. Most seem more bent on stopping adoptions than they are protecting children.

Alejandra Vásquez, of the National Childhood Movement, says that because of this situation many children are at risk of falling into the hands of unscrupulous people who either purchase or steal them from their mothers.

Wrong. Nobody in their right mind is going to attempt stealing a child for the sake of adoption when it would be near impossible to process the adoption and being caught would ruin them. If PGN cannot handle investigating these cases, then they need to be replaced. In the past, while we have had our disagreements, one thing was true: They are in place to investigate each case and make sure it is legitimate. Moreover, our own Embassy takes a very critical eye to every adoption case. The statement only tells me that these people have no faith in THEIR own PGN. But really, it boils down to the fact that they want to stop adoptions because in their eyes it "looks bad".

On the rise "We believe that the number of missing children has risen in comparison to previous years", states Nidia Aguilar, of the office for the Defense of Children, from the department for Human Rights. Missing More than 25 children between the ages of 0 and 3 have been reported to the PNC as stolen, between January and June of this year. The thefts have occurred in the streets, and in the national hospitals of Guatemala City and the rest of the country. Many minors are stolen to be illegally placed for adoption.

This is yellow journalism. Again, how can you steal a child with a failed DNA and then place them for adoption anyway? I wonder about the intelligence of a reporter that can't put 2 and 2 together here. I also wonder who is making the connections...is it the reporter or these various organizations reporting the stolen children?

Guatemala's first lady, Wendy Berger, has a daughter who adopted from Romania. Ms. Berger has been very outspoken about enacting laws in Guatemala that would effectively end adoptions and would leave thousands of children homeless anually. Yet she has been heard stating that adopted children are not really wanted they are just easy to obtain. What is so sad about this view is not that she is so wrong, but that she apparently has an elitest prejudicial view HERSELF. She does not value them as human beings EQUALLY deserving than a Romanian child. I am curious what she would think if her grandchild was kept from her and her daughter for months just for the sake of displaying a political view! Well, Ms. Berger, you are wrong. These are very precious children and while it may be hard to fight those who want to take advantage of the system, it is only right to offer these children and their biological families the option of a loving home! Keeping them from their families is as criminal if not more than those who try to take advantage of the situation.

I pray that all may come to their senses and do whats right for the children!

 

Posted by Kelly at July 3, 2006 12:08 PM