The news of the Congressional letter to Secretary of State Kerry has made it to Guatemala and is in the Prensa Libre newspaper today.

Click here to view the article….

We have received the below correspondence from Senator Ladrieu’s office today.

Please reach out to your Congressional Representatives immediately and ask them to sign the letter to Secretary Kerry!

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“Senators Landrieu and Cornyn are circulating a letter to Secretary of State Kerry, requesting his direct involvement in resolving the final 112 transition adoption cases of Guatemalan children by American prospective adoptive parents. The children involved in these cases, none of whom is now under 6 years of age, have languished in institutions without a legal family for more than 5 years. The letter also asks DOS to compile a comprehensive list of the Guatemalan officials who currently are responsible for making decisions in resolving each of the pending 112 adoption cases, in order to hold specific individuals accountable for finalizing these cases in the best interests of the children. Background information on the cases put together by the Cong. Coalition on Adoption Institute is also attached.”

Please let Libby Whitbeck in Senator Landrieu’s or Michelle Chin in Senator Cornyn’s office know if your Congressional representative would like to sign the letter to Secretary Kerry. Signatures will close COB next Wednesday (5/8).

The letter that will be sent to Secretary Kerry is below :

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The Honorable John F. Kerry
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We write to express our deep concern and to ask for your direct involvement in resolving the final 112 transition adoption cases of Guatemalan children by American prospective adoptive parents. The children involved in these cases, none of whom is now under 6 years of age, have languished in institutions without a legal family for more than 5 years. Though Guatemalan officials have conveyed their recent efforts to resolve outstanding cases within the next 5 months, we have heard similar declarations before to no avail and ask for your immediate intervention.

In April 2011, the U.S. Congress began to advocate for the completion of the then 700 outstanding adoption cases stuck in this bureaucratic limbo. After four Congressional Delegations to Guatemala, numerous diplomatic notes, and hundreds of meetings and telephone conferences, approximately 20 children have been connected with families in the United States and 112 cases remain unresolved. It has become clear to us that many challenges characteristic of Guatemala’s justice and child welfare systems, as well as the lack of specific direction and timelines from the new Administration, are preventing these cases from moving to completion.  It is very disheartening to know that hundreds of Guatemalan orphans will continue to languish in institutions and children’s homes because of governmental inaction. We are particularly concerned about reports of actions taken by individual Guatemalan officials that have contributed to unnecessary delays in completing the pending adoptions of these children.

A recent amendment filed by Majority Leader Reid, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Menendez, and Senators Landrieu and Cornyn indicates that this issue has become a growing irritant in the bilateral relations between our two countries.  We have reached a point at which it will be impossible for some Members to move forward in support of other matters of mutual concern.  A direct appeal from you to the President of Guatemala to convey the importance of quickly finding a resolution to these cases, we believe, would be fruitful. We also believe it would be helpful to obtain a comprehensive list of the Guatemalan officials who are currently responsible for making decisions in resolving each of the pending 112 adoption cases, including the full name, job title and agency affiliation of each individual.  Without the ability to hold specific individuals accountable for resolving these cases in the best interests of the children, we are concerned that the delays will continue.

Mr. Secretary, we know that you share our concern over the rights of these vulnerable children. We look forward to your engagement on this issue.

Sincerely,
xxxxxxx

Over the weekend UNICEF extended an invitation to the Guatemala900 to meet and discuss the pending adoptions in Guatemala.  We will meet today in New York at 1pm EST time and are anxious to provide our evidence of forced reunifications and to explain our concerns of UNICEF’s recently proposed plan.

A huge Guatemala900 thank you to Kathleen Strottman and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) for hosting this Guatemalan delegation.  CCAI continues to be a champion not only for the Guatemala900 but for children all over the world.  We are forever in debt to you for your amazing advocacy efforts!

Click here to see the recap of CCAI’s delegation of Guatemalan officials.

CCAI Meets with Guatemalan Officials in Washington, DC

On April 1st, UNICEF reported that a team that included executive director Anthony Lake had visited Guatemala and met with President Otto Pérez as well as several of the pertinent adoption organizations.  In their report UNICEF expressed a “particular concern for the group of children who had essentially become bureaucratic victims of the 2008 moratorium on inter-country adoption.” These are of course the children of the Guatemala900.  CLICK HERE to view the full UNICEF report.

On April 19th, the Guatemala900 sent the following correspondence to Mr. Lake.  We are still awaiting a response…..

To:  Mr. Anthony Lake                                                                             April 19, 2013
Executive Director,UNICEF
125 Maiden Ln, 11th floor
New York, NY 10038

From : Guatemala900

Re: Request for an immediate meeting regarding adoption investigations in Guatemala

Dear Mr. Lake,

Thank you for your recent personal visit and attention to pending adoptions in Guatemala.  The Guatemala900 is optimistic that you have expressed a “particular concern for the group of children who had essentially become bureaucratic victims of the 2008 moratorium on inter-country adoption.”  These are the very children that the Guatemala900 has been advocating for since shortly after the Ortega Law was enacted.

While we are encouraged that President Otto Pérez and the highest level of pertinent organizations (CICIG, PGN) are engaged, and we see the creation of the working group and the demand for finite investigation timelines as steps of good intention, we are skeptical of positive outcomes for the children. Although well meaning, these actions will likely result in grave consequences to the well-being of the children they are intended to serve and will ultimately fail them again.

Our concern surrounds the adoption cases that are stuck in the dysfunctional Guatemalan judicial system.  The majority of cases currently in the courts have been there for many years, often paralyzed because individual judges are fearful of ruling in the politically charged climate surrounding international adoption.  Worse yet, for the past year the families of the Guatemala900 have seen a very different scenario play out: courts are now aggressively engaging in unethical “forced” reunifications.

The concept of family reunification is something that the Guatemala900 strongly supports. Unfortunately, we have learned through our individual cases that reunification is being forced through so-called “investigations” that consist of threats, shaming, bribery, and lies to the biological families who have for years continued to express their desire to choose adoption for their children.   In several cases, children have been reunified with families with documented histories of physical and/or sexual abuse toward the very children that are being returned.

The Guatemala900 believes that the investigations mentioned in your recent announcement will continue to employ abusive tactics toward the ends of inappropriate family reunification.  These investigations should be halted immediately.  The cases should be removed from the judicial system and placed into a new mechanism that ensures an immediate completion of the adoption if there is no evidence of coercion of relinquishment already in hand.

As the world’s leading voice in Child Advocacy and Protection, UNICEF has a tremendous voice that can make the difference in the lives of these children by advocating for their right to a stable and loving family who wants them.  Unfortunately UNICEF’s recent well-intentioned advocacy is actually setting a stage for continued irreparable harm to be inflicted on the children that we both seek to protect.  The Guatemala 900 requests an immediate meeting with you to share evidence of the corrupt investigations and to discuss this humanitarian crisis further.

Sincerely,

Gary J. Cooper
Guatemala900 Co-Founder