Update on Casa Quivira--Thursday, August 16

Follow-up to my earlier post: The Guatemalan government decided not to move the kids from CQ to a shelter, per the International Herald Tribune:

"It's not a good idea to move them," said the Secretary of Welfare's deputy director, Sully de Ucles. "These are babies that have special care needs and here (in Casa Quivira) they have all they need."

The government allegations against CQ also appear to be softening.

Nevertheless, the situation is not good, per this press release from the director of Casa Quivira:

PRESS STATEMENT
16 August 2007
Casa Quivira Children's Home located in Antigua, Guatemala has been illegally occupied by personnel from the Guatemalan President's Office for Social Welfare (Secretaria de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia, SBSP). The SBSP personnel have refused to allow supplies, specialized milk formulas or medicines from being delivered to the Children's Home by Casa Quivira workers. These supplies and medicines are desperately needed in order to maintain the level of healthcare necessary to prevent the 45 babies legally in the care of Casa Quivira from becoming ill. The Pediatrician for Casa Quivira has not been allowed access to evaluate the children since Saturday, 11 August 2007.
Lawyers for Casa Quivira have repeatedly demanded that the SBSP workers immediately leave the premises or demonstrate a judge's order allowing them to occupy the property. They have refused to do either. Reports from the Casa Quivira lawyers are that the health of the children is deteriorating along with the hygienic conditions of the home and that Casa Quivira nannies and nurses are being obstructed from performing their duties by SBSP personnel.
Appeals to the Office of Human Rights in Antigua, Guatemala by attorneys from Casa Quivira have been rejected. Another appeal is being made at this time to the Human Rights Office in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Casa Quivira attorneys have also filed a writ of habeas corpus to seek relief of the unlawful detention of the children by the SBSP. So far, these appeals have fallen on deaf ears as judge after judge recuse themselves. All avenues of justice will continue to be pursued until the children legally entrusted to the care of Casa Quivira receive the proper nutrition and medical services and the safety and security of their lives are restored.
Clifford Phillips
Director
Casa Quivira

Dick Cheney Was Right about the War

Oh, this one is too good not to pass on. It's a 1994 clip of Dick Cheney stating why we should not seek to topple Saddam because of the chaos and bloodshed it would bring. (It's also a pitch for a donation, but to a worthy cause.)

He even used the word "quagmire". Cool.

Did the September 11 atrocities override Cheney's arguments back in '94? Nope, especially since no WMDs were found and no Iraq-Al Qaeda connections prior to September 11 have been established.

Casa Quivira Raided by Guatemalan Police

Amid the often bloody turmoil in Guatemala in this election year, a seemingly minor incident has loomed large for our family. This Monday, Guatemalan police raided Casa Quivira, the orphanage we adopted David from. Police allege the orphanage was stealing children from their biological parents to sell them to foreigners. The children, including those with medical conditions, have been ordered moved by gun-toting police officers to shelters, and all their legal and medical records have been confiscated pending an investigation. The raid was prompted by a neighbor's tip that foreigners have been leaving the orphanage with children on a daily basis.

Here's my take: There's nothing shady about Casa Quivira. It is far above the standards of child care facilities in Guatemala, both legally and in the quality of care they provide. This was our impression six years ago when we visited there to pick up David, and it's the impression of more recent visitors as well. In a country where the black marketing of children has been a problem for decades, Casa Quivira has been a model of integrity. Even after the raid, the Guatemalan attorney general's office said there was so far no evidence that the children had been stolen or their parents coerced into giving them up.

So what's going on? There's a paranoia in parts of Guatemala, fears that Guatemalan children are being stolen by foreigners. This is especially true in rural areas where foreign couples traveling with Guatemalan children have been harassed, even murdered. This paranoia is being exploited in this election year by vote-seeking politicians. These guys know that taking a seemingly firm stand against the trafficking of children carries political capital. Casa Quivira, which connects needy Guatemalan kids with foreign families, is a convenient target. Unfortunately, it's the wrong one.

So the kids are traumatized, and their already lengthy adoption processes will take even longer. Some may be lost in the system forever and never find a home, ending up, as too many poor Guatemalan kids do, scavenging the city dump near Guatemala City. Casa Quivira and the families with whom they place children are not the biggest losers here.