This week the US State Department (finally) advised that it could no longer recommend that Americans adopt children from Guatemala, up to now the second biggest source of orphans (or near enough) imported into the States:
"Adopting a child in a system that is based on a conflict of interests, that is rampant with fraud, and that unduly enriches facilitators is a very uncertain proposition with potential serious lifelong consequences...When you decide whether to move forward with adoption in Guatemala, you should consider factors beyond timing."
I have always felt uncomfortable about the proportion of baby-snatchers on US-bound flights out of Guatemala. It will be interesting to see what effect this new advice has.
On a different note, I was discussing with my sister-in-law yesterday what the Guatemalan government is doing to try to persuade its newly-returned (deported) citizens from immediately planning a return trip pa'l norte. For example the Ministerio de Trabajo is trying to set them up with jobs, but these tend to pay Q1,200.00 ($155) per month compared to to the $1,500 (plus inconveniences) that a similar temporary position in the US would be likely to earn them.
Yesterday it was reported that the amount of money sent home by Latin American migrant workers to their families has reached more than $62bn, a figure which already exceeds the combined total of all direct foreign investment and foreign aid to the region. In the case of Guatemala, these remesas form a significant part of the local economy, which was why Oscar Berger was so keen to discuss US immigration policy with lame ducky last week.
Unfortunately, since the Democrats took Congress, Dubya has been the most strangely waddling of all presidential ducks. El Pais summarised the problem with his Latin American tour as right message, wrong messenger. What America needs is an Executive branch that can visit neighbouring countries without the need to shut down their city centres, airspace and mobile phone grids in the interests of his or her own personal security. Someone that could, for instance, safely include the capital in an official visit to their southern neighbour.
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