7 News Belize

International Custody Battle Between Parents; Baby Nina In The Middle
posted (November 16, 2015)
This weekend, a wave of outrage swept across social media when news went out from Orange Walk that two year old Nina Charlotte Alexandra Barrera Perez had basically been abducted by the Department of Human Services. And the Social Worker did it on behalf of the child's Guatemalan father. Well, turns out, that's not quite how it went - and tonight we'll both sides of the story. But we start with what you want to know most: where is the child? She is safe and sound, in Belize, in the custody of the Department of Human Services. The Department took custody under a provision called emergency care in the families and children act. In such a case, the Department has to go to court within 48 hours to get an order confirming the legality of the emergency protective care. That's just what happened at the family court today and Nina's mother, Ana Liza Perez Guttierez was in court with her attorney Marcel Cardona. When it was finished at midday she told us she got some clarity, and relief:..

Ana Liz Perez Guitterrez
"I was satisfied with the results because I am calmer now that my daughter is safe, that she is not being sneaked out of the country and I am happy and I am willing to work and get to the bottom of everything and get everything sorted out."

Judith Alpuche, CEO - Ministry of Human Development
"The case went to court and the court has granted us interim custody of the child. So to me then that indicates very clearly that we are within - because of the law."

And so the court has confirmed that the Department acted legally - but judging from the news that went out this weekend - you might have thought that the Department went completely rogue. Ana Liz Perez says she had every right to be concerned about the legitimacy of the social worker's action because when they came for the child, no one identified themselves or produced any documentation. But, there are two sides to that story - here are both:...

Ana Liz Perez Guitterrez, Nina's mother
"What happened was that on Friday 13th, in the evening unidentified social workers went to my home and picked up her basically. No information was given. No written information or documents legal or stamped sealed documents were given to me proving that such actions were legal. All communications was closed from these departments to me and to my attorney and so as a mother I was really concerned. I was scared over the wellbeing of my daughter since I did not have any information of her whereabouts."

Judith Alpuche, CEO - Ministry of Human Development
"The process was explained to the mom. The reports that I have from the social worker and from her supervisor, this was explained multiple times to multiple family members. So it is very interesting to us that then that the claim was made that the child was kidnapped. Our social worker thought that she had the full cooperation of the family which is something that we always seek and that the mother was willing to do what is called voluntary return. In other words saying okay, I am willing to go back to Guatemala to have this matter sorted out. That's the best case scenario for us. But in the middle of all that, things started escalating. The report that I have is that other family members got involved and the matter started to escalate. And the social worker and the supervisor made the call to place the child in an emergency placement - to take the child into care."

Ana Liz Perez Guitterrez, Nina's mother
"I was devastated. I was shocked, because I had already gone through a legal procedure in Guatemala and had already gotten that case closed and under the documents that were provided and under legal advice I had been told that permission for me to travel to my home country was not something that was out of the question."

Judith Alpuche, CEO - Ministry of Human Development
"We are signatories to the Hague Convention on international child abduction and under that piece of international law, the Department of Human Services is the central authority. Meaning the focal point. So we received a request. Paperwork with all the documentation attached from the central authority in Guatemala, saying that a Guatemalan child had been wrongfully removed from the country and brought into Belize by her mother. In this case the mother took the child out of the country without the father's permission. With a case as to the custody of the child being lodged already in Guatemalan Family Court and hence the reason why then, the Hague Convention was evoked to really recover the child to see into the child's wellbeing and as well to ensure that the child went back to her country of normal residence which is Guatemala."

Marcel Cardona, Attorney for Ana Liz Perez Guitterrez
"I am of the view that the invocation of the Hague Convention has been improperly done for him to be able to properly invoked it. It would have to be proven that he at the moment that she cross the border, he had the custody of the child and not the other way around and our position is obviously that she had the custody at the time."

Jules Vasquez
"Did your client abduct this child from Guatemala?"

Marcel Cardona, Attorney for Ana Liz Perez Guitterrez
"Certainly not. It is my information that my client acted perfectly as any normal human being would have acted. It's my instructions that she is the victim of domestic abuse. She had been before a Guatemalan court on the issue and the Guatemalan court had granted her guardianship/custody over the child and acting upon instructions or advice from her Guatemalan attorney, she came across the border with her child seeking the comfort, support because battered women, women that suffers from domestic abuse go through psychological problems and obviously in Guatemala she could not receive that kind of support since she has very few persons there who can offer that to her."

Judith Alpuche, CEO - Ministry of Human Development
"I have not read anywhere where any issues or gotten any reports of any domestic violence."

And so now Nina is in the care of the Human Services Department and she will be for the next two months while some type of custody hearing is held in Belize. But, while the adults fight it out, what's happening to the child? Will she even get to spend Christmas with family? Here are perspectives on that:...

Marcel Cardona, Attorney for Ana Liz Perez Guitterrez
"The child has been taken away to an unknown location. Taken away and given into the custody of persons that she is not acquainted with, unfamiliar faces etc. So I did submit to the court that I thought it was in the best interest of the child for the court, perhaps even the Department of Human Services to consider having the temporary foster care or custody of the child delivered to perhaps someone who is close to the family, but would be responsible enough to abide by whatever court order."

Judith Alpuche, CEO - Ministry of Human Development
"We are exploring all options as to placement etc. The family had made certain request and we will explore that. But we have to balance all the considerations in fulfilling our role. Any case that has to do with a child is always a difficult case when the state has to intervene for one reason or the next."

And while two year old Nina can hardly be insulated from the hardships of this international custody battle - there is another family being damaged by this, and it's the social worker who went to take Nina into protective custody. As we told you, the initial reports of some type of state sanctioned abduction created a facebook frenzy. And in that whole overheated dialogue, the name of the social worker, her picture and her child's picture for thrown into the mix. The CEO said it is appalling:..

Judith Alpuche, CEO - Ministry of Human Development
"It's a pity that things escalated like this. I'm actually very appalled. Because the social worker and her family were threatened. Based on the information that was published on social media, this woman's picture and the picture of her child were placed on social media. She was vilified, her character defamed."

Jules Vasquez
"The social worker?"

Judith Alpuche, CEO - Ministry of Human Development
"Yes, her picture was posted. The picture of her child was posted. She was threatened. I mean comments like "They hope she is found dead in ditch." Just incredible hateful things. It's disappointing to me as a Belizean. We live in a small society and I really would want to say that people have to really be reflecting on what they are doing. You sit behind a phone or a computer and you spew all this hate without all the information unjustifiably and I wonder if people think about the impact that it has. It is unfortunate. I mean this mom painted a picture on social media that serve her purposes. But I would really want to say to people, when you are being presented to information, there are many sides to a story."

And so you've heard all sides to this one - and we'll keep following it as the custody battle plays out.

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