Posted: Friday, December 18th, 2015. 9:12 p.m. CST
By Aaron Humes: Analiz Perez Gutierrez must wait until the New Year to learn if she will have custody of her baby daughter, 2 year old Nina Charlotte Perez.
You may recall that in mid-November personnel from the Human Service Department forcibly removed baby Nina from her mother’s custody on behalf of the Guatemalan father who claimed the child was essentially abducted.
Baby Nina is in foster care with limited visitation for her mother. On Thursday Ms. Gutierrez and attorney Marcel Cardona appeared at the Belize Family Court in Belize City where they hoped see the matter through. However the father did not appear and the case was adjourned until January 7th 2016, much to the disappointment of the young mother.
Analiz Gutierrez says she has had no contact with her ex, who has visited Belize to see his daughter.
According to Cardona, no reason was given for the non-appearance, but if the father does not show in January, the court will go ahead. Either way, Cardona is confident the case will go in favour of his client, as he believes the father has not been telling the truth to Guatemalan authorities, whose study found no evidence of any mistreatment or endangerment of baby Nina.
On the other hand Human Services indicated that yesterday’s court appearance was just a procedural matter and that the father was not required to show up. As can be expected, mother and child are feeling the pain of separation, especially during this Christmas season.
Gutierrez has been granted permission to see her daughter for a few hours a day but Gutierrez says it is just not the same, as when she leaves the baby doesn’t understand why she can’t come along with her.