Thanks to some hot tips from parents of Guatemalan-born kids ... thank you! keep 'em comin' ... starting the month out with news from there seems like a good idea.

First, have you heard about the this year's Oscar tie to Guatemala? And I'm not talking Berger, but prize rather than pres.

"Recycled Life" has already won in the "Best Documentary Short" category of a number of film festivals, and has now been nominated for an Academy Award.

The film tells the story of the guajeros, those dwelling in the Guatemala City Garbage Dump. According to their website, they have, "captured the beauty, humor and remarkable contrast that resonates throughout this vast wasteland of garbage, as generations of families struggle through an ongoing cycle of life."

You can view the trailer and pre-order a DVD of the film through their site. (Link above.)

Amnesty International has released a new brief calling for a stop to the killings of women in Guatemala and Mexico.

In Mexico and Guatemala women are being killed at alarming rates but the perpetrators are overwhelmingly never brought to justice. This scandal has led family members of the victims to refer to the problem as a "femicide," the most extreme expression of gender based violence accepted culturally and by the State when its laws don't criminalize violence against women and whereby negligence or the lack of political will results in almost total impunity for the perpetrators of such brutality.

... In Guatemala, over 2,500 women and girls have been murdered since 2001.

... In early 2006 the Guatemalan "Rape Law" (Article 200) whereby a rapist could escape charges by offering to marry his victim, was deemed unconstitutional. However, legislation addressing violence against women in Guatemala remains severely deficient. For example, Guatemalan law prohibits domestic abuse, but does not provide prison sentences for cases of domestic abuse and prevents abusers from being charged with assault if bruises do not remain visible for at least 10 days.

Also tragic, bodies are being recovered that have been buried since the mudslides caused by Hurricane Stan in October of 2005.

A group of anthropologists have been working to retrieve remains, pointing out what many perceive to be a government failing, and with attention now focused on the area again, the many survivors still living in makeshift accommodation and 'temporary' shelters are once again being noticed. Let's hope it helps.

Formal relations between Guatemala and Russia are set to increase with the Russian Prime Minister signing a resolution to open an embassy there this year.

And speaking of things ambassadorial, Guatemala's new ambassador to Cuba has affirmed that all is hunky dory between the two countries.

And to wrap up ...

Like Sister Far, a group that started up for parents with kids from China who've suspected bio sibs, there's also a site for parents of Guatemalan children.

The Guatemala Adopt Sibling Registry is, "a database that adoptive families of Guatemalan born children can utilize when searching for their children's biological siblings who may also have been adopted."