The new Vice President of Guatemala, Dr. Rafael Espada is considered to be one of the top ten Cardiothoracic Surgeons in the world. Born and raised in Guatemala, he received his doctorate degree at San Carlos University in Guatemala and went on to do his internship at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as training in some of the world’s best medical institutions.

Until recently, Espada practiced medicine in Houston, Texas, and taught Cardiothoracic Surgery at Baylor. But all the time he was living in the US, he was flying to Guatemala on a monthly basis to visit family and do surgeries there as well. He is also known for his generosity having performed free surgeries for the needy in Guatemala and the US, and raising enough money for a charity hospital in Guatemala.

But this year, Espada moved back to Guatemala and decided to enter politics, a brave step in a country where politicians are often threatened and murdered. He said this about his choice to move back to Guatemala permanently:

"I have many friends in politics, and like most people in Guatemala, have always had an opinion as to what we should be doing,"… "It's very easy to criticize—this is right, or this is wrong—but instead of criticizing, I feel I should be doing something for our country."

Espada will replace outgoing Vice President Eduardo Stein, who will always be remembered in the adoption world for his statement that some children adopted to the US are used for organ transplants. I don’t think I can ever get past that.

The country of Guatemala can certainly be proud of this highly skilled and generous surgeon who obviously cares enough about his country to enter the political arena. He most certainly doesn’t need the money or fame as he already has both, so we can assume that he is sincere in his desire to improve the lives of his fellow countrymen and women.

As premature as it may sound, I’m quietly optimistic that we have a better team to work with on adoption issues in Guatemala. Perhaps the implementation of the Hague Treaty will be done more methodically and less drastically in the hands of two men that appear to be more altruistic and introspective than those that precede them.

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