I am in Medellin right now and thus far all I can say is this has been underwhelming. The ICBF notified my son´s mother as she was attempting to exit Colombia that both of their passports had been suspended, (small victory!!!) I suspect somebody notified her that she was going to be served and she tried to delay the process further by leaving days before our first ¨Hearing¨ (Something must be lost in translation because the Mediation and the hearing were non-existant) But
I showed up to the office as directed and was essentially told ¨We have notified your son´s mother and she denies all knowledge and claims it is a misunderstanding that will be rectified in the united states if I consent to allowing them to lift the suspension of her passport¨ The mediator did not ask me a single question. I asked when I could see my son and they told me in a couple of hours, that was 6 days ago and every day in the morning and afternoon I call and ask if there is any chance I will see my son, to which they reply ¨we have not heard from the mother since the hearing but she knows she is to come back the following monday.¨ so I am killing time by handing out FDLE and NCMEC missing posters of my son. Some of my son´s relatives here in Colombia have reached out to me in an attempt to possibly smooth the situation out or feel me up for information, but it is painfully obvious that they have no idea that my ex wife has criminal charges and an avalanche of family court issues awaiting her, Hague trial not withstanding. If there is any good news in this at all my son´s mother can no longer feign ignorance and has been judicially made aware of all pending charges in the US and my Parental custody rights to include 3 years of hearings she has never appeared for.
To further complicate things here in Medellin, the civil courts are on strike for protests on wages and funding cuts. I still dont know what judge will be assigned but I got a good dry run of all the governmental innerworkings and I know next time I fly out here I will have lower expectations and more a efficient set up. My brother and attorney traveling with me was a huge help and next time our entourage will be much larger. If any other LBP are working in and out of Colombia lets talk!!
