(Guatemala) Save the Children in Guatemala denied on Tuesday being involved in alleged trafficking of migrant children, the day after a search of five offices of the British NGO.
The searches were carried out “in different regions of the country as part of a transnational investigation of great importance relating to possible mistreatment of Guatemalan children” traveling alone to the United States, said prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, who led the searches.
“We reaffirm that we have never facilitated the transfer of children or adolescents out of Guatemala,” the NGO which defends children’s rights across the planet declared in an email sent to AFP.
“Following previous allegations against our organization this year, we confirm that no evidence of wrongdoing has been found,” it added, referring to a previous search of its headquarters in the Guatemalan capital in April.
The investigation was opened following a complaint (the origin of which was not revealed) and “support” was requested from the Texas prosecutor’s office (southern United States).
In a letter, the Secretary General of the Attorney General’s Office of Guatemala, Angel Pineda, asked the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, to give his “attention” to a “serious situation” due to a complaint received regarding an alleged “complex network” of trafficking unaccompanied minors.
Save the Children began providing aid to Guatemala in 1976, after an earthquake devastated the country, and its local branch was officially established in 1983. The NGO carries out various projects in the areas of education, health, nutrition and support for migrant families.
MM. Curruchiche, Pineda and Attorney General Consuelo Porras are under sanctions from the United States and the European Union, which consider them “corrupt” and “undemocratic.”