Guatemalan authorities have searched the offices of Save the Children, the international charity said Thursday, in an investigation into reports of child abuse that was widely seen as a political attack in a country with a history of attacks on gangs non-profits and human rights organizations.
This was stated by the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor in a declaration had searched the headquarters of an organization on Thursday as “part of an ongoing transnational investigation” into potential abuse against Guatemalan children. The ministry did not name the organization.
Save the Children, which has operated in Guatemala since 1976, said its office had been searched. She denied the claims and said she had not previously been informed of an investigation.
Rafael Curruchiche, who heads the special prosecutor’s office against impunity, said in a video posted on social media that the search had involved the “recording and seizure of evidence” in coordination with the national police.
Mr. Curruchiche, who the United States sanctioned by placing him in a list of corrupt officials for obstructing corruption investigations and undermining democracy, said the search followed a complaint filed with the Public Prosecutor.
Guatemala has had a record of cracking down on anti-corruption and human rights work. Alejandro Giammattei, who served as president from 2020 to 2024, regularly targeted nonprofit organizations during his tenure. In 2021, a new law gave authorities broad powers to dissolve non-governmental organizations after claims that groups receiving foreign funding violated Guatemala’s sovereignty. The charities said so the legislation it suppressed freedom of assembly and expression.
President Bernardo Arévalo, an anti-corruption crusader, was elected last year and took office earlier this year despite staunch resistance from his government opponents. But the conservative political establishment, including prosecutors, who oppose Arévalo, have made it difficult for him to implement his agenda.
The complaint against Save the Children was filed by a person who said Guatemalan children were being abused in Texas shelters where non-governmental organizations work, according to Juan Luis Pantaleón, a spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr. Curruchiche, the prosecutor, said the authorities had asked the Texas attorney general’s office for help with the investigation. In a letter addressed to Ken Paxton, attorney general of Texas, verified by the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor, Ángel Pineda, secretary general of the ministry, accused Save the Children of illegally sending children to Texas. Mr. Pineda was too sanctioned by the United States.
Manfredo Marroquín, head of Citizen Action, a Guatemalan anti-corruption political group, rejected the idea that Guatemalan prosecutors were suddenly concerned about the safety of children in the country.
“Most likely, and almost certainly, this is politically motivated,” he said in an interview.
Guatemala, where one in two children is malnourished, has also long been voted for the health and conditions of children. Guatemalan children have fled violence and poverty, often to safety in the United States. But an increasing number of them have been returned. Family adoptions in the United States have been blocked due to allegations of kidnapping and selling children.
Save the Children defended its work in a declaration Thursday, saying, “We do not — and have never — facilitated the movement of children out of Guatemala.” Instead, he said he supports health and nutrition programs, access to education and food in the public school system and emergency assistance.
“We are shocked and perplexed by the unprecedented search of our offices by the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor,” the group said. “No specific allegations have been made to us and there is no evidence to support the allegations of misconduct.”
Last week, the charity said it was aware of the claims on the well-being of the migrant children he worked with. He said there was no evidence to support those claims, adding that he took all allegations of child misconduct seriously and had independent investigative mechanisms to look into them.
