translated from Spanish: U.S. support to Guatemala to create fiscal unit of human trafficking

Guatemala-combating criminal structures devoted to human trafficking, the Attorney general of Guatemala and head of the public prosecutor’s Office, María Consuelo Porras, agreed est (e) Tuesday with United States the creation of a fiscal unit aimed at the investigation and prosecution of these criminals. The Ambassador of United States in Guatemala, Luis Arreaga, joined the Attorney general in the presentation of the project providing assistance for the establishment of such Unidad.El trafficking is a phenomenon that has generated it to criminal structures up to 25 million dollars and is a scourge, said the public prosecutor’s Office, “which treats the most vulnerable as merchandise risking them their lives and in many cases exploiting them sexually or labour”. The presentation of this initiative also involved members of the Agency of the United States for international development (USAID) and by the public prosecutor’s Office was attended by various officials, as Secretary general Rony Eulalio López Contreras; the Secretary of International Affairs and cooperation, Angel Pineda Avila, or the Prosecutor’s section of the Prosecutor’s Office against trafficking in persons, Alexander Colop.

for its part, the U.S. Embassy issued a message through their social networks, where he congratulated the Prosecutor of Guatemala by the decision to create this unit, an “effort that contributes to curb illegal migration”.
The investigation and prosecution of illicit trafficking reduces illegal migration and contributes to security, governance and prosperity of all Guatemalans said the diplomatic headquarters, and added that this plan will also help to fight against coyotes. The report of the Office of human rights of 2017 in Guatemala pointed out that the crime of trafficking in persons has had a similar recurrence with figures exceeding 500 cases each year in Guatemala.offering scourge has much to do “with the existence of” social institutions permissive and a patriarchal system that fosters relations of inequality, domination, exclusion and exploitation”.

the majority of the victims in the country are women of all ages, especially on sexual exploitation and forced labour, and in the case of the men are related to labour exploitation and begging. April 9, 2009 came into force the law against Sexual violence, exploitation and trafficking in persons (VET Act), which considers the person as a subject of rights, protecting it from the restoration of their freedom, care, protection, and processes, giving priority to the attention of the victim



Original source in Spanish