This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 GUATEMALA 000508 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR G/TIP, WHA/PPC, DRL/IL AND WHA/CEN 
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FOR ILAB 
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA ANTI-TIP REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 7869 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The new Government of Guatemala took 
office on January 14, 2004, is giving TIP priority attention, 
and is building on initial progress by the outgoing 
government.  The Ambassador and Embassy TIP Working Group met 
with the GOG Inter-Institutional Group to Combat TIP on 
February 25.  The GOG Anti-TIP Group, hosted by Vice Minister 
of Foreign Affairs for Migration and Human Rights Marta 
Altolaguirre, conveyed the Berger Government's commitment to 
combat TIP, including through law enforcement actions, which 
we have incorporated in this report.  The most notable GOG 
efforts over the past year included the signing and 
Congressional approval of the Trafficking Protocol of the 
Palermo Convention, the creation of a new anti-TIP 
prosecution unit in the Public Ministry, and the use of the 
Inter-Institutional Group to coordinate prospective GOG 
efforts in public education, law enforcement cooperation, and 
capacity building.  While not yet fully meeting minimum 
standards in U.S. law, we are convinced that the new GOG has 
made and will continue to make serious and sustained efforts 
to eliminate TIP.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The following are responses to questions in Ref A. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Country Overview: 
 
¶A.  According to reports by ECPAT, the International 
Organization on Migration (IOM), the ILO, Casa Alianza, and 
an October 2002 report from the DePaul University 
International Human Rights Law Institute, Guatemala is a 
country of origin and transit for international trafficking 
of persons and, in some instances, is also a destination. 
The trafficking is by land, air, and sea, and it does occur 
within Guatemala,s borders.  Reliable statistics do not 
exist on the magnitude of the problem, although a recent Casa 
Alianza report demonstrates that one form of TIP, involving 
sexual exploitation of minors, involves hundreds of victims. 
Besides Guatemalans, other Central Americans are being 
trafficked in Guatemala.  Victims trafficked to Guatemala are 
usually young women or children who are often brought in for 
sexual exploitation.  Those trafficked from Guatemala for 
sexual exploitation are usually minors, both boys and girls, 
from poor families.  Trafficking is intimately related to 
international migration issues, as the promise of arrival in 
the U.S. is often used to attract desperate Latin Americans. 
 
-- ECPAT, in a report on TIP in Guatemala for the Regional 
TIP Workshop January 26-30, 2004, asserts (without producing 
supporting evidence) that Guatemala suffers from all forms of 
TIP:  networks of traffickers for sexual exploitation and 
sexual tourism operate in Guatemala (the latter principally 
for Asian clients in the capital).  It also cites isolated 
cases of child pornography, and the use of forced labor in 
agriculture, domestic service, manufacturing (less 
convincingly), street begging and as narco-trafficking mules. 
 
¶B.  Trafficked persons come mainly from other Central 
American countries and Guatemala.  Most are destined for the 
United States or Mexico.  Some are destined for Guatemala. 
In addition to the trafficking of Latin Americans, smuggling 
of Chinese, Afghans, Egyptians, Pakistanis and Syrians has 
been noted in the past, and probably includes some cases of 
trafficking. 
 
¶C.  Not to our knowledge. 
 
¶D.  A confidential report by Casa Alianza in February 2004 
indicates that trafficking of minors for prostitution 
involves hundreds of victims nationwide.  Between November 
2002 and August 2003 Casa Alianza visited 284 commercial 
establishments (bars, massage parlors, nightclubs, etc.) in 
13 provinces and 32 different municipalities in Guatemala 
where it suspected minors were being sexually exploited.  In 
197 of these establishments, Central American minors were 
present.  179 minors were confirmed and 423 others who 
appeared to be less than 18 years old were observed.  Many 
who appeared to be minors claimed to be over 18.  In 85 
establishments, minors were not observed.  However, 
informants claimed that minors are often hidden from view for 
exclusive clients.  In two of the establishments, Casa 
Alianza investigators were barred entry. 
 
-- Of the 668 minors observed by Casa Alianza, 288 were from 
Guatemala, 115 were of undetermined national origin, 100 from 
Honduras, 98 from El Salvador, 61 from Nicaragua, 3 from 
Belize and 3 from Costa Rica.  Within Guatemala, 411 of these 
minors were found in Guatemala province, 9 in Sacatepequez, 
50 in Escuintla, 15 in Chiquimula, 2 in Baja Verapaz, 8 in 
Huehuetenango, 46 in Izabal, 23 in Jutiapa, 55 in Peten, 20 
in Quetzaltenango, 5 in Retalhuleu, 25 in San Marcos, and 7 
in Suchitepequez.  (Note:  These numbers do not add up to 668 
-- it appears that the 9 minors reported in Antigua, 
Sacatepequez, were mistakenly counted in the 411 figure for 
Guatemala province.  That still leaves one minor unaccounted 
for.) 
 
-- A 2002 report by the UN Rapporteur for child sexual 
exploitation cited an estimate of 2,000 minors being sexually 
exploited in 600 bars and brothels in the capital city alone. 
 Of these, 1,200 were estimated to be Salvadorans, 500 
Hondurans and more than 300 Guatemalans. 
 
¶E.  Victims are subject to violence and threat, but lack 
funds to return to their home countries.  Victims are often 
young women or children, brought here for sexual exploitation 
and paid low salaries.  A study done by ECPAT in 2004 
suggests that fraud and threats are common forms of 
recruitment.  Usually traffickers choose pretty girls from 
poor families, and the most common "contracting places" are 
along the borders. 
 
¶F.  Victims trafficked from Guatemala are generally poor 
people looking for a better life for themselves and their 
families.  The traffickers quite often approach these 
individuals and offer them jobs that would allow them to make 
regular remittances back to the family in Guatemala.  The 
main target population for sexual exploitation is minors, 
both boys and girls, from poor families or orphans.  The 
methods of approach include promises of economic rewards, job 
in cafeterias or beauty parlors, or jobs in other countries. 
The means of promotion include flyers, newspaper 
advertisements, and verbal/personal recommendations.  The 
DePaul University study "In Modern Bondage: Sex Trafficking 
in the Americas" cites evidence of the following principal 
forms and agents of trafficking in Guatemala: 1) 
"deceptions/false promise of employment" by recruiters, 
intermediaries, and bar/brothel owners; 2) "misadventure" 
with alien smugglers and truck drivers; 3) abduction by 
common criminals; and 4) "peer-influenced" (primarily 
domestic) trafficking by friends and adolescents. 
 
¶G.  Yes.  We are convinced that the GOG has the political 
will at the highest levels to combat trafficking in persons 
and is making a good faith effort to seriously address 
trafficking.  That political will has repeatedly been 
expressed by President Berger, Vice President Stein, and 
Foreign Minister Briz in meetings with the Ambassador.  In 
his January 14 inaugural address, President Berger 
acknowledged the seriousness of the TIP problem in Guatemala, 
and pledged to eradicate it.  Most recently, the Ambassador 
met with the GOG anti-TIP interagency group on February 25, 
in which Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Altolaguirre 
explicitly recognized TIP as serious and high priority 
problem and committed the GOG to continue and redouble its 
efforts to apply national law and international instruments 
to do so, using the inter-ministerial group as a coordinating 
mechanism for an integrated approach.  She said that the GOG 
must give special attention to exploited minor victims of 
begging networks, in addition to victims of sexual 
exploitation.  She outlined the following actions the GOG 
will take in the short run to combat TIP, including: 
 
Prosecution 
 
-- the GOG is prosecuting several cases involving sexual 
exploitation of minors which have led to arrests (see below); 
 
-- the GOG in January 2004 created an anti-TIP unit in the 
Attorney General's Office under the Special Prosecutor for 
Women.  The unit consists of the Special Prosecutor, three 
auxiliary prosecutors, and one support official.  (Note:  we 
will request G/TIP material support for this unit SepTel. 
End Note.) 
 
-- the Provincial Government of the Department of Guatemala 
has formed a multi-sectoral group to combat TIP; 
 
-- the GOG will implement a "zero tolerance" policy against 
TIP by raiding brothels and bars included in the Casa Alianza 
report in March to rescue victims, and is willing to do the 
same against others it suspects involve TIP; 
 
-- the Migration Directorate will establish a unit specially 
dedicated to anti-TIP activities; 
 
Prevention/Education 
 
-- the GOG is willing to take action against TIP in the 
maquila sector to prevent labor exploitation of women and 
minors; 
 
-- the GOG Presidential Secretariat of Social Communication 
plans a massive anti-TIP education campaign targeted at 
high-impact areas; 
 
-- the Immigration Directorate will launch in March and April 
2004 a campaign to educate the public to the risks of TIP in 
all border crossings, including how to file a complaint; 
 
-- the Foreign Ministry, in coordination with the IOM, 
developed a training program on international instruments to 
combat alien smuggling and TIP on July 30-August 1, 2003, for 
public servants and staff of Guatemala's consulates general 
in Mexico and the U.S.; 
 
-- the Secretariat for Women has developed education 
campaigns to prevent violence against women, including TIP; 
 
-- the GOG has developed a public education campaign and 
requests that the USG consider supporting this effort with a 
financial contribution; 
 
-- the Police Academy will integrate anti-TIP training into 
its core curricula for new recruits and mid-level officers in 
2004 (with USG technical assistance); 
 
-- preventive education on violence toward women and child 
sexual exploitation has been integrated into primary and 
secondary curricula, and teachers received training in this 
area; 
 
Legislation 
 
-- the GOG has drafted legislation to reform the penal code 
to criminalize and stiffen sanctions for crimes related to 
TIP, and to meet its international commitments, which is in 
discussion in the Congress; 
 
Policy Coordination 
 
-- by continuing the Inter-Institutional Group for 
Cooperation to Combat TIP, which includes the Ministry of 
Foreign Relations, Government (Interior), Labor, Health, 
Education, the Presidential Secretariat for Social Welfare, 
the Presidential Secretariat for Women, the Secretariat for 
Social Communication, the Office of the Solicitor General, 
the Attorney General's Office, the Presidential Commission 
for Human Rights, the Guatemalan Tourism Institute, the 
Government of the Province of Guatemala, and the Judiciary 
(Supreme Court).   The objectives of the group include 
prevention, investigation and prosecution, and protection of 
victims; 
 
-- the Ministry of Government, Public Ministry Attorney 
General's Office) and the judiciary have signed an agreement 
to cooperate on prosecution of TIP cases; 
 
-- the GOG will design and implement a national policy 
against TIP within the next six months, with IOM assistance. 
 
Protection 
 
-- the Secretariat of Social Welfare provides shelter and 
integrated services for TIP victims (14 are currently 
sheltered) referred by Court order, and hopes to open a 
shelter for TIP victims in Coatepeque, San Marcos province. 
The GOG is seeking external assistance to renovate a building 
it owns there; 
 
-- the GOG cooperates with an NGO-based program Guardian 
Angels to help victims; 
 
Corruption 
 
-- the GOG will intensify its efforts against corruption 
linked to TIP.  The group will coordinate its efforts with 
the GOG's newly-named Transparency Commission. 
 
-- the Immigration Directorate has taken actions to combat 
corruption in its ranks; 
 
-- police training already includes US-supported transparency 
and anti-corruption training; 
 
Regional Cooperation 
 
--  The GOG participates in regional dialogue on this 
subject, including with its trading partners, through the 
Regional Conference on Migration, the Central American 
Commission of Immigration Directors (OCAM), and bilaterally, 
especially with Mexico; 
 
--  implementation in the short term of the Regional Work 
Plan To Combat Illegal Migration and TIP of the Regional 
Conference on Migration, including information sharing on 
traffickers, their operations and documentation used; 
 
-- implementation of harmonized procedures for the orderly 
return of minors of CA to fight TIP involving minors; 
 
-- a MOU with Mexico is in the process of approval for the 
protection of minor victims of TIP and smuggling on the 
Mexican border, to train public servants to prevent and 
support minor victims of TIP, promote family reunification 
and to develop media prevention and information campaigns in 
high-impact areas; 
 
-- TIP will be on the agenda for President Fox's visit to 
Guatemala in March 2004; 
 
-- the GOG,s Immigration Directorate and Mexico's Border 
Police have formed a High-Level Group to strengthen joint 
efforts top combat organized crime, including TIP; 
 
-- the GOG wishes to broaden the scope of the MOU to include 
all TIP victims, and include the provision of migratory 
status for these victims to provide protection; 
 
-- the VIII Guatemala-Mexico Bi-national meeting held in 
February gave special emphasis to the secure and dignified 
return program for Central American migrants at the border 
between Mexico and Guatemala, and Guatemala proposed the 
inclusion of providing adequate identification with the goal 
of reducing their vulnerability to becoming victims of TIP; 
 
-- the Council of Women,s Ministries has formed a working 
group on TIP, according to the Presidential Secretary for 
Women; 
 
-- Guatemala will continue to consider the inclusion of 
Mexico as observer in coordination meetings between the 
Foreign Ministry and the Immigration Directorate. 
 
-- To combat both smuggling and trafficking, an ambitious 
plan was designed by the Central American Commission of 
Migration Directors.  The plan includes assistance to 
Guatemalans in foreign nations, assistance to Guatemalan 
victims who return, reinsertion into society, local 
development to diminish migration problems, protection of 
human rights of immigrants, and educational and informational 
campaigns.  The new agreement was signed in March 2001.  In 
July 2001, the Cabinet approved a Plan of Action against 
Sexual Exploitation of Minors and Adolescents.  The Ministry 
of Foreign Relations has engaged in regular dialogue with 
Mexico on migration enforcement issues. 
 
-- The GOG is using the immigration service and the national 
police force, and the new anti-TIP prosecution in the 
Attorney General's Office to combat trafficking and has had 
some victories.  A computerized entry and exit system has 
yielded some positive results with respect to combating alien 
smuggling and should help fight trafficking as well. 
However, no statistics exist for cases involving trafficking 
per se.  Most deportations were of Ecuadorians in transit to 
the U.S. who were probably victims of smuggling, rather than 
of trafficking. 
 
¶H.  The involvement of government officials in trafficking 
has not been well documented.  However, credible press 
accounts allege that corruption in the Guatemalan immigration 
service is widespread and involves the acceptance of bribes 
to allow individuals and groups to enter the country without 
proper documentation.  Prostitution-related corruption is 
also alleged in the National Civilian Police. 
 
-- At least four government officials, including a leader of 
the immigration directorate's union, have been prosecuted for 
corruption (bribery and illegal transit of persons) in cases 
involving alien smuggling.  Eighty Immigration Directorate 
employees were fired for cause in 2003.  Disciplinary 
proceedings against officials in the Immigration Directorate 
involved 46 employees in 2003. 
 
¶I.  Lack of resources, both manpower and money, is a major 
limitation to combating this problem, as with 
narco-trafficking and other trans-border problems.  The new 
government faces a budgetary crisis due to low tax revenue 
which it is attempting to address through tax reform.  In the 
meantime, all government agencies are facing very austere 
budgets.  With unlimited social needs and acute demands on 
scarce resources, providing new resources to combat 
trafficking is very difficult.  Corruption has been pervasive 
throughout the GOG in the past. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Prevention: 
 
¶A.  Yes.  See para 3.G., above. 
 
-- The GOG has also acknowledged a related problem, the 
sexual exploitation of minors.  In July 2001, the Cabinet 
approved a National Plan of Action Against the Sexual and 
Commercial Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in 
Guatemala.  The Plan's strategic objectives include:  1) 
survey social, economic, political, and social conditions 
contributing to the problem, 2) assist and rehabilitate 
victims, 3) apply justice and eliminate corruption 
facilitating exploitation, and 4) increase awareness of the 
problem and advance the plan.  The Presidential Secretariat 
for Social Welfare developed the plan in cooperation with 
other government agencies. 
 
-- The Director General of Guatemalan Migration has 
acknowledged that trafficking in persons is a problem.  Every 
day Mexican authorities deport approximately 450 people from 
Central and South American through the border at El Carmen, 
Guatemala.  Many of these people claim they had been taken 
with the promise that they would be able to enter the U.S. 
In Mexico, some are obligated to work with no pay; others are 
prostituted.  The majority, however, are probably victims of 
alien smuggling rather than trafficking. 
 
¶B.  The following government agencies are involved in the 
anti-trafficking efforts:  The Director General of Migration, 
the Ministry of Foreign Relations; the Presidential 
Secretariat of Social Welfare; the National Civilian Police; 
 
SIPDIS 
the Labor Ministry; the Education Ministry; the Public 
Ministry (Attorney General's Office), including the 
Prosecutor for Women and its anti-TIP unit; the Presidential 
Secretariat for Women; the Presidential Human Rights 
 
SIPDIS 
Commission; the Presidential Secretariat for Social 
Communication; the National Tourism Institute; the Office of 
the Solicitor General; the judiciary (Child and Adolescent 
Courts); and the provincial government of Guatemala. 
 
¶C.   The Immigration Directorate will launch a campaign to 
educate the public to the risks of TIP in all border 
crossings, including how to file a complaint; 
 
-- the GOG,s Presidential Secretariat for Social 
Communication has developed (but not yet implemented) a 
massive public education campaign to increase public 
awareness and inform victims how to file a complaint, focused 
on high-impact areas (and requests that the USG consider 
supporting this effort financially); 
 
-- the Secretariat for Women has developed education 
campaigns to prevent violence against women; 
 
-- In 2003, the Embassy Public Affairs Office sponsored a 
press briefing on TIP involving G/TIP and Embassy anti-TIP 
officials, and EmbOffs participated in radio programs 
highlighting the risks of TIP.  In 2000-01 the Embassy Public 
Affairs Office, with $40,000 from INS, produced three radio 
and three television spots.  The announcements ran heavily 
during these two months.  In June 2000, Public Affairs 
sponsored visits by two Guatemalan journalists on an INS 
"border tour" to report on the dangers of trusting alien 
smugglers ("coyotes").  A 10-day training program for four 
radio journalists from the border province of Huehuetenango 
in January 2002 and a similar program in Quetzaltenango 
province in 2003 had a similar emphasis.  The journalists 
have helped to spread Embassy's message discouraging travel 
with smugglers. 
 
-- The UN Rapporteur for Violence Against Women visited 
Guatemala in February, 2004 and denounced all forms of 
violence against women, including TIP. 
 
¶D.  The Human Rights Ombudsman's office maintains an Office 
in Defense of Displaced and Migrant Populations, which 
investigates cases of trafficking.  The Ombudsman's Office 
also sponsored public information campaigns during 2002 
warning intending migrants of the risks of illegal 
immigration and trafficking.  Other governmental offices are 
dedicated to the Defense of Indigenous Women, which provides 
legal advice to indigenous women victims of domestic violence 
and abuse, children,s rights, and women,s issues; none 
reported involvement in cases of trafficking during the 
period of this report. 
 
-- The GOG,s Presidential Secretariat of Social Welfare 
coordinated GOG cooperation with civil society groups 
including religious, private, and international NGOs under 
the National Plan of Action to Combat Sexual Exploitation of 
Minors; 
 
-- With ILO/IPEC support the Presidential Secretariat of 
Social Welfare has provided education materials on child 
sexual exploitation to the primary and secondary school 
system. 
 
-- The GOG, with assistance from USDOL, will launch a program 
in 2004 to encourage school participation and reduce child 
labor.  The GOG cooperates with several ILO programs focused 
on reducing child labor by sector (e.g. for sexual 
exploitation, broccoli production, gravel production, 
fireworks production). 
 
¶E.  Government resources are severely strained and inadequate 
in many areas, including combating trafficking.  Prevention 
programs for TIP are still in the planning stages, although 
the GOG has announced several prevention programs set to 
start this year (see above).  The GOG has requested 
international assistance to help fund some of these efforts. 
 
¶F.  Many NGOs are working on gathering information, providing 
assistance, and preventing trafficking.  There are NGOs 
working at the Guatemala-Mexico border, and national and 
international human rights organizations working with women, 
children and migrants (e.g. UNICEF, Casa Alianza, ECPAT, 
PRONICE).  The ILO/IPEC project to prevent child sexual 
exploitation funds ECPAT to coordinate between the GOG 
Secretariat of Social Welfare programs and Casa Alliance's 
 
SIPDIS 
assistance programs for victims.  UNICEF provided training on 
the prevention of violence and handling child victims to 400 
justices of the peace between June and December 2003. 
 
-- The GOG (through its border consulates, the Human Rights 
Ombudsman's Office, the Supreme Court, INTERPOL, Presidential 
Human Rights Commission, Presidential Secretariat for Social 
Welfare, Labor Ministry, Presidential Secretariat for Women, 
Solicitor General's Office) has actively participated in two 
bi-national meetings with NGOs in Guatemala and Mexico to 
share experiences on child migrants and sexual exploitation 
of minors on the Guatemalan-Mexican border, in May 2003 in 
San Marcos province, Guatemala, and in December 2003 in 
Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico. 
 
¶G.  Guatemala,s borders are poorly policed and corruption is 
rampant on both sides.  The computerized entry-exit system is 
helping at the legal crossing points, but there are many 
illegal crossing points available.  Mexico deported more than 
170,000 Central Americans (including 81,361 Guatemalans) from 
Chiapas in 2003.  While Guatemalan deportees are left at the 
Mexico-Guatemalan border, other Central American deportees 
from Mexico are transported to the borders of El Salvador and 
Honduras under a cooperative program between U.S., Mexican 
and Guatemalan immigration authorities. 
 
¶H.  Yes.  The GOG created an Inter-Institutional Cooperation 
Group to Combat TIP.  The membership is listed in 3.G., above. 
 
-- The government has a de facto anti-TIP task force, 
organized in 2003 and continued by the new government, which 
is comprised of key law enforcement agencies including the 
Ministry of Government (Immigration Directorate and National 
Civilian Police), and the Public Ministry-Prosecutor for 
Women anti-TIP unit) which is committed to work jointly on 
anti-TIP operations.  The judiciary is also nominally 
involved in the task force. 
 
-- In February 2004, the Immigration Director announced the 
creation of a task force involving the Government Ministry 
(Immigration Directorate and the National Civilian Police), 
the Public Ministry, and the judiciary (see above). 
 
-- The National Association for Guatemalan Migrants 
represents NGOs involved in migrant issues, including TIP. 
This and other groups work together on human rights issues 
with the Presidential Coordinator of Human Rights in 
Guatemala. 
 
-- The new government formed a Transparency Commission to 
prevent corruption and investigate cases.  A Presidential 
Commissioner for Transparency is leading this effort. 
 
¶I.  Yes.  The Regional Commission of Central American 
Migration Directors (OCAM) meets regularly to discuss issues 
including trafficking.  The International Migration 
Organization (IOM) has a regional office in Guatemala, and 
cooperates with the government on several bilateral projects 
to combat trafficking.  Guatemala is a member of the 
11-member Regional Conference on Migration, which meets 
semi-annually. 
 
¶J.  No, but it has announced plans to develop one over the 
next six months (see 3.G., above).  It does have a National 
Action Plan to Combat the Sexual Exploitation of Children and 
Adolescents, as mentioned above. 
 
¶K.  As described above, various entities are coordinated by 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an inter-institutional 
group to combat TIP. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Investigation and Prosecution of Traffickers: 
 
¶A.  Guatemala has several laws that specifically prohibit the 
trafficking and smuggling of persons, including the Law of 
Immigration of 1998 (Legislative Decree 95-98), Article 194 
of the Criminal Code, the Integral Protection of Children law 
approved in 2003, and several articles of the migration code. 
 In addition, there are other laws in the penal code that 
could be applicable (for pimping, corruption of minors, and 
"ruffianism").  The migration law sanctions those contracting 
illegal aliens with prison terms of two to five years, 
increased by one third when the crime is committed by 
government officials.  The crime of transporting illegal 
aliens is punished by prison terms of from three to six 
years.  The penal code also regulates coercion and the sexual 
abuse of women against their will. 
 
-- Guatemala signed and the Congress approved the anti-TIP 
Protocol to the Palermo Convention in September 2003.  The 
GOG,s articles of adhesion have been approved by the Foreign 
Ministry and await Presidential signature. 
 
-- Congress passed a Law for Integral Protection of Children 
and Adolescents June 4, 2003, implementing Guatemala,s 
commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of the 
Child, declaring in Article 50 that "Children and adolescents 
have the right to protection against kidnapping, smuggling, 
sale and trafficking in persons for whatever reason or in 
whatever form.  The State must develop national, bilateral 
and multilateral activities and strategies sufficient to 
prevent these crimes." 
 
-- Forced Labor is prohibited in the Constitution. 
 
-- Legislative reforms to punish violence against women are 
pending in Congress. 
 
-- The GOG informed the Embassy in February that it intends 
to submit legislative reforms to the penal code to stiffen 
sanctions against TIP and is already in discussion with the 
Congress about this. 
 
-- The ILO's Program to Eliminate Child Labor has drafted 
penal code reforms stiffening the penalty for TIP to 5-10 
years imprisonment and will launch a lobbying effort in 
Congress March 4. 
 
-- The Embassy has shared the USG,s model anti-TIP 
legislation with the GOG, ILO/IPEC and interested NGOs. 
 
¶B.  The penalty for traffickers is 1-3 years in prison, plus 
a fine of 2,500-15,000 quetzals ($320-1,923 at current 
exchange rates).  Penalties are increased by 2/3 if the 
victim is under 12, if the act was done with the intention to 
make a profit, or if the act included use of deceit, violence 
or abuse of authority. 
 
¶C.  The penalty for rape is 2-6 years, and the penalty for 
forcible assault is 2-5 years. 
 
¶D.  Sandra Zayas, the Prosecutor for Women and head of the 
brand new anti-TIP Unit in the Public Ministry, has requested 
any existing cases from other provincial prosecutors offices, 
and provided information on several current cases under 
investigation/prosecution: 
 
-- Case No. 9023-03 and Case No. 10395-03, both in the 
Escuintla district, and both still under investigation. 
(Note:  She provided no further details about these cases. 
End Note.) 
 
--  A case under investigation by the Prosecutor for Women, 
involving three Russian women (not minors) involved in 
prostitution.  Luis Santiago Marroquin Jerez was arrested on 
November 21 and released on bail by a judge on November 26. 
The case is still in the preparatory phase. 
 
-- In addition, we are aware of two other cases involving 
minors in prostitution;  (Note:  the Embassy shared 
information about the cases with Prosecutor Zayas on February 
¶25.  End Note.); 
 
-- On Feb. 18, 2004, Luis Enrique Estrada Navas, 68 years 
old, was arrested in a bar he was managing called "Sinaloa" 
in Cuilapa, Santa Rosa province.  He was charged with 
aggravated pimping and held by order of the justice of the 
peace at the Cuilapa Maximum Security prison.  Vicky Marylin 
Corado Aparicio, a 13-year-old Salvadoran, was rescued from 
prostitution in that bar and sheltered by court order in a 
government shelter in Antigua run by the Secretariat for 
Social Welfare. 
 
-- On October 29, 2003, Pablo Alexander Hernandez Castillo, a 
28-year-old Nicaraguan, was arrested in the Bar "Illusions" 
in Villa Canales, Guatemala province, for his involvement in 
the prostitution of Maryln Karina Hernandez Monterroso, a 
17-year-old Guatemalan. 
 
¶E.  ECPAT, in a report on TIP in Guatemala for the Regional 
TIP Workshop January 26-30, 2004, asserts that organized 
crime networks of traffickers for sexual exploitation and 
sexual tourism operate in Guatemala (the latter principally 
for Asian clients in the capital). 
 
¶F.  The GOG investigates cases of trafficking, but the 
victims usually do not press charges.  Usually, the victims 
of these crimes are women or minors, poor, and uneducated. 
Access to the justice system for these people, while 
improving, is still low.  In addition, lack of resources, and 
lack of training limit the ability of the National Civilian 
Police and the prosecutors to perform investigations. 
Undercover agents are not allowed under current law, 
racketeering statutes do not exist, and the surveillance of 
communications has been determined by the courts to be 
unconstitutional.  This makes investigations of trafficking 
organizations more difficult.  There is some hope for reform 
in this area, however.  To implement a GOG-UN agreement to 
create a Commission to Investigate Clandestine Groups, 
legislation to strengthen law enforcement to permit more 
robust investigations will be promoted in Congress. 
 
¶G.  In February 2004, the chief of the police academy agreed 
to integrate anti-TIP training into the curricula for new 
police recruits and mid-level police training.  The USG will 
provide train-the-trainer assistance to implement this 
initiative in March 2004.  In addition, the USG will provide 
this anti-TIP training to GOG immigration, prosecutorial and 
judicial officials. 
 
¶H.  In the Regional Conference on Migration and in bilateral 
agreements with Mexico, the GOG has pledged to cooperate with 
neighboring governments in the investigation and prosecution 
of trafficking cases.  We are not aware of any such efforts 
to date.  The non-binding Central American Parliament has 
also promoted anti-TIP cooperation amongst Central American 
governments. 
 
¶I.  Extradition, including the extradition of Guatemalan 
nationals, is allowed under the Guatemalan constitution and 
in various treaties and conventions.  We are unaware, 
however, of any pending extradition requests for trafficking 
in persons. 
 
¶J.  There is no evidence to suggest that the Guatemalan 
Government is involved in trafficking, except through the 
acts of corruption of individual officials. 
 
¶K.  The GOG has attempted to curb large-scale corruption and 
collusion with prostitution rings along its western border 
with Mexico by rotating police there every three months, and 
by prosecuting corrupt immigration officials (four in 2003). 
 
¶L.  The ILO Convention 182 concerning the prohibition and 
immediate action for elimination of the worst forms of child 
labor was approved and ratified on August 21, 2001, and the 
instrument of ratification was deposited on October 5, 2001. 
It entered into effect internationally for Guatemala on 
October 11, 2002. 
 
The GOG has signed and ratified ILO Conventions 29 (1989) and 
105 (1959) on forced or compulsory labor. 
 
The "Sale of Children Protocol" supplementing the rights of 
the child convention, was approved by decree 76-2001 of the 
Congress of Guatemala on December 11, 2001. 
 
The "Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in 
Persons, Especially Women and Children," supplementing the UN 
convention against transnational crime, was signed and 
ratified by the GOG in 2003, but its instruments of adhesion 
to the Protocol await Presidential signature. 
 
Guatemala signed (September 7, 2000) and ratified (April 30, 
2002) the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights 
of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and 
Child Pornography. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Protection and Assistance to Victims: 
 
¶A.  The GOG in 2003 announced plans to construct shelters for 
deportees along the Guatemala-Mexico border (and requested 
USG support), but those shelters are not functioning.  The 
Secretariat for Social Welfare runs a series of shelters for 
 
SIPDIS 
child victims, including TIP victims.  The Public Ministry 
assists victims of crime through offices in all provincial 
capitals and major cities.  Assistance to victims of sexual 
assault consists of medical, psychological, and social 
counseling and assistance.  The Criminal Investigative 
Division of the National Police also provides referral 
services to victims, and investigates sex crimes that may 
involve trafficking. 
 
In 2002-3, the USG provided support totaling $110,000 to the 
NGO "Casa de la Mujer" for occupational training to 
trafficked women along the Mexican-Guatemalan border.  USAID 
is in the process of planning a project to provide support to 
a regional network of NGOs providing assistance and 
vocational training to TIP victims. 
 
¶B. We are not aware of GOG funding to foreign or domestic 
NGOs for services to victims. 
 
¶C.  Undocumented foreigners are deported and given 72 hours 
to depart, but many stay in Guatemala.  Victims of 
trafficking are not prosecuted. 
 
¶D.  In the past, victims were not actively encouraged to file 
civil suits or to seek legal action against traffickers. 
However, in February the Immigration Directorate announced a 
campaign to encourage foreign victims to file a complaint. 
 
¶E.  The GOG does not normally provide protection to witnesses 
that come forward.  In exceptional cases involving threats 
against witnesses, the Public Ministry provides police 
protection during and for a period after trails. 
 
¶F.  The government provides specialized training for police 
and Public Ministry officials serving victims.  Training for 
embassies and consulates in foreign countries is also being 
contemplated, but is not yet in place.  The GOG encourages 
its embassies and consulates to work with NGOs that serve 
trafficked victims. 
 
¶G.  The Public Ministry, with assistance from USAID, opened 
pilot victims, assistance centers in the capital in 2000 and 
expanded the program to include all provincial capitals and 
major cities in 2001.  The centers are staffed by a social 
worker training in victim assistance, with access to medical 
care, rape test kits, evidence preservation, and follow-up 
legal and psychological counseling.  The centers are 
available to victims of trafficking as well as other crimes. 
The Criminal Investigative Division of the National Police 
also provides services to victims and investigates crimes of 
trafficking. 
 
¶H.  The major NGOs that work with trafficking victims are 
"Pastoral del Migrante" from the Catholic Archbishop,s 
office, "Casa del Migrante" in Tecun Uman and "Casa Alianza" 
in the capital.  The NGOs provide shelter and medical and 
legal assistance. 
 
¶7.  (U) Embassy POC for TIP-related issues is Political 
Officer Erik Hall, who can be reached at (502) 331-1541 ext. 
4635; fax: (502) 334-8474.  Number of hours spent preparing 
this report:  80.  Ambassador, DCM and various other Embassy 
officers also participated in numerous meetings with the GOG 
on this issue. 
HAMILTON