UN experts link Guatemala’s attorney-general to illegal adoptions

GUATEMALA CITY - United Nations experts on Feb 16 called for an investigation into Guatemala’s attorney-general Maria Consuelo Porras for possible involvement in illegal adoptions of indigenous children in the 1980s, during the country’s civil war.

The allegation came in a statement released in Geneva on Feb 16, the same day that Ms Porras, whose term as attorney-general ends in May, failed in her bid to be elected to Guatemala’s Constitutional Court.

The UN experts said they had received information about “at least 80 Indigenous children who were subjected to illegal international adoptions” after “their capture and forced disappearance between 1968 and 1996”.

The group noted that the minors were put up for adoption after being taken to the Elisa Martinez Temporary Home, where Ms Porras was director and also “legal guardian of the children from Jan 21 to Aug 30, 1982”, according to the statement.

AFP requested comment from the Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office on the allegations against Ms Porras, but did not receive an immediate response.

The experts called for independent investigations into the allegations that public officials, including Ms Porras, were allegedly involved in the adoptions.

The group’s members criticised Ms Porras’s candidacy for the Constitutional Court – the highest in Guatemala – and urged those who elect the magistrates to exercise “caution in light of these serious allegations”.

The 72-year-old prosecutor has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for corruption.

Ms Porras has twice challenged President Bernardo Arevalo’s claim to power, launching an investigation into his Semilla party before his inauguration in January 2024.

The attorney-general has also been accused by the government and non-governmental organisations of protecting criminals, which she denies. AFP