Guatemala, Women in Migratory Contexts
Migrants whose destination is the United States consider Guatemala to be one of the most challenging steps in their journey due to abuses by the National Civil Police (PNC), hoteliers, and transporters who, according to organizations, view them as an ‘industry’ to generate profits, reports Jose Manuel Patzan for Prensa Libre.
The PNC acknowledges the problem and has received complaints about agents involved in these criminal networks, leading to the initiation of respective investigations.
The General Inspectorate Directorate of the National Civil Police (PNC) reported 88 agents arrested for various crimes from January to June 2023, according to Republica of Guatemala.
Jorge Aguilar, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, stated that they are aware of the problem at the borders and, based on victims’ complaints, several agents have been arrested for committing sexual abuses and other offenses.
“We have received complaints about the abuses committed by rogue PNC agents at the borders, and several of them are already undergoing legal processes. Investigations continue to find more responsible parties,” he added.
Non-governmental organizations working with migrants in Guatemala and Central America maintain that extortion networks exist, and such crimes are more frequent in the country.
A report from the Spanish newspaper El País collected testimonies from women who were subjected to sexual abuses by alleged PNC agents during their journey through Guatemala. El Pais interviewed a survivor of a mass rape allegedly committed by the National Civil Police (PNC) of Guatemala.
The same activism that forced her to flee led her to report her own case and support other women. In addition to escaping threats and extortion from gangs in Central America, they endured gender-based violence and homophobia, “using their bodies as a currency to cross Guatemala.”
Meanwhile, some migrants state that they prefer to cross the Darien jungle in Panama twice rather than pass through Guatemala, which they described as “hell,” one of the worst countries for transit.
Prensa Libre reports that in the last fiscal year, between October 2022 and September 2023, the United States Border Patrol recorded 2,255,000 encounters with irregular Central American migrants and those of other nationalities at its southern border. NGOs working with these individuals assume that the majority would have crossed Guatemala to reach there.
Dangers at the Borders
In his report for Prensa Libre, Jose Manuel Patzan cites the work of Rosario Martinez, a researcher at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso). Martinez expresses that migrant women are constantly harassed at the border with Honduras, while the number of complaints in the Public Prosecutor’s Office do not reflect this reality as women prefer to continue their route to the United States.
Formal complaints are also not filed because the victims do not know the exact location of the incidents, and in the darkness of the night, they were unable to see the faces of the attackers, who covered them, according to testimonies.
“At the Aguas Calientes border, Central Americans pass easily, although they do not always complete their immigration process and prefer to pay the authorities so that their entry is not recorded,” says Martinez.
Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala have a free mobility agreement allowing passage through Guatemala as long as they present the corresponding documents. However, Central Americans prefer to pay at immigration stations because they do not have entry receipts, she adds.
“They travel with minors and would have to present all the required documentation, but if they are fleeing due to gang or violence issues, the last thing they want is to be detected where they are going,” Martinez points out. Payments at Immigration to continue their route range from $30 to $100.
According to Martinez, the business begins in Esquipulas, Chiquimula, where taxi drivers offer transfers to bus stations for $20 or $30—between Q200 and Q250—with the warning that otherwise, they will have to walk several kilometers. Still, later, migrants realize that it is not even a 15-minute walk.
For those who do not get a spot at Casa del Migrante and still have resources, they choose to pay hotels, which also charge excessive fees, also in dollars. Through field research, Martinez specifies that 90 percent of the buses departing from Esquipulas are occupied by migrants.
According to the migrants’ own testimonies, 5 km after leaving the terminal is the first checkpoint, where they are asked for documents. Still, one of the main ‘barriers’ is the victims’ reluctance to file complaints.
“Due to the beatings and the type of outrage, women are taken to the nearest health post. When doctors examine them, they detect that there was a sexual violation. The problem is that they do not report it because sometimes they are accompanied by their attacker, they are afraid because it was a PNC agent who abused them, or because despite the aggression, their goal is to reach the United States, and they think that is one of the costs,” she points out.
Interviews in health centers allowed them to establish that there are also men who arrive with injuries, and it is determined that they were subjected to physical assaults, but they still prefer to continue their journey.
“It is a migration industry that operates at the borders and includes police authorities, human traffickers, and certain companies,” she states. “Twenty or thirty years ago, a trusted neighbor did the smuggling, but now, to be able to pass, they have to ally with criminal structures, and that’s why the cost has risen, as they have to pay for a series of steps.”
According to more than 50 migrants interviewed by El Pais at the Guatemala borders, this country has been the toughest part of their migration journey due to extortions and violence from authorities. These testimonies align with the observations of organizations working on the ground.
Caro Cocunubo, a legal gender advisory expert at the Fray Matias Human Rights Center, states, “In recent times, almost daily, we assist women and members of the LGBTQ+ community who have been sexually assaulted in Guatemala by authorities, gangs, or organized crime.”
“When a group of undocumented migrants enters the country, they are detained and extorted by police officers in exchange for allowing them to continue their journey, violating several fundamental human rights,” says Pavel Catavi, a human rights researcher at the Cristosal organization. Extortion takes various forms, ranging from insults and threats to inappropriate touching to confiscate their money.
The Corte de Derechos Humanos states that prevailing practices from the past, such as the “culture of silence,” are associated with non-reporting due to fear of reprisals. Additionally, there is a lack of trust in public institutions, especially those responsible for the administration of justice, as well as a lack of awareness about their rights.
Soledad Quartucci | CEO/Founder, Latina Republic
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