United Nations human rights experts have issued a formal call for investigation into Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras regarding her alleged involvement in illegal international adoptions of indigenous children during the nation’s civil war period. The independent experts, appointed by the UN to advise on human rights matters, specifically reference Porras’s seven-month tenure in 1982 as director of Hogar Temporal Elisa Martínez children’s home, where she simultaneously served as legal guardian for the minors.
The allegations center on at least 80 indigenous children who were reportedly sent abroad for adoption through illicit means during Guatemala’s 36-year internal conflict (1960-1996). The experts characterize these adoptions as occurring ‘following their capture and enforced disappearance’ and detail how such illegal adoptions typically involved fraudulent declarations of adoptability, document falsification, coercion of biological parents, and improper financial gain for intermediaries.
Porras has vehemently denied all accusations, labeling them ‘baseless, factually unfounded and completely malicious’ while suggesting political motivations behind the timing of these allegations. Her office released a statement through AFP news agency rejecting the claims entirely.
The UN experts expressed particular concern that no thorough, independent investigation has examined the alleged involvement of state authorities in these processes. This development emerges during a sensitive political moment for Porras, who recently failed to secure enough support from Guatemala’s Bar Association for a seat on the Constitutional Court and is simultaneously seeking an unprecedented third term as attorney general.
Porras’s leadership has previously drawn international criticism, including US sanctions imposed in 2022 over alleged corruption claims, which she continues to deny. Her office faced additional condemnation in 2024 for allegedly attempting to prevent anti-corruption candidate Bernardo Arévalo from assuming the presidency after his electoral victory.