Although the Ministry of the Interior spoke last year and assured that it has dismantled structures of police linked to abuse and extortion against migrants, the problem persists on other routes, where migrants pay on average Q800 in bribes, overvalued services and foods, according to an investigation of the Christosal entity.
Cristosal has a presence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, and their work focuses on documenting internal forced displacement due to generalized violence, as well as transitional justice.
A report prepared between August 2023 and October 2024 was presented by this organization to describe the abuses faced by migrants during their passage through Guatemala towards the border with Mexico. This mentions that migrants pay an average Q510 in bribes to police authorities.
Pavel Cataví, a researcher who works with Chrysal, indicates that, through testimonies, it was determined that migrants can spend between Q600 and Q800 to cross Guatemala in one day, although it depends on the way they do it, because the services and foods are charged twice.
“Where a bread with coffee costs us ten quetzales, they cost twenty -five dollars,” he says.
Cataví says that, from Esquipulas, Chiquimula, towards the capital, migrants pay Q210 on a Pullman bus, and from the capital to Tecún Umán, San Marcos, pay Q310. However, he stressed that a Guatemalan pays on average Q110 from Esquipulas to the capital and Q130 of the capital to Tecún Umán.
This, according to the researcher, occurs because migrants in the province are seen as a business.
He added that there are migrants who prefer to avoid paying the transport service, either by bus or taxi from Esquipulas to the capital, in order to walk and save some Q600, as well as to avoid the pnc seals. However, they are always intercepted on the roads, not only by the authorities, but also by civilians who, in the same way, demand money to let them pass.
Cataví indicates that only in 2023 they accounted for 14 police seals on the route from Chiquimula to Guatemala; In each one they asked from Q20 to Q100 to migrants to let them continue. Even during the collection of testimonies, he said they had confrontations with police officers.
In 2023, the Ministry of the Interior recognized the problem and announced the dissolution of the division of ports, airports and border stalls (Dipafront) of the PNC, so, according to Cataví, the problem decreased considerably on the route of Esquipulas towards the capital. However, according to the testimonies collected in November 2024, the problem persists on the capital’s route to Tecún Umán, San Marcos, border with Mexico.
“During the preparation of the report it was discovered that there were arbitrary requisitions. There was a migrant who said it was his third attempt to reach the United States, because he already had the money to pay during the route through Guatemala,” he said.
The investigation also allowed to identify a dark room at kilometer 46 of the route to the Atlantic. This was achieved through the testimonies of the victims, who described the place as a “dining parking lot”, where they were stripped of their money and where women and girls were sexually attacked.
On the part of the PNC General Inspectorate, it was affirmed that actions have been implemented in conjunction with the Public Ministry in the areas where these abuses have been reported, and 35 elements of different hierarchical ranges have been recorded. The catches have been made in Chiquimula (6), Guatemala (28) and Izabal (1).
The deputy director of the General Inspectorate, Juan Carlos Rodas, says that the crimes committed against migrants are difficult to investigate, because the victims prefer to continue their way.
“These crimes can only be fought flagrantly, because the migrant, despite the abuses he receives, prefers to continue with his path and does not collaborate with justice actions. Violation cases have become unpunished because they refuse to give statements in the place,” he said.
The police chief recalled that, on one occasion, they had to “beg” the migrants to give their statement to the MP experts.
He added that, through reliability tests such as the polygraph, the pipeline has been refined and strengthened, because they are the first to have contact with migrants.
In 2024, entities such as the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso) already knew about the problem and announced that this type of abuse was constant at the border with Honduras, although there were no complaints in the MP. This was due to the fact that the sexually abused women preferred to continue their route to the United States, or because the victims did not know the exact place where the events occurred, arguing that they happened during the night, in non -enlightened places, and failed to observe well the face of the aggressors, who covered it with balacontal caps.