The Attorney General’s Office (PGN) seeks to adequate Reforms to the Alba-Keneth System Law, approved by Congress the previous yearwith which it is expected to achieve a greater dissemination of alerts related to the disappearance of girls, boys and adolescents throughout Guatemala.
According to information provided by the PGN, a greater dissemination of the data of the missing minors through social networks, as established by the decree, which orders that the alerts be disclosed through social networks of mass dissemination or similar mechanisms, as well as by text messages to all cellular users of the different companies that operate in the country.
Currently, the PGN publishes daily the data of missing minors in different areas of the country through platforms such as Facebook and X. It is in the first of these where publications by sector or area have been implemented, which when entering the link redirect to the electronic page of the Alba-Keneth system, where the user can verify who are the minors of the sector that are disappeared.
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Publications by sectors or areas
Recently, in social networks, mainly on Facebook, sectorized publications or areas have been made, with which the disappearance of minors in different parts of the country is announced.
In addition to general publications, these are being made according to the area, municipality or department where the minor disappeared or was seenwith the objective that the inhabitants of the sector and surrounding areas have knowledge of the case.
According to information from the PNG Communication Department, “these types of alerts are disclosed through an agreement of the Alta -Keneth and Meta alert system agreement – company that owns Facebook and other social networks – which is done for certain cases.” With this measure they claim that it is sought to achieve greater involvement of the population with the aim of disseminating the messages and that the cases will be known.
Likewise, in these cases, “the publication is made directly by the finish line”, since they are generated from their systems and are independent of the usual publications on social networks, with the aim of having a greater diffusion and visibility for those who reside in different sectors.
Alerts by messages are still pending
As for the messages by messages through cell phone operators, this has not yet been implemented, since there is no technological equipment necessary to send messages by the PGN.
In February of this year, Free press announced that public institutions do not have the system required to implement technology Cell Broadcast “Cellular transmission,” necessary to send alerts to all mobile phone users.
Given this, the PGN reported this June 16 that “since the publication of Decree 4-2024, the Operating Unit of the National Coordinator of the Alba-Keneth Alert System has complied with coordination actions for the dissemination of alerts through radio emissions or Cell Broadcastas well as social networks or similar mechanisms of mass dissemination, so multiple meetings have been held and technical tables have been established with the country’s mobile phone operators and other entities, for that purpose ”.
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However, during these meetings, composed of the PGN, other public entities and cell phone operators, it has been indicated that it is the State that must make the efforts and acquire the cell transmission equipment, known as Cell Broadcastwhich will allow sending and disseminating the text messages and thus giving greater coverage to the alerts of missing minors.
The National Coordinator of the Alba-Keneth Alert Activation System It is made up of the Attorney General’s Office (PGN), the National Civil Police (PNC), the Public Ministry (MP), the Guatemalan Institute of Migration (IGM), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINEX), the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency and the Secretariat against sexual violence, exploitation and trafficking of persons (Svet).
To date, the state institutions that make up the National Alerts System Alba-Keneth, do not have this team to send the alerts to the users of the different telephone operators in Guatemala.
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Current operation
Currently, the Alba-Keneth alert system works as follows:
- The Operating Unit of the Alba-Keneth Alert System receives the disappearance report of a girl, boy or adolescent.
- The immediate search mechanism is activated, through the National System Coordinator, composed of seven government institutions.
- The authorities of the National Coordinator execute the necessary actions for the search and location of the minor.
- When the minor is located, it must be presented before a competent authority: the operating unit located in Zone 8 capital, the National Civil Police or the regional delegations of the PGN, to verify its protection and the reason for its disappearance or if there was a violation of its human rights. If this does not happen, the alert remains active, as established by law.
- In case of detecting violation of rights, the Attorney General’s Office and Adolescents take the case to request protection measures to the competent judge. If it is determined that the child requires medical or forensic attention, the corresponding place is derived.
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ALBA-KENETH Alerts so far from 2025
During the year 2025, The Alba-Keneth alert system has reported on different channels on the disappearance of minors in various areas of the country.
According to the PGN, from January 1 to June 10, 2025, the data is as follows:
- Activated alerts: 2 thousand 915
- Disabled alerts: 2 thousand 386
- They remain active: 529
It has also been reported that the departments with the highest incidence of minors disappearance are Guatemala, Escuintla and Quetzaltenango.
From May 11 to 16, more than 30 new cases of missing minors were published between May 11 and 15, both in the capital and inside the country.
