Guatemalan prosecutors have searched the officers of Save the Children, a British-based non-governmental aid organization, in connection with the violation of children's rights, special prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche reported on X, formerly Twitter.
La Hora newspaper linked Thursday's search to suspected involvement by non-governmental organizations in child trafficking and to a communication from the Guatemalan prosecutors to prosecutors in Texas in the United States.
Curruchiche, head of a prosecution unit investigating impunity and a controversial figure, said the search had been ordered following a complaint and that Texas prosecutors had been asked for assistance.
Save the Children rejected the allegations. "We have been shocked and perplexed by the unprecedented search of our offices by the Guatemalan Public Ministry. No specific allegations were made known to us, and there is no evidence to support allegations of misconduct," it said in a statement on its website.
The organization had been active in Guatemala for almost 50 years and had always protected children, it said. "We do not – and we never have – facilitated the movement of children out of Guatemala."
Curruchiche and other officials have been accused of attempting to prevent democratically elected President Bernardo Arévalo from taking office. The anti-corruption social democrat's unexpected election victory in 2023 led to attempts to have the election annulled and to block his swearing in.
The US and the European Union have imposed sanctions on chief prosecutor Consuelo Porras for undermining democracy. Arévalo finally took office in January.