A young boy named A. from "El Viejo" called me. He spoke with me, and he told me that if I could go work somewhere, I would earn more. But he never told me directly where, if it was a business for women or anything. Instead he told me that it was a maquila where he was working and earning well. There was a girl named R. where I was working also, and [A.] came and ... took us to Guatemala. [R.] went without documents, and I went with my identification card.
When we reached the border, we crossed but R. stayed. She couldn't cross
because they asked for her documents. Well, he went to leave with me
and the other girl, but R. stayed at the border. When we reached the
place in Guatemala City, we saw that it was a brothel located in Zone 6.
The next day I asked for [R.], for the girl, and the owner of the business
told me that we were going to return to the border where she had
stayed, to bring [R.], because if she didn't appear, I would have to pay
the money that he had paid A. for us.
How much money did they give him?
He gave him 1,500 quetzal [approximately US $190] for three
of us. Once we were there, we headed toward the border with the
owner's wife. Once we reached the border, we asked for [R.], and a
boy that exchanged currency told us she was in a business and that he
had left her there. We went to the business and [the wife of the owner
to where we had been sold] entered inside with me. By telling lies,
they let us see [R.] and she left with us. We left the business and
reached the other one where [A.] had sold us. The three of us were
there, and [A.] disappeared, and we never saw him again.
We stayed there. We weren't well because we always had to be with men,
obligated because it was a business, and we weren't accustomed to that
type of business. We had to do it because the owner forced us to do
what the clients wanted. The clients called us; they invited us for beer,
for drinks, and things of that sort. We had to do it because it was a
business, and it was forced labor. The owner would tell us we had to
do it. Once we were there, we wanted to leave.
We worked every day. We slept and went with ten men. And
it was obligated; it wasn't our choice but rather it was obligated in
order to repay the money they had given [A.] when we were sold. We
had to do it because we couldn't leave, not even by escaping. When
they took us to leave, we had to go with the same workers and return to
the same spot so they could lock us up again. He mistreated us. We
weren't well. The food was bad...
What is the owner's name?
The owner's name is R.C. and his wife's name is B.C. She
was also part of the business. He took her from one business and was
with her. She is Salvadoran.
The name of the person?
The name of the person who took me is A. ... He deceived
me by telling me that I was going to work at a factory where he was
working in Guatemala, that it was a maquila and I would be earning
well. ... And he told us that we could come along without a problem,
that he would pay for all the expenses, food, travel and everything, that
we shouldn't worry about that, that we should only worry about the ID
card, because I had an ID card and the other girl didn't, because by then
they couldn't give her an ID card. She didn't have an ID card, and he
had only given her a birth certificate that was not hers who knows
whose it was. She didn't use it. She became nervous, and then at the
border they asked her for documents, and that's how they stopped her.
But at the same time a person who exchanges currency took her to a
business and hid her so she could cross the border.
Other than yourself and the girl you mentioned, were there more
people there from Nicaragua or from other places?
No, where I was staying where they took me there were
only three Nicaraguans, but there were also Salvadorans, Hondurans,
and Guatemalans.
In Guatemala, ... how many people were there, more or less, that the
person had captive beside yourself?