'Stolen' Guatemala children found

Guatemalan children are cheaper and easier to adopt than most

Forty-six children in Guatemala, believed to have been taken from their parents for illegal adoption abroad have been rescued, officials say.

The children's ages range from three years old to just a few days.

They were found at a house in Antigua, close to the capital, after neighbours reported seeing foreigners collecting children there every day.

Police are investigating whether the children were stolen, or their parents were coerced into giving them up.

Last year, couples in the US adopted more than 4,000 infants from Guatemala, second only to China.

Stricter regulations

The Guatemalan attorney general's office said that few of the children had the necessary paperwork to be in the custody of anyone other than their parents, and the house did not have permission to operate as an adoption centre.

The 46 children have remained at the house, being looked after by police, while the case is being investigated.

Latin America correspondent Daniel Schweimler says adopting from Guatemala can take half the time and cost considerably less than it does elsewhere.

However, the US state department is advising against the practice because of reports that many Guatemalan mothers face pressure to sell their children into adoption.

Last week, the US embassy in Guatemala tightened up the visa regulations for couples trying to adopt there.

Haiti raid

In a separate development, on Friday, 47 Haitian children whose parents gave them to traffickers in return for promised financial help were rescued, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

The children, aged between two and seven, were freed from a rogue adoption centre in the Caribbean country's capital, Port-au-Prince, following government intervention.

The IOM said the children are offered to rich Haitians and foreigners in return for money.