INTERNATIONAL EXTRADITION · CENTRAL AMERICA
Extradition from Guatemala to the United States.
U.S.-Guatemala Extradition Convention (1903), supplemented in 1940 controls the request. Article V of the 1903 convention makes surrender of a requested state's own citizens discretionary rather than obligatory. The arrest clock and local review path decide what happens next.
THE SHORT ANSWER
In force No official average is reliable. The 40-day provisional-arrest ceiling is only for receipt of the treaty papers, not final surrender. Translation/authentication, appeal and amparo, local prosecutions or sentences, evidentiary disputes under the old list treaty, assurances, and executive coordination can extend the case from months to years.
U.S.-Guatemala Extradition Convention (1903), supplemented in 1940
Effective: 1903-08-15; supplement effective 1941-03-13
WHAT COUNSEL CHECKS FIRST
The active paper. The country. The clock.
THE RESPONSE ROOM
What has to be established first.
FIRST HOURS
Identify the legal basis for custody
Record the arresting authority, court, case number, custody location, interpreter need, and any hearing date. Ask for counsel before discussing the foreign accusation.
WHO DECIDES
The local record controls
Under Guatemala's Ley Reguladora del Procedimiento de Extradición (Decree 28-2008), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs transmits a passive request, the Public Ministry promotes it, and the Supreme Court designates the trial court. The court gives notice, counsel and a hearing, receives evidence, and decides whether extradition is proper. After a final favorable decision, Foreign Affairs coordinates surrender with the Interior Ministry, Public Ministry and court; the executive role must be checked against the treaty and current law.
THE CLOCK
Deadlines are event-specific
Article IX permits provisional arrest after diplomatic notice that a competent warrant exists and that a supported requisition will follow. Custody to await the documents may not exceed 40 days. Release after the period does not decide a later fully documented request. No official average is reliable. The 40-day provisional-arrest ceiling is only for receipt of the treaty papers, not final surrender. Translation/authentication, appeal and amparo, local prosecutions or sentences, evidentiary disputes under the old list treaty, assurances, and executive coordination can extend the case from months to years.
DOCUMENT AUDIT
Build the file before the argument
Preserve the notice or warrant, charging papers, identity records, release terms, travel documents, medical records, and every dated communication. Do not alter or delete evidence.
FOR FAMILIES COORDINATING ACROSS BORDERS
Confirm the exact legal name, detention location, medication needs, next hearing, local lawyer, and one reliable contact channel. A consulate may assist with welfare and contact; it cannot cancel the local case.
02 · THE PROCESS
How the Guatemala process moves.
Judicial and executive stages
Under Guatemala's Ley Reguladora del Procedimiento de Extradición (Decree 28-2008), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs transmits a passive request, the Public Ministry promotes it, and the Supreme Court designates the trial court. The court gives notice, counsel and a hearing, receives evidence, and decides whether extradition is proper. After a final favorable decision, Foreign Affairs coordinates surrender with the Interior Ministry, Public Ministry and court; the executive role must be checked against the treaty and current law.
Appeal and review
Article 23 permits only an appeal from the first-instance extradition decision, filed in writing within three days. The competent Court of Appeals may affirm, modify or reverse; Article 25 says its decision has no ordinary further appeal, while preserving constitutional guarantees, including amparo where legally available.
03 · DEFENSES
The request still has to survive the record.
ISSUE
Treaty coverage
The charged conduct, punishment threshold, documents, and identity must fit the controlling treaty and local implementing law.
ISSUE
Dual criminality
The bilateral convention is primarily list-based, not a modern blanket dual-criminality treaty. The conduct must fit an offense enumerated in Article II as expanded by the 1940 supplement, meet the treaty's punishment/evidence conditions, and satisfy applicable Guatemalan law. Later multilateral crime conventions may supply an additional treaty basis, but that cannot be assumed.
ISSUE
Political and protected offenses
Article III excludes political crimes and connected acts; Article IV reinforces protection against punishment for prior political offenses. The bilateral text does not create broad standalone military or fiscal exceptions. Because the treaty is list-based, an ordinary military or fiscal charge must independently fit an enumerated offense or another applicable convention. Prior local prosecution/sentence and limitation provisions also matter.
ISSUE
Evidence and process
The request can be tested against the treaty standard, authentication requirements, limitation rules, and procedural guarantees that apply locally.
ISSUE
Human rights and punishment
The 1903 bilateral convention has no modern death-penalty assurance article. Guatemala's Constitution and human-rights treaties govern due process and protection against unlawful or inhuman treatment. Because Guatemala retains death-penalty provisions in law but has not carried out executions for many years, no categorical assurance rule should be inferred; any capital exposure, life-without-parole issue, prison-condition claim or diplomatic assurance requires case-specific constitutional and treaty analysis.
ISSUE
Specialty and assurances
Yes. Article IV limits trial or punishment for pre-surrender conduct other than the offense for which surrender was granted, unless the person remains free to leave for the treaty's stated one-month period after disposition or punishment.
04 · PUBLIC EXAMPLES
Recent public extradition records.
These examples come from public government records and are not presented as Spodek Law Group matters or results.
Tomas Quino Canil, Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino and Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala
human-smuggling conspiracy tied to the 2021 Chiapas mass-casualty crash
Romeo Ramos Cruz
conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of cocaine
Steven Ovaldino Lorenzana Alvarenga and Allan Mendoza
cocaine-importation conspiracy and firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking
Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco
human smuggling connected to the 2022 San Antonio mass-casualty incident
Moises Humberto Rivera Luna
MS-13 racketeering conspiracy including murder, narcotics, extortion and obstruction allegations
05 · THE CHARGES
What appears in the requests.
A Red Notice is not the extradition order.
A Red Notice asks police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person, subject to each country's law. It is not an international arrest warrant, and it does not replace the treaty papers or the local extradition case.
The notice, the provisional-arrest request, and the surrender proceeding are separate records. Each can carry different defects, deadlines, and remedies.
07 · THIRD-COUNTRY RISK
Transit can expose a person to another country's arrest rules, immigration powers, or provisional request. This page gives no route or evasion advice. Review the actual warrant, notice, release conditions, and jurisdictions with counsel before travel.
08 · QUESTIONS
What families and targets ask first.
IMMEDIATE EXTRADITION QUESTIONS
No. A Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest, not an international arrest warrant or a finding of extraditability. Guatemala's arrest law, the treaty record, and the local surrender process still control.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
It can. Border screening may expose a national warrant, INTERPOL data, immigration authority, or a provisional request under another country's law. This is not travel or evasion advice; the actual records and jurisdictions require review before travel.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
Release depends on Guatemala's current law, the arrest authority, flight-risk findings, and the stage of the request. No general website answer can predict it. Local counsel should address custody while U.S. counsel verifies the federal matter and request.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
Not automatically. Extradition, asylum, immigration removal, and non-refoulement are separate legal systems that may interact. The forum, protected status, alleged conduct, treaty, and current human-rights evidence determine which arguments are available.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
COUNTRY PROCEDURE
Yes. The 1903 convention remains listed in U.S. law and was expanded by a 1940 supplement effective March 13, 1941.
No. The bilateral treaty makes surrender of the requested state's own citizens discretionary; political-offense extradition of Guatemalans is constitutionally barred.
AUTHORITIESwww.govinfo.govww2.oj.gob.gt
Not necessarily. The bilateral convention is list-based, so the charged conduct must fit an enumerated category as supplemented, unless another applicable convention supplies a separate basis.
AUTHORITIESwww.govinfo.govwww.govinfo.gov
Yes. Article IX allows provisional arrest, but treaty custody awaiting the formal papers may not exceed 40 days.
AUTHORITIESwww.govinfo.gov
Foreign Affairs transmits the request, the Public Ministry promotes it, and a court designated through the Supreme Court conducts the judicial proceeding and decides extraditability.
AUTHORITIESwww.oas.org
Yes. Decree 28-2008 provides a three-day appeal to the competent Court of Appeals; ordinary further appeal is barred, but constitutional guarantees remain.
AUTHORITIESwww.vertic.org
No under the bilateral convention, and Constitution Article 27 specifically protects Guatemalans from extradition for political offenses.
AUTHORITIESwww.govinfo.govww2.oj.gob.gt
No modern express clause appears in the 1903/1940 bilateral texts. Any capital case requires separate constitutional, human-rights and diplomatic-assurance analysis.
AUTHORITIESwww.govinfo.govwww.govinfo.gov
Only within Article IV specialty limits or after the treaty's stated opportunity-to-depart condition is met.
AUTHORITIESwww.govinfo.gov
No official average controls. The 40-day document deadline is not a final-case deadline; appeals, amparo, local cases, assurances and executive coordination can add substantial time.
AUTHORITIESwww.vertic.orgwww.justice.gov
09 · RESEARCH LIMITS
What the public record does not settle.
10 · SOURCES
Every material claim should have a file behind it.
11 · REGIONAL INDEX
Related country files.
WHO REVIEWS THE FIRST CALL
Start with the paper, the posture, and the first deadline.
Todd A. Spodek leads the firm's federal defense work. The team identifies the active U.S. matter, the country and custody posture, and where appropriately licensed local counsel is required. No webpage can replace review of the actual request.
Todd Spodek - biography and record →SECURE CONSULTATION REQUEST
Put the actual extradition record in front of counsel.
Tell us whether this is an inquiry, Red Notice, detention, hearing, or appeal. The intake team will identify conflicts and the right next step. Urgent custody and hearing matters should call.
212 300 5196 - urgent matters →