Guatemala Town Honors Distinguished Visitor Andrew Bustillo

Andrew Bustillo, a retired reinsurance executive, has traveled to Guatemala dozens of times in the past 16 years. But it’s not the number of visits that matters so much as their quality. In honor of his life-transforming contributions to the well-being of the children and youth of Covenant House Guatemala, known locally as La Alianza, the mayor of the city of Antigua, where one of our sites is located, honored him as a Distinguished Visitor.

"Andrew, you represent a type of leadership that is rare today: that of someone who has been at the highest echelons of business success but has not lost the ability to be moved by the pain of the most vulnerable,” said Antigua Mayor Juan Manuel Asturias Sueiras during a ceremony on April 9, 2026, at the colonial city’s Municipal Palace.

In 2020, Andrew retired as chief executive officer of BMS, after a 36-year career in the reinsurance industry. A dedicated supporter of Covenant House’s international federation for more than two decades, Andrew sat on our international board and on our Covenant House Latin America development board. But it was always Guatemala and the children and youth we serve there that held special interest for him.

Pa’Lante

In 2023, just a few years after he retired, Andrew made a plan to deepen his support for Covenant House Guatemala. He created an organization, Pa’Lante, which draws on his many business and social connections to raise awareness of and critical funds for Covenant House Guatemala, whose residents, just 12 to 18 years old, are survivors of abuse, neglect, trafficking, and violence.

He told those assembled at the Municipal Palace what the organization’s name meant to him. He said his mother always told him, “Siempre vas pa’lante, pa’lante; nunca pa’atras. Juntos vamos pa’lante con amor.” It means, “Forward, always forward, never retreat. Together, we’ll go forward with love.”

Today, Pa‘Lante includes 150 investors (134 individuals and 16 corporations). In just three years, it has raised more than $2.3 million for children and teens in Guatemala. Pa’Lante supports all our work in Guatemala: our girls safe house in Guatemala City, our boys safe house in San Juan del Obispo, and our nonresidential site in Coatepque.

“The center you support on the slopes of our Agua Volcano is a bastion of hope,” Mayor Asturias Sueiras said, referring to the boys’ shelter, which is located near Antigua. This shelter is the only one in Central America that offers safety and services for male youth under 18 years old who have experienced abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.   

Putting Love in Action

Dr. Carolina Escobar Sarti, CEO of Covenant House Guatemala, says she has witnessed Andrew’s motivation over many years and describes it as “putting love in action,” just as his mother taught him.

She continues, “We’re talking about an act of love, of faith, of hope in the possible, and this is what has made it possible for him to continue collaborating with us, more and more deeply, over the course of 16 years.”

Interpreting the honor Andrew received, she says, “Here in Guatemala, to be recognized by a mayor as a Distinguished Visitor is to say, ‘Thank you. You are part of our history, our community, our future.’”

‘Let’s Keep Working’

Antigua is the most important city in Sacatepéquez department. It was Guatemala’s third capital, until 1773, and today, Antigua is renowned as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In his remarks, Andrew noted, “As I look around at these awe-inspiring, amazingly beautiful, simply magical surroundings, I cannot imagine a more perfect setting for La Alianza and its youth to call home, a home where miracles will happen every day, a home that will be a bright light of hope and love in this world. And Pa’Lante will be with them, building and supporting, every step of the way.”

Andrew accepted the honor on behalf of Pa’Lante and Covenant House Guatemala, whom he thanked for “changing the world one child at a time and one family at a time and for changing the lives of those who are blessed to know you, and who can call you family.”

He also accepted the honor “on behalf of the amazing people in Antigua, whose warmth and gratitude can be felt in all the smiles that one encounters wherever you go in this amazing town,” he said.

Mayor Asturias Sueiras concluded his own remarks, saying, “Welcome home, Andrew. Let’s keep working, because the Antigua we dream of is built this way: with excellence, with character, with honest partnerships, and with our hearts set on our children.”

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Covenant House has programs in 34 cities across five countries: the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Our children and youth in Latin America are the youngest across our federation.

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