80% of the population lives below poverty level subsisting of corn tortillas and beans. I'd say another 10% is middle class and the rest are up there with the 1%.
With that many poor people in need of help, they've given up on even pretending which I think is where we're heading if we don't stop the trend.
10 agents is for the whole country of Guatemala. Thanks for pointing out that I needed to clarify which country I was talking about. I don't even know if we even have 10 agents now because the right took over recently.
Oct 13, 2009
Only 10 Agents to Fight Human Trafficking Nationwide
By Danilo Valladares
GUATEMALA CITY, Oct 13 , 2009 (IPS) - In spite of a new law against human trafficking in effect since March, little has been done in Guatemala to fight the trafficking of children, and child sex tourism has begun to flourish, experts warn.
"The office of the public prosecutor has only 10 agents (to fight human trafficking) throughout the entire country, and they have no telephone and just three or four computers," and "the police do not have the capacity to tackle the problem at a national level," said Sandra Gularte, an official with the ombudsman's office.
Activist Leonel Dubón, director of the Asociación El Refugio de la Niñez, which provides shelter for rescued children, told IPS that "they brought two girls from El Salvador to work in a cafeteria, and the day after the girls got here they were prostituted. Young girls are preferred, because they bring the biggest profits in the sexual exploitation market."
Dubón said trafficking of children occurs mainly in border areas, although he said it also exists in the capital, where underage girls are brought in by means of false job offers.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48850
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