Editorial: Government corruption in Guatemala

We have the groundwork for curbing the abusive and illegal trade of humans between Central America, mostly impoverished areas of Guatemala and Southwest Florida.

Contingents of social workers and law enforcement officials from our area have been going to Guatemala for years to learn and teach how to protect human rights. They have learned that conditions there are so dreadful, with no improvement in sight, and human life is worth so little, that families think nothing of letting their children go with "friends" to America. Once here, rather than have nice jobs, they are forced into prostitution and other forms of slavery.

The latest discovery to be made in Guatemala is that government officials, even if they are able to negotiate the matrix of different languages and dialects, are loathe to tell citizens the truth. Local human rights advocates who have been guests on radio shows there say people tell them this is the first they've heard of any of the ugly side of their children coming to the United States in search of better lives.

That tells us the corruption is deeper than we thought and truly part of the culture.

No wonder Guatemala has work to do to get into the good graces of the United States, which has called on that nation to increase punishment for convicted slave traders and warn the public of the dangers.

It's yet another indicator that the work of human trafficking police is vitally important — and only just has begun. Just when we think we have our hands around the big picture of the human trafficking scourge, we learn something new.