Guatemala

Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, Honduras to the east and El Salvador to the southeast.

Guatemala is sometimes described as the Thailand of Central America, due to the prevalence of sex tourism. According to a report by ECPAT International, most international child sex tourists in Guatemala are Europeans, Americans, Canadians, Japanese, and South Americans. A study conducted by Casa Alianza activists who infiltrated the child prostitution network in Central America found that many of the female minors spoke of their "exploiters" in positive terms. It is common for sex tourists to pay police officers a mordida (bribe), a small amount of money that allows them to go home with no criminal record.

Guatemala has less age segregation than countries such as the U.S. A study found that Guatemalan children spent a lot more time around adults who were doing work, and frequently emulated work in their pretend-play—for instance, making imaginary tortillas out of dirt.