samerica10

In Central America, a lot of attention is being placed on children whether it involves
smuggling for illegal adoption or child prostitution. For instance, a recent illegal adoption
ring in Mexico and other countries in Central America, has been documented as having
smuggled seventeen babies across borders for US$22,000 each.32 In El Salvador the
police arrested the leader of a criminal organization specialized in smuggling children to the
U.S.33 On the child prostitution front Central America, specifically Guatemala, El Salvador,
Costa Rica and Nicaragua, has successfully marketed its beaches, which have attracted an
increasing number of men who are looking to have sex with children. Most of these men
come from North America, Europe and Latin America. While there are no hard statistics
that clearly quantify the situation in Central America, local surveys show that the problem is
on the increase. For instance, in Nicaragua a recent Unicef report showed an increase in
prostitution among children that are between the ages of twelve and sixteen.34 Further,
during 1999, the International Police (Interpol) discovered a prostitution network of young
girls from Central America working in bars along the Guatemala-El Salvador border.35 In
Guatemala, where 5.7 million people are under the age of eighteen (52% of the
population), 80% live below poverty levels.36 Street children are used by networks of child
pornographers to film movies in hotels. These networks later sell the movies on the
international pedophile markets.   Further, the Interpol has rescued over twenty Salvadoran
girls in prostitution rings over the past three years. Also, in Honduras the police arrested
an Australian pedophile with ninety-four cases against him in Australia.37 In Honduras,
organized crime rings traffic girls, which are between the age of thirteen and fourteen, to
brothels in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. Another case involved one hundred
Honduran children, who were smuggled to Canada and handed to a drug ring, which sent
the kids to Vancouver to be placed in streets to sell drugs.38

In general, the countries that have received most of the news coverage and international
concern on the subject of the sex-tourism industry are: Costa Rica for Central America and
Brazil for South America. Costa Rica has been the subject of much scrutiny lately given the
number of cases that are being brought to light. During 1999, this country, which has
become Central America? leading tourist destination, attracted more than one million
tourists39 for the first time. There are about two thousand minors in Costa Rica, which are
currently being exploited.40 For example, in Costa Rica girls often offer sexual services for
about US$15 to US$17, which they use to buy clothes or crack. These girls are provided to
tourists usually through a middleman, who is often a taxi driver.   It is also often the case
where poverty-stricken parents will sell their daughters in order to bring some money into
the household. For instance, one man paid US$600 to the parents of a thirteen-year-old
girl.41 The main reasons why child prostitution has soared in Costa Rica are (i) stricter
laws in the U.S., which send pedophiles to overseas destinations, (ii) solid U.S. and
European economies, which augments disposable income, (iii) increased regulation of more
traditional sex tourism destinations in Asia, thereby opening new destinations in Central
America, and (iv) increased access to the Internet which provides travel arrangements and
information for those who seek this type of illicit activity. The problem in Costa Rica was
first exposed in 1996 at the World Congress Against Commercial Exploitation of Children.
The controversies have been so many for the country that ?Casa Alianza?, a non-profit
advocacy group and a sister organization of Covenant House that assists children in
Central America, has been actively involved in the prosecution of cases. One of the issues,
which are not unique to Costa Rica, raised by Casa Alianza is the problem in law
enforcement. The director of this organization allegedly stated that only in very few cases
did the laws result in conviction and sentence for the crime of hiring underage
prostitutes.42 However, the country has taken steps to modify legislation in order to
increase penalties for pedophiles and other criminals involved in the exploitation cases.
Costa Rica has modified the penal code, which now states that it is a crime to have sex with
minors and allocates a penalty of sixteen years in prison. The government has also
established toll-free numbers to report child exploitation cases, and has established, in
conjunction with the Interpol, a national database on criminals and criminal networks. In
addition, the National Commission Against Sexual Exploitation of Children has developed
the National Action Plan, which works in conjunction with state institutions and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to prevent and prosecute child exploitation cases.