Juan Carlos Liorca, Associated Press Writer, states that many young people in Guatemala prefer to not work at a trade or craft, or even go to school, but would rather live off remittances from relatives who have found jobs in the Unites States.

Some figures from his article:
1. 48,000 Guatemalans left the country in 2005-6, almost all to the US.
2.In one year US remittances were $3.6 billion, about ten percent of the national economy
3. Industrial output is $6.7 billion---because fewer people will work in the local industries

Liorca quotes 14 year old Nery Rodas, " I don't want to study. It's boring. I'm just waiting for my dad to fix my papers so I can go to the US to work."

How well do such slackers represent the Guatemalan populace? As long as remittances represent a substantial influx into the economy the trend will grow, although the remittances do present an incentive for local employers to pay more.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05 ... _29_07.txt