Much of Central America is rich in resources as well as being attractive to the tourist industry. There is no geographical reason they should be as impoverished as they are. That means the poverty problem is most likely cultural. For much of their history, many nations in Central America were controlled by strong-arm dictators who oppressed the lower classes while a few elite reaped the rewards of the economy. Lately, many of those nations have changed to democracies, but corrupt leaders still find themselves in positions of power.