time period

Assuming the Guatemalan Civil War, that went from 1960 - 1996. This would have been somewhere in the early 1980s stage of the war. This conflict left nearly a million dead or missing- the estimates could be even higher.
(Ever notice how the U.S. news media pretty much ignored such a long and bloody conflict, so close to us?)

But the filmmaker is careful not to identify this story with Guatemala. It could have been set in virtually any Central- or South American country, or even in Chiapas, Mexico (where it was filmed.)