The dirt road connecting it to the Pan-American Highway has recently been improved and asphalted, which reduces travel times considerably.

However, the highway ends at Cuilco, so travellers wishing to continue on to other parts of Guatemala or to Mexico must still navigate rough dirt roads.

Given the poor condition of municipal roads, travel times may exceed eight hours from one side to the other.

As of 2007, the municipal building ("muni") employed about 15 people, providing many services to the surrounding villages and to Cuilco itself.

[2] Since the civil war started affecting Cuilco in the 1980s, many Cuilquenses have migrated to the Mexican state of Chiapas, and to the United States, mainly Indiantown, Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Immokalee, and Fort Myers Florida, as well as Mississippi, Illinois, Morganton North Carolina, Ohio, Marydel Maryland, and to California.