> In Latin America, things are considerably more professional, and the government officials don't act like they hate you and just want you to go away.

Depends. Someone I know had a terrible experience crossing into Belize on a land border. Was held there for two hours while they "verified" something. Seemed like a power-tripping agent.

Maybe (hamfistedly) angling for a bribe to ‘expedite’?

I would characterize Belize as part of the Anglosphere instead of Latin America. Last colonized by Britain as their last European influence on governance and only English as the official language. The anglosphere has the nastiest border controls in my experience.