Here is the story about getting stopped by the police in Nicaragua - this is a new story but not untypical ... of any developing country
We were driving across Nicaragua yesterday, in the north part of the country. It's not a big country so we were not that far away from the bigger cities in the south.
It is not unusual to see several police checkpoints along the highway. They usually stop trucks that are overloaded - or other obvious infractions from taxi drivers or donkey carts. etc.
In general, when we come to these stops, we are waved through and given the "drive by" and are on our way. It is obvious we are not local. We are driving a fairly new rental car and - let's face it, we are gringos and everybody know it.
But this particular place we came to, there were two traffic cones set up right in the middle of our lane, with no apparent way to get around them. Our lane was blocked, and there was no one around to explain what to do. This was kind of a major intersection, so I pulled over to figure out it out.
I pull to the right side of the road and wait. "What is going on? And what kind of traffic stop is this?" The small truck behind me pulls around to the left of the cones, into the opposing lane, and drives ahead. There are two cops about 100 yards ahead and they pull him over.
I follow around the right side and proceed. They pull me over too. The cop comes up to the window with a bad look on his face. I'm wondering, what have I done wrong? What are the rules on this kind of thing? It is intentionally confusing - and it's a trap. Their attitude is: "If you don't know what to do (and nobody does), then we're going to give you a ticket."
So I have no option but to stop. In other words, they have the road blocked, and they point to the side and say (in Spanish) pull over and stop. Again, what have we done wrong?
This kind of thing is not unusual in foreign countries. It has happened in many places we've been, only most of the time we're not driving. It's happened with severe consequences in Paraguay, and also in Senegal - more than once.
So we play the game - the cop comes over to the car with a grumpy look on his face and asks for your "documents". I play dumb and pretend not to understand his Spanish. He becomes a little more belligerent and raises his voice. Okay, okay, so I give him the rental car papers and show him my license.
He walks off, taking the documents, muttering that we have violated some sacred traffic laws in Nicaragua, and there will be major implications. "Like what?" I ask him. I am tired of this kind of blatant police harassment. "I have done nothing wrong, and you intentionally set up a confusing traffic arrangement for the purpose of issuing citations no matter what drivers do."
He eventually returns to the car saying that my license is invalid and that I will not be able to drive in Nicaragua for a month because it will be suspended, and I drove the wrong way around the traffic cones and this will result in tremendous penalties.
I'm thinking, what a bunch of bullsh--! I just sit there and I stare at him. He gets more abusive and threatening, and again wanders off, he still has our vehicle documents and my license. He apparently wants a bribe or something.
I hate this stuff. Until developing countries can eliminate this kind of corruption they will never join the ranks of first world countries.
The standoff goes on for a while. TK and his wife Jenny wake up from the back seat where they had been sleeping on the long car journey. Jenny can speak fluent Spanish and tries to reason with the police officer. He is not having it.
The police guy gets increasing threatening: "Do you live here?" No, "Who owns this car?" It's a rental car? "Your insurance is not valid" I'm thinking, but I don't say ... Bull Hockey.
The cop and his partner have pulled over a few other people by this time, because nobody knows how to react to the traffic cones stopping traffic. Keep in mind, this is the PanAmerican highway. the north south route between the Americas.
By this time we have burned twenty minutes. I'm not about to cave to this horse manure nonsense. At some point, you eventually just get fed up with this crap and refuse to go along with it.
So the cop realizes that he is not going to get any money out of us, and looks at the license plate and other potential infractions. There are none. He has nowhere to go with this charade.
He sort of reluctantly hands back my license. He keeps stalling, not knowing how to get out of this situation. TK says from the back seat, "c'mon, just give us back our stuff!" Finally, he gives us back the car registration, and eventually the insurance. What a load of garbage. He mumbles that we can go.
Like I said, this kind of thing has happened more than once. You get tired of paying a bribe just to get out of it. It is really irritating. Travel can be really fun and exhilarating, but it can also be a complete pain in the ... neck.
----------------------------------------------------
Fiona and I love to travel. There is an element of adventure with wonderful, new, and interesting things involved, but it can also make you a bit cynical about your fellow mankind. Fortunately, we can find the balance of the two, and press on. But I had to tell the story. All in all, it was actually a fun day .... !
No comments:
Post a Comment