Prison

This is where four lads I was out with last night ended up for the heinous crime of walking a few yards from a bar to the hostel without carrying any identification. On the way back from a few quiet drinks we were suddenly confronted by a vanload of police, who look like soldiers here because they dress in green and are armed. They told us to stand up against the wall and empty our pockets. As we were doing this they told us to put our hands against the wall. Then they told us to empty our pockets, with our hands against the wall. It was quite confusing, and I couldn´t help getting the giggles. After searching us they demanded to see our identity papers. I happened to have my press card from the Derby Telegraph, which, despite the fact that I look like Colonel Sanders on it, was accepted. I then had to help another English lad, Lee, argue that a photocopy of his passport should be enough. The policeman kept saying he needed to see the original, but eventually relented. Aviv also got by with his Israeli identity card, but the other four were bundled into the van and taken away. Herman, the hostel owner, has been running around pulling strings to help them out, but they´re unlikely to be released before the afternoon. If anyone is reading this who still believes that identity cards are a good idea for Britain, then please think again. It´s not so much the threat of being stopped without a card and thrown in prison that´s the main problem, more the fact that everyone´s right to exist is ultimately controlled by the government, or in this case by a shadowy government department known as DAS, which issues identity cards and other permits. I´m going to have to deal with this ministry myself before too long, to extend my visa. When I´ve mentioned this to Colombian people they actually shudder. They all have experience of the surreal inefficiency and corruption I´m going to have to face. They also know that without their identity in order they can´t function in society. In a sense they cease to exist. They´re totally stuck until they can persuade some civil servant to stamp a piece of paper for them. They are any number of reasons why this may not happen, ranging from individual incompetence to government harrassment. I can´t imagine the chaos in Britain that will follow the government experimenting with retina scans and suchlike. But they argue that it will stop terrorism. Perhaps they should visit Colombia, which has some of the strictest identity laws in the world but vast swathes of land controlled by tens of thousands of guerillas, who, presumably, have all been registered by the state at some point. To change the subject - I´ve managed to find out a little more about the Swiss hippy, or the Bolivian Baby Butcher as he´s now known. He calls himself Frankenchrist and, I´m told, carries a picture of himself dressed as Jesus but with Frankenstein´s flat head. The reason he´s expecting the Antichrist to pop up in Bolivia is because this is the geographical heart of the continent, which is what remains of the lost continent of Mu, the original home of the Atlanteans, the fathers of the Aryan race (or something like that). I still don´t know whether he´s batting for God or the Devil, but Brian, the English Christian bloke, confided in me that he felt a "great evil" in his company. "I´ve not felt anything like that since I was hugged by a Chinese albino," he added, bizarrely. Oh, and I´ve ended up in the national press here after being interviewed by a journalist from Colombia´s daily paper, El Tiempo. It was an article about the hostel. I´m not sure exactly what I said, I think this should be a link: http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/hist_imp/HISTORICO_IMPRESO/bogo_hist/2006-04-30/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_HIST-2866745.html

I have added the English Version of the article in comment
The Mapper