McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
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McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
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Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#2It may just be that I don't have McAfee's cajones, but much of his advice herein seems like a surefire way to, at best, end up locked up in some South or Central American prison for the rest of your life; at worst, end up face down in some ditch someplace.
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#3Is there anyone who has lived in one of these South American areas like Belize for a long time able to confirm any of this system of paying bribes to police officers at traffic stops?
Also, is his statement about police 'planting drugs' just so much self serving nonsense, or has anyone ever had a police officer actually do that?
The entire essay sounds somewhat specious to me...
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#4Is there anyone who has lived in one of these South American areas like Belize for a long time able to confirm any of this system of paying bribes to police officers at traffic stops? Also, is his statement about police 'planting drugs' just so much self serving nonsense, or has anyone ever had a police officer actually do that? The entire essay sounds somewhat specious to me...
The comments in his blog post seem to confirm the posts accuracy.
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#5Is there anyone who has lived in one of these South American areas like Belize for a long time able to confirm any of this system of paying bribes to police officers at traffic stops? Also, is his statement about police 'planting drugs' just so much self serving nonsense, or has anyone ever had a police officer actually do that? The entire essay sounds somewhat specious to me...
I've not been to south america, but I spent a fair amount of time in south east asia. Different part of the world but similar practices and yes the basic details of his story checkout. Police do setup roadblocks on random days on random roads in order to "check things". In Cambodia and Thailand a favourite was to check that you had the "correct helmet" a law recently being passed that meant you had to wear a helmet when riding a moto (most traffic especially in cambodia is by motorbike). That's the one I personally ran into.
About planting drugs, I can believe this as well. Remember we're talking relatively remote places where few foreigners are likely to go, this tactic is another part of the "negotiation".
So yes, this all sounds pretty plausible to me.
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#6Is there anyone who has lived in one of these South American areas like Belize for a long time able to confirm any of this system of paying bribes to police officers at traffic stops? Also, is his statement about police 'planting drugs' just so much self serving nonsense, or has anyone ever had a police officer actually do that? The entire essay sounds somewhat specious to me...
I don't know about South America but I grew up in Africa and South Asia. The general principles for interacting with people in power outlined here (name dropping , money exchanges) are plausible and would work (Obviously, with significant cultural differences).
( My personal experience has been more mundane and mostly in the realm of evading Cops who flag you for traffic offenses. )
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#7Is there anyone who has lived in one of these South American areas like Belize for a long time able to confirm any of this system of paying bribes to police officers at traffic stops? Also, is his statement about police 'planting drugs' just so much self serving nonsense, or has anyone ever had a police officer actually do that? The entire essay sounds somewhat specious to me...
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#8Is there anyone who has lived in one of these South American areas like Belize for a long time able to confirm any of this system of paying bribes to police officers at traffic stops? Also, is his statement about police 'planting drugs' just so much self serving nonsense, or has anyone ever had a police officer actually do that? The entire essay sounds somewhat specious to me...
To be accurate Belize is in Central America/North America not South America. And I'm not sure you can group different countries together and assume their situations are similar.
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#9I spent 9 months backpacking from Guatemala to Buenos Aires. There are thousands of people who do this sort of thing every year, and you'll meet lots of expats. In fact, until you hit Colombia, you probably can get by without knowing much Spanish. Personally, I would just skip this article, buy the Lonely Planet and live a little. Some places that I'd recommend seeing:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Antigua_Guatemala
http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Juan_del_Sur
http://wikitravel.org/en/Tayrona_National_Park
http://wikitravel.org/en/Cusco -- You hang out here when going to Machu Picchu
If I were going today, I'd probably stop in Santiago a see what's going on with StartUp Chile: http://startupchile.org/
Re: McAfee’s Third World Travel Guide
#10Is there anyone who has lived in one of these South American areas like Belize for a long time able to confirm any of this system of paying bribes to police officers at traffic stops? Also, is his statement about police 'planting drugs' just so much self serving nonsense, or has anyone ever had a police officer actually do that? The entire essay sounds somewhat specious to me...
I grew up in Venezuela. Most of what he says is true, except I'm not a drug-dealer, so I haven't been in many at-risk situations. I've either provided some "documentation" in cases in which my license or medical certification was expired, or I've taken the "confrontational" approach: provided valid real documentation and not letting myself be intimidated/harassed by them. I've done this in cities though, where the risk is much lower.
I hate being part of the corrupt system. I rather have them give me a ticket. Problem is, they don't want to give you a ticket. If they find something that they can hold you up for, they will try to get money out of you instead of arrest you. In the end, for practical reasons, it's better to just part with a few dollars.
In some cases, I've had to watch them as they "search" my car. You keep an eye on them as they do it so they don't plant drugs on you (they sometimes do).
Name-dropping is a common tactic too, but I've never used it myself. My friends have.