La Policia

My teacher, Jeft, told me some stories of police corruption. It sounds very similar to India, if you have money, you can get yourself out of many situations. He was at an after-party once (which are very illegal) and the cops busted in. Luckily he was in a line against the wall with foreigners, who do not have to carry their ID. All Guatemalans must carry thir ID cards at all times. They asked him for his ID and he started speaking in English pretending he didn´t understand. The cop didn´t believe him and called over the chief. If you were a Guatemalan and didn´t have your ID card on you, you were going to prison that night. The chief came over, talked to him for a while, the chief in Spanish, he in English and fake broken Spanish. The chief patted him on the shoulder and said ¨good acting¨ and let him go, but threatened that if he ever saw him in Xela and found out he was Guatemalan, there´d be big trouble.

Couple of weeks later, he ran into the chief when at the gas station with his mom. Luckily, probably because his mom was there, he let him go. Two of his friends were not so lucky that night. They didn´t have their IDs on them and went to prison for the night. Here´s the prison story. You´re asked what gang you belong to, there are two big ones here. If you say neither, you get beat up by both, so it´s better you pick one and you get sent into a room with members from the other gang, who beat you up pretty bad. Then, you´re made to take off all your clothes and stand in a small confined space all night with no food and people pissing on you, splashing ice cold water on you, etc.

Once, a neighbor of his was asked to pay 2,000 Quetzals for something minor. He didn´t have it, so they took him to prison. He was allowed to make a phone call for the money, but his parents didn´t have it, so he had to spend two nights in prison, got beat up and still had to pay to get out. I don´t remember what he did, but it was practically nothing, they just wanted the money. Another teacher at the school was driving with a friend (they had both been drinking) and they were pulled over by a cop. Instead of taking them in because they were obviously drunk, he asked for money. They didn´t have money, but the girl gave him her watch and her rings and the her friend said he had his bank card and could withdraw some, so the cop said fine and walked with him to the bank. That is the only reason Jeft has a credit card, so that if he is ever in a position where cops are harassing him and asking for money, he can get it from a bank and avoid prison.