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How come I never see this happen in Zona Rosa?

Saturday night, Everyone enjoying a beer. Military truck rocks up loads every one over the age of 18 who doesn't have there Military card on them into a truck and drives them 80km to the next town where they are held for the night.

Quite a few of my friends in Bogota say they don't have there Military card but say in Bogota you never get hassled for it?

but in small towns the military are always doing this. Even if you have a card but just left it in the house you get taken away, not to the local police station but the local Army base 80km away. Where do they take you in bogota if you don't have your card on you? I feel sorry for those living in other towns where the bases are evn further away, but I guess the military would come less often to do there heavy handed recruiting.

I know that the cost of the card depends on how much you earn but most of my friends (in Sn Gil) say this is pretty unfair and they (being poorer) have to pay alot while those in North Bogota only pay about double which is pocket change for them.

For you wealthy foke in Bogota, How much did you pay for your military cards?
if you bothered paying.

By carter on Jun 5, 2005, 11:22 in Visa & paperwork.

Sr Tertius says on Jun 5, 2005, 11:39:

And then you wonder why the armed forces are rarely welcomed in rural Colombia. I don't think, though, that it is a class thing as much as the military paranoia that any youngster in rural Colombia is a potential guerrilla or may help the guerrilla. When I was in southern Cundinamarca I was asked for my military card every time I met the military (fortunately, I knew better: I carried it with me like a lucky charm).

I don't think you need to be "wealthy" to skip military service. You just don't show up and make sure you stay away from trouble, pay what may be a significant amount of money, or give them the secret handshake. In case you wonder, I went for option C.

"El que a hierro mata..."

"When the finger points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger" (Chinese proverb)

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juanalejo says on Jun 5, 2005, 15:30:

Pocket Change I know somebody who is a doctor, not wealthy but well off indeed. He just payed 40 million pesos for his son´s military card. Knowing them I really think it is not pocket money. They have been saving for a while because they knew it was coming.

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