Nomadic Narrative

On our last stretch home from the supermarket, a line of orange cones dissected the street flanking a stationary police car―its flashing lights offering a modicum of visibility on the otherwise dark road. Focusing on the parked car, I didn’t notice that an officer stood opposite waving his machine gun for us to pull over.

“Registration and ID,” commanded the officer. Looking ahead while my friend searched the glove box and her wallet for the appropriate documents, I first noticed the shiny back-end of the white police car. Second, I noticed the Chinese Kanji characters labeling the car, and the only letters in the Latin alphabet read BESTURN. (The “Besturn” is a brand from one of China’s largest car manufacturers, the FAW Group.) Third, I noticed that the car didn’t have any license plates.

Being that the cops were randomly pulling people over to perform registration checks, I found their lack of exterior identification rather incongruous. In fact, ALL of us did. Laughing, the officers told us that they had been driving around without plates for four months already. The paperwork was still making its way through the usual bureaucratic channels. Well, the good news is that Costa Rica’s notoriously under-equipped police force is getting what it needs without having to wait through the typical bureaucratic snafoos. Moreover, a bribe was not solicited. (Read previous post about Book Bribes.)

For those who haven’t been following the news in Costa Rica, the Chinese government equipping the police force is just one part of a larger plan made between Costa Rica President Arias and Chinese President Hu Jintao last October. Other parts of the master plan include:

1. A free trade agreement between Costa Rica and China.
2. The construction of a new national stadium in San José that will seat 40,000 spectators – a gift from the People’s Republic of China after breaking diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China. Part of the deal is to allow Chinese workers to move to Costa Rica and build the stadium.
3. New tourism options targeting the expected 200 million Chinese taking international vacations by 2020.
4. Read a bit of background at:

• The Economist: Friends of Opportunity
• New York Times: Cash Helped China Win Costa Rica’s Recognition