<\/a><\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s government wants to know the color of my underwear. When I went to buy underwear at a store here in Bogot\u00e1 recently, surprise!\u00a0 The sales assistant asked me for my c\u00e9dula, my Colombian national ID card number.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 What is this?\u00a0 The government in interested in my underwear?\u00a0 Well, apparently, yes!\u00a0 To complete the purchase of my undershorts, I needed to provide my c\u00e9dula.\u00a0 For the sales assistant, the request for my ID number tripped off her tongue as easily as if it were the most natural thing in the world.\u00a0 So in went my information to some obscure database, and I left the store shaking my head but secure in the knowledge that should I ever forget, the Colombian government would be able to remind me of my underwear size and color preference.<\/p>\n

My actual c\u00e9dula contains my photograph and a thumbprint, as well as my blood type, name, date of birth, security holograms, and my all-important ID number.\u00a0 My religion, or lack of, is not mentioned.\u00a0 I am, however, required by law to have my c\u00e9dula with me at all times.\u00a0 There are military checkpoints on many roads within Colombia.\u00a0 When stopped, driver and passengers must produce their c\u00e9dulas.\u00a0 Failure to do so can mean a period of 24 hour detention or a fine.\u00a0 And in different cities, I have often seen police or military officers ask street vendors, or simply street oddballs, to produce their c\u00e9dulas.<\/p>\n

Recently, when exiting a bus at the main bus terminal in the southern town of Pitalito, a military officer needed to check the c\u00e9dula of each person getting off my bus against his database on a hand-held computer before the passenger could enter the terminal.\u00a0 The funny part was that nobody was actually required to show their c\u00e9dula, simply to give the officer a number.\u00a0 So any number, your cousin’s, for example, – should you be a guerrilla, would have worked.\u00a0 The officer took one look at my face – gringo! – and he just waved me on.\u00a0 No c\u00e9dula needed – which says what about what!<\/p>\n

Colombia is not unique in its dependence on national ID cards.\u00a0 All Latin American countries, many European, and many other countries around the world require national ID cards.\u00a0 The United States does not.\u00a0 Freedom reigns.\u00a0 If you never need to enter an airport, open a bank account, or get a driver’s license in the United States, all is fine.\u00a0 A Colombian friend said to me today, a c\u00e9dula is just like a driver’s license or a social security card.\u00a0 Well, yes and no. Nobody in the United States has ever asked me to attach my social security number to my Gap purchase.\u00a0 A credit card number, yes – and often!\u00a0 But a national identification number?<\/p>\n

Perhaps the United States is different.\u00a0 Or\u2026.. perhaps not.\u00a0 I took a plane back to the US from Colombia last year.\u00a0 I was ‘randomly’ chosen for secondary investigation at the Orlando International Airport.\u00a0 The investigating officer emphasized the word ‘random’ several times.\u00a0 However, it turned out that he knew my place of employment, the name change of my place of employment, my sources of income, and specifically how many times (many!) I had traveled to Colombia within the last year.\u00a0 \u201cYou are correct,\u201d he told me when I thought I had traveled to Colombia 14 times.\u00a0 He wanted to know how much money I had in my wallet – I was not permitted to check.\u00a0 I was interrogated for the best part of 30 minutes.\u00a0 I was not allowed to pick up my luggage.\u00a0 The investigating officer had to do it for me.\u00a0 Apparently at the end of the half hour of investigation, all was well, as the officer’s final words to me were “Welcome home!”\u00a0 It was an odd kind of welcome in a country that supposedly wasn’t keeping track, national ID or not, of who I was, or where I was traveling to, or what I was up to with my life.<\/p>\n

Home – I was home!\u00a0 But back to my underwear.\u00a0 What’s going on in Colombia?\u00a0 Why does the Colombian government need to know boxers or briefs?\u00a0 Well, I am told that the government’s interest is not so much in my color or choice of what I wear underneath my trousers, but in keeping track of how much money I spend over the course of the year.\u00a0 The government already has a record of my income from my employer.\u00a0 Am I overspending based on my salary?\u00a0 The government wants to know.\u00a0 Am I somehow overspending my average budget for underwear?\u00a0 Perhaps.\u00a0 Clearly, I live in Colombia, and money laundering is an issue.\u00a0 Thus, the small fry must provide an ID number along with the big fry.\u00a0 Ultimately, the goal is to keep track of a porous economy.\u00a0 Trickling down the line, the price of my underwear is recorded and the world is a safer place for you and me.\u00a0 That is the proposition!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colombia\u2019s government wants to know the color of my underwear. When I went to buy underwear at a store here in Bogot\u00e1 recently, surprise!\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[255,128,384],"tags":[1513,1022,1021],"yoast_head":"\n