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SAN PEDRO PRISON

argued with him, except that I didn't have any money.

'I haven't got any money. I'm sorry,' I said, shaking my head, frustrated that I couldn't use my hands to explain. When the major noticed that I was struggling with my handcuffs, he nodded for my police escorts to remove them. They had been done up very tightly and my hands stung as soon as the blood started to flow again.

'Gracias, señor,' I said respectfully, nodding to him. I wondered whether this was the right time to ask him for some food. However, first I wanted to apologise for not being able to give him any money. I turned my pockets inside out to demonstrate that I actually wanted to pay him but couldn't. I think the major misinterpreted this gesture as a refusal, because he immediately sent for a corporal who could speak English. The first thing the corporal translated was, 'But is true, my amigo. Everybody pay the entrance fee. Bolivia prisoners also.'

I still assumed this 'entrance fee' was just the major's polite way of asking for a bribe. But I later learned that all new prisoners were indeed required to pay an entrance fee of twenty-five bolivianos for the privilege of being imprisoned in San Pedro. They called this 'el ingreso' and when you paid it, the police gave you a receipt.

'But what if I can't pay?' I asked, when I realised they were serious. I was worried that the major would become angry.

'You must work in the kitchen for a period of six months to pay the money,' answered the corporal.

I promised the major that the British Embassy would pay the fee when they came to visit me. He seemed satisfied with that arrangement. Even though he now knew that I had no money, he then told me that I would have to buy a prison cell. When the corporal translated this, I looked at him blankly and said that I didn't understand. The other policemen in the room grinned when they saw the look of confusion on my face.

'Ahora tiene que comprar su propia celda,' the major repeated impatiently. When his men heard this the second time, they struggled to contain their laughter.

'Now you must buy your own cell,' the corporal translated again. Once more, I suspected that this was simply another way of asking for a bribe because I was a foreigner. 'OK,' I nodded, playing along with it. My plan was to stay on the major's good side and promise him some money later.