The following notes have been edited to correct errors and to add explanations and updates. Parenthetical notes and remarks from the original are enclosed in parentheses. Present day [2022] updates are italicized and enclosed in square brackets.
4 October 1990: The Feast of St. Francis - Chalatenango
We leave soon after 7:00 AM for Chalatenango, a trip which should take only about three hours driving time, but on which we anticipate delays at military roadblocks. The first is at a bridge about an hour outside of the city, where we are held for a half hour and depart with instructions to stop at the military installation up the road. Ignoring this order would be both futile and dangerous, for the troops at the roadblock are obviously in radio communication with their headquarters.
At the gate we are stopped and required to surrender all cameras, which are collected and taken into the guard house. We then proceed up an inclined driveway to the parking area outside of what appears to be the main building of the installation. Chris tells us all to stay on the bus, while he goes into the building to negotiate permission for us to continue. Though our salvos are in order, any one of these regional commanders could decide not to honor them. While we are waiting, soldiers are working in the area of the bus on various projects. One group displays a speed and efficiency which leads us to believe that they had been trained by PennDOT. [Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which is definitely NOT known for its speed and efficiency.] We also observe a white car with polarized windows drive up, from which emerges a gringo in military uniform (presumably U.S.) Later Chris tells us that he had had a rather lengthy talk with a U.S. "advisor" inside the headquarters while he was waiting for our papers to be reviewed.
Finally after an hour of sitting in an increasingly hot bus, we are cheered to see Chris emerge from the building with an expression of success on his face. At the gate we are handed back our cameras and are relieved to note that no film had been removed from any of them. From there we proceed into the city of Chalatenango, where we are stopped by the local police, who want to check the driver's papers. Chris explains that this is fairly routine and has nothing to do with our earlier stop. Probably the driver will have to pay a fee (bribe?) and we will be able to be on our way.
