Papers in order?

Reporters on the Job: During an interview with a top police official in Ecuador (read the story here), something suddenly occurred to me: Like most correspondents, I generally enter countries in Latin America on a tourist visa. It’s never been a problem.

But during the interview, as he was citing examples of foreigners who had entered the country on the wrong visa – and talking about how they must crack down on such offenders – I started to wonder what the exact rules were in Ecuador. I sat there praying that he didn’t ask about my particular situation and decide to use me as an example of their new get-tough approach. I even thought of a backup: that I chose to enter on a tourist visa since I was planning on being a tourist for a few days in the Galápagos.

Thankfully, it never came up. After the interview, I charged out of there as quickly as possible.