I met one such fellow for tea so that his wife could meet me and see that he had an American friend for real. It helps, I guess, that I speak the language. They do not expect that as I am obviously not a diplomat or a professor. Back in 84 had I come then it would have marked me as a SPY! but things have changed. The Communists carry the name and the form of organization but the government much more resembles a more rational Latino dictatorship. There are no more than a dozen believing Communists in the country, I think, and most of them are university professors teaching in specialized classes.
Back when the cảnh sáṭ (police) used to follow me around, whenever I was out walking a stone faced young uniform on a motorbike would drive past me repeatedly, looking neither left or right. One day I saw that day's escort taking a break in a quán cà phê and walked over and sat at his table. I ordered coffee and said I would pay for both of us. He said, with panic on his face,"NO, don't do that! he knows my sergeant and will tell him! I winked (they understand wink) and moved to another table.
I wouldn’t visit one of your clichéd South American dictatorships - for the same reason. Something about the lack of due process is very disconcerting to me.