ABSTRACT
The processing of a salvoconducto pass application would usually take one to three days. Once a pass was obtained, it was usually only good for another day or two. Even with the pass in hand, journalists were usually held for hours at regional military installations before being sent on or denied access anyway. After one or two days spent applying for the pass and haggling over access at the local cuartel, correspondents were left with very little time to cover events. Furthermore, there were often periods during which the military simply refused to offer passes to any journalists. These unofficial moratoriums occurred twice during the period of my research, each black out lasting for several months.
