have nude female foldouts, a la "Playboy"! . .

The old joke about the policeman threatening to handcuff his Latin prisoner unless he stopped talking, is based on fact, all right. Macho or not, most Latin Americans accompany their conversation with a series of flamboyant limp-wrist gestures, which would get them thrown out of one of our gay bars, I'm sure. . . .

Those dreadful, pegged, baggy pants, design circa-1940, are universal, and presumably a result of machismo. The hot climate may also be a cause of this. I found that narrow North-American-style pants were hot and uncomfortable to wear. I learnt that my trousers (along with my crew haircut) instantly labelled me as a norteamericano. The few narrow-cut pants I ever saw in Caracas always belonged either to North Americans, or recently-arrived Italian immigrants.

Yet, (for what it's worth), Venezuelan sailors don't have bell-bottoms!

Finally, the South America which is not Latin. I returned to Canada aboard a small, modern, Dutch freighter a recital of gay adven( tures with the Dutch sailors is quite another story!). On route we stayed several days in Georgetown, the disrupted, beatup capital of British Guiana. Here I was fortunate to meet an excellent contact, and this is a summary of what I learned.

Since Georgetown is so small, sooner or later everyone knows what everyone else is doing, so that anyone with any position at all, that is, with something to lose by being exposed, is most reticent-the same reticence as in Venezuela next door. The cause of this though, would be the British influence.

But this doesn't extend to the 2000

young British soldiers stationed there. Homosexuality among them is common and open, and I saw many obvious gay couples.

Generally speaking, the population is half Negro and half East Indian --and this produces some interesting situations. In India homosexuality is apparently more acceptable. It is common, for instance, to see men holding hands in the streets; and once in Calcutta I watched a man in full drag dancing in the street for money. So this Indian "laxity".

of it, that is-has spread into BG. It would appear that most of the ordinary people are very casual (who would be otherwise in that heat!). and don't give a hoot, one way or the other. Most men seem to take the view that if you can't have a woman, a man will do.

For whatever reason, the notorious. more-or-less gay bar, the "Maracaibo," is patronized by Negroes only.

And here, for an hilarious finale, is a story which sounds just typical of BG: a group of locals, Negroes I understand, held a secret "wedding" a really gay affair complete with the works, including a "bride" and "bride's maids," all in high drag, plus a genuine minister in swishing robes. The police got wind of this in advance, raided the house, and took everyone off to the station, where they were charged with gross indecency, which, seemingly, is the only law here affecting homosexuals. Having booked the gay wedding party, and consumed its liquor, the police proceeded to rape the bride and her maids systematically-but delicately, of course. Then everyone joined in. all taking turns in blowing everyone. In familiar words "and a good time was had by all!" Then, come the dawn, everyone went home, and forgot about it.

!Que bonito! !Muy alegre!