The gist of what I remember is that the "party card" the Malawi brothers had to get was misrepresented to us - because the Malawi government is only ONE party. Not Republican/Democrat, etc. This card equates to our Social Security card - something that the government requires us to have in order to function as a citizen in the country. They were told they were not allowed to get the card which led to their imprisonment, etc. Inconceivable, I know!
In Mexico, the government required each (male?) to do one year of service in the military - after which they would get a card which proved their compliance. The way around doing the year was to bribe the officers. Each card cost $1,000 - the GB gave them the green light to pay the bribe - saving them from both doing their service and suffering the consequences of not doing their service. They got their card - while the Malawian brothers died.