An exchange is a swap: it consists of giving something in exchange for something else. This exchange can involve all kinds of elements, from objects to animals or humans.
For example: “In this fair used book swaps are carried out”, “The government promotes a bond swap with the aim of refinancing the public debt”, “The two teams analyze the possible exchange of their figures”.
Regarding the etymology of the term canjear, it is known that it comes from the Latinchangere, which can be translated as “barter, change, change,” a verb that was supposedly first used by Apuleyus, the most prominent Roman author of the second century. Apparently its most remote origin is in the Celtic language or in Greek.
In general, an exchange is made when one of the parties is interested in something that the other party has and vice versa. Suppose a fan of The Beatles gave him a disc of Justin Bieber, an artist who is not to his liking. In turn, a fan of the Canadian artist has at home several albums of the British band that he never listens to. These two guys can trade: one will hand over Bieber’s record in exchange for a Beatles album.
As you can see, a trade always involves two simultaneous actions. One person gives something and receives something else, which in turn is given by the other party to obtain possession of the first individual.
Sometimes exchanges are made due to pressure or threats. A kidnapper who takes hostages and locks himself in a building can negotiate with the police the exchange of some of the captives in exchange for food or a telephone, to name a few possibilities.
According to DigoPaul, the exchange of prisoners is also a common mechanism in negotiations between guerrilla or terrorist groups and armies, or even between two states that are in conflict.
To solve a police investigation, detectives usually accept certain exchange proposals with the criminals they are pursuing, since many times this helps them to build trust in them and thus access the information they seek. It is known that not all cases can be closed with zero percent failure: when dealing with very powerful and dangerous people it is always necessary to find a balance between expectations and possibilities.
Great criminals don’t rise to the top of their hierarchy overnight; in fact, many of them start out as good people, working for the forces of their country, and go awry at a certain point in their lives, which gives them a volume of information about the behind the scenes of the law it is ideal for running your business.
For this reason, when an investigator corners a large criminal and demands that he surrender, he usually has up his sleeve some resource to escape unscathed, some data of great importance for the other, something so valuable that it can lead to him set free. Regardless of whether the detective accepts the exchange of information for freedom, he must always make a sacrifice.
In some countries, foreigners can apply for a driving license without having to pass the exams as long as they have the license of their country. This procedure is known in Spain as “Permit Exchange”, and is available to residents who come from Argentina, Chile, the Philippines, Morocco and Peru, among other countries. As expected, authorities should conduct an investigation to ascertain the validity of the document.
