Originally Posted by
jerseyfinn
That might be what the embassy reccomends, but we simply present our passport, DL, and credit card at the rental counter and we are on our way.
Some of the local car hire operators at AGP are a bit (or more than a bit!) rough. What they accept isn't necessarily what the police will accept if you get stopped.
Two times out of the three that I have rented a car from there, the car came without any papers which obviously is an offense, as confirmed by the Guardias that stopped and duly ticketed me (fortunately, that fine is payable by the car owner, and the car hire office accepted it alright).
I do have an European license, so I can't report on what happens if you get stopped with a US one and no IDP.