Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller dives into the world of expat entrepreneurship in Latin America. He explores how many expats find themselves with free time and how they can turn hobbies into profitable businesses. Johnny shares personal anecdotes, including his girlfriend's experience as an artist, and highlights the importance of finding a niche in the market. He also touches on the challenges of marketing to expats, the issue of extortion in Mexico, and the importance of having an alternate water source. This episode is a must-listen for anyone considering starting a business or living in Latin America.
Johnny begins by discussing the challenges and opportunities for gringos and expats starting a business in Latin America. He emphasizes that most expats do not come here with the intention of starting a business, but once they are here, they often find themselves with a lot of free time. This time can be used to turn a hobby into a business that can generate income. Johnny shares a personal anecdote about his girlfriend, an artist who sold her artwork at art fairs in Chicago, and how her income was relatively modest in the U.S. but would be substantial in Latin America due to inflation. He also highlights the importance of finding a niche in the market and suggests that creating a niche by offering a product or service that is popular in the U.S. but not yet available in Latin America can be a successful strategy. He concludes by noting that for older expats, finding a niche requires 'boots on the ground' and time to observe and adapt to the local market.
Next, Johnny discusses the idea of starting a business focused on repairing car bumpers in Latin America. He highlights the prevalence of bumper damage due to the region's traffic conditions and the lack of proper repair services. He notes that body shops prioritize paint jobs over bumper repairs, leaving expats to resort to makeshift fixes like duct tape and tie wraps. Johnny suggests that this niche could be a viable business opportunity, especially for expats who are familiar with the problem and can offer professional bumper repair services.
Johnny then moves on to discuss the challenges of marketing niche products to expats in Latin America, using the example of fortune cookies. He references expat Eddie's experience with the lack of fortune cookies in Latin American Chinese restaurants and suggests the idea of misfortune cookies as a humorous marketing strategy. He also touches on the broader topic of business extortion in Latin America, highlighting the irony that upscale tourist destinations like San Miguel de Allende, which are often considered safe, have high extortion rates.
The podcast segment then discusses the widespread issue of extortion in Mexico, particularly in San Miguel de Allende, where it is a common occurrence for businesses. The mayor of the city, Mauricio Trejo, is portrayed as someone who openly displays luxury items like a Rolex and Prada shoes, despite his relatively low salary, which is attributed to the city's control by cartels. The segment also highlights the economic impact of extortion, with 67% of businesses reporting they pay into extortion demands, and 12.8% of members of Mexico's largest business associations being extorted in 2024. The segment further discusses the illegal tapping of Pemex pipelines by organized thieves, with over 11,000 illegal taps reported in 2024 and 3,699 in the first four months of 2025. The theft of fuel is described as the most profitable non-drug-related criminal activity in Mexico, costing the government around $10.6 billion annually. The segment concludes with the busting of a major petroleum tapping network, but notes that there are still over a hundred such syndicates operating in Mexico.
Finally, Johnny discusses the importance of having an alternate water source, especially in light of water delivery truck shortages and the challenges of accessing clean water. He outlines various methods for storing water, such as rainwater harvesting systems, cisterns, and underground storage. He also touches on the topic of Ecuador, highlighting both the negative and positive aspects, including the government's efforts to address sexual violence and the ongoing case of a politician accused of rape. The segment ends with a brief mention of the show's contact information and upcoming events.
Episode Notes
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the world of expat entrepreneurship in Latin America. He explores how many expats find themselves with free time and how they can turn hobbies into profitable businesses. Johnny shares personal anecdotes, including his girlfriend's experience as an artist, and highlights the importance of finding a niche in the market. He also touches on the challenges of marketing to expats, the issue of extortion in Mexico, and the importance of having an alternate water source. This episode is a must-listen for anyone considering starting a business or living in Latin America.
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Topics
Starting a business in Latin America, Hobbies turned into businesses, Inflation and purchasing power, Finding a niche in the market, Expats and entrepreneurship, Bumper repair business in Latin America, Expatriate experiences with car maintenance, DIY car repair solutions, Niche business opportunities for expats, Marketing to expats in Latin America, Fortune cookies and cultural differences, Business extortion in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:37 Gringos Doing Business in Latin America 00:00:51 The Reality of Starting a Business in Latin America 00:02:01 The Artistic Hobby as a Business Opportunity 00:06:26 The Problem with Bumpers in Latin America 00:07:19 The Idea for a Bumper Repair Business 00:08:02 Why This Idea Works in Latin America 00:10:46 The Necessity of Thinking Outside the Box 00:10:49 How to Market a Niche Product 00:10:51 The Power of Gringo Expat Sites 00:10:57 Niche Opportunities for Expats 00:11:00 Long-Time Listeners and Their Stories 00:11:02 The Legacy of Expat Eddie 00:11:06 The Absence of Fortune Cookies in Latin America 00:11:13 The Story of Expat Eddie's Complaint 00:16:28 Extortion Rates in Mexico 00:16:31 Mexico's Extortion Rates 00:16:36 Mexico as a Narco State 00:16:40 Mexico's Control by Cartels 00:16:44 Mayor of San Miguel de Allende 00:16:48 Mayor's Economy 00:16:53 Mayor's Luxury Items 00:16:58 Mayor's Rolex and Prada Shoes 00:22:42 Water Shortage and Delivery Trucks 00:22:58 Municipal Solutions and Water Preparedness 00:24:37 Positive Developments in Ecuador 00:25:30 Ecuadorian Government's Reward for Information 00:26:22 Sexual Violence Statistics in Ecuador 00:27:17 Johnny's Reflection on Heaven and Hell
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Here's a topic. We haven't hit on for a long long while, but I still get emails about it all the time The topic is gringos doing business here in Latin America Specifically, what are some good business idea for newbie gringos and expats coming down who think they want to start a business or need
[00:48] To because they know their nest eggs gonna run out sooner or later Well, the truth is most gringos and expats don't come down here with the intentions of starting a business The fact is though once you get down here, you'll find you have a lot of time on your hand Which sort of allows some gringos and expats to turn a hobby They might have into a business something that can generate some cash now, of course There's a million and one hobbies you might have some of them Maybe most of them useless drains on your nest egg and some of them that can make you money if you're smart or lucky For example, when I lived back in Chicago, I had an artist's girlfriend for a couple of years I mean a real artist we used to go to art fairs and sell her pen and ink drawings and really cool and interesting portraits She could make two or three hundred bucks a week doing that but up in the States that'd be living like a pauper
[01:34] You probably have still live in your basement if made two or three hundred bucks a week, right? Hey, they don't call him starving artists for nothing Well, she had a master's in fine arts, which allowed her to teach at Chicago Public Schools and or universities But those university art teaching jobs are hard to get so she ended up teaching art in Chicago Public Schools Which is a soul killing experience? So she did art fairs on weekends to maintain her sanity Kinda kept her sane anyway for a while Well, that's sort of the pannered for tens of thousands of art majors in the state You can almost never make a living selling your arts and crafts So you end up teaching and becoming a closet drunk like she did a couple of heavy snorts of vodka every night, man It's one of the reasons I broke up with her. In fact, the main reason I broke up with her I don't drink so we didn't mix what's that got to do with living in Latin America?
[02:24] Well, remember I said she was making two or three hundred bucks a week Doing art fairs in and around Chicagoland and that was around the year 1985 now for gringles and expanse who've got an artistic bent or a creative artsy fartsy kind of hobby And there's a million different kinds making two or three hundred bucks a week Just setting up a stand in a local park with a lot of other people hawking and selling stuff or even selling your stuff on the internet Man, if you can pull that off down here in Latin America You'll be living a really nice life The amazing thing is and it's so hard to believe way back when in around 1985 when my girlfriend was doing those art fairs The equivalent value the equivalent purchasing power of two to three hundred bucks a week in today's US dollar funny money terms is Triple that yep. I just look it up on an inflation calculator
[03:12] 1985 equals slightly over three hundred US dollars in purchasing power today So two to three hundred bucks in 1985 equals six to nine hundred bucks a week in today's funny bunny term That works out to well figure it out 2400 to $3600 a month in today's funny money term which again would put you in the working poor class if you're living up in the states But down here you're living like a king. Believe me I don't know how many times I repeated this but people who live on $1,500 a month Social Security check if they don't overdo eating out a lot and they're not luscious Well, they can live just fine a nice first-world life on 1500 US dollars a month provided They're not living directly on the tourist trail in places like Cancun or Costa Rica So the point is your little arts and crafts hobby in the United States could turn into a nice
[03:58] Lucrative living down here in Latin America if you so choose and you market it the right way But more often than not gringles and expats will come down here with absolutely no idea of what kind of business They want to start and after a while with some boots on the ground They find a niche that needs to be filled they fill it and they do just fine So how do you find a niche? Well, you keep your eyes open and by the way opening a restaurant or a tourist agency is not a niche It seems like every third or fourth gringo Especially gringa expat who comes down here to Latin America has some big idea to open a restaurant Yeah, right. That is not a niche. A niche is a special little void in the marketplace Finding a niche is like finding a hole that needs to be filled By the way being down here as long as I have been I've seen so many niches
[04:44] I wish I'd a jotted them all down in a notebook Just to have around to pass on to the next gringo or gringa who asks for some advice on business startups Well, the thing is, you know, you don't have to find a niche then fill it you could create the niche Offers some product or service that's starting to catch on up in the States and hasn't gotten down here to Latin America yet In that case, you just have to keep an eye on first world trends and what seems to be going viral on social media and the internet However, if you're a boomer or retired older gringle expat Well for most of the older 50 or older 60 crowd the internet and social media are probably not your forte In that case finding a nice business niche is just a matter of getting the proper amount of boots on the ground Time speaking of creating your own business niche. Just the other day
[05:32] I was thinking you know, what would be a great business and in all the years have been down here I see no one has done it yet again It's a thought that'll only come into your mind if you've had a lot of boots on the ground down here And you might at first think it's a little nuts a little crazy It is a very peculiar niche But I'll tell you if I was a younger guy and I was first coming down here to Latin America And I had this thought in my head. I think the name of my brand Whatever I choose to call it and it would be a snappy term Would be a household word throughout Latin America in no time because I'm dead certain once I got started the business I'm thinking about would be a perfect franchise opportunity So here's the idea when you're in traffic look around at all the cars that have bumpers Front and rear bumpers that are mangled in one way or another by the way
[06:18] They're all made of plastic of course what I mean by mangled is pulling away Separating from the body of the car itself, you know in a nice car That's a perfect condition all the lines connecting the bumper to the body and the doors to the body Etc. The so-called seams are very small symmetrical evenly spaced and tightly aligned But once a car has been out and about on the road for a while I'm talking about driving down here in Latin America now everyone eventually gets some little dings dense Flexing and distortions on the doors defenders and of course the bumpers so many if not most of the bumpers down here are misaligned Everywhere you look everywhere. I look bumpers are pulling away from the seams It's ugly and frankly makes a car look trashy and some bumpers have been banged and dinged so hard They pulled away enough that they look like they're ready to fall off
[07:05] So people do crazy things to keep them attached to their car like using wire and duct tape ugly screws and tie wraps Yep, tie wraps are the thing down here for keeping a slightly bashed bumper from falling off or dragging on the ground So here's the idea start a business that offers exclusive repair of bumpers. That's it bumpers only Exclusively bumpers. In fact, that could be a good name for the place bumpers only or just bumpers in Spanish Of course now, here's the thing. It's not that you can't get your bumper repaired Well, you got to go to a body shop and guys at body shops They don't want to fix in a line your bumper They want to paint cars because that's where the money is So you're gonna be in the bottom of the list zero priority And if you can get some body shop to fix it
[07:51] You'll be last in line behind the paint jobs the money-making jobs. He has on his menu now I know if you're up in the states right now listening to this show you might be thinking this is not the greatest idea Well, it's a different situation down here. This bumper bashing thing is a real problem here in Latin America I may not be up by you, but down here. It's an epidemic Remember Latinos and how they infringe on your personal space. They got a different idea different concept of personal space That goes for cars and traffic and parking lot situations, too. I can vouch for that man Can I vouch for that? I got to say the other day for some reason? I was sitting down with a couple Latinos and one gringo expat. We were talking about all the cars we had This Latino buddy of mine an engineer He asked me a loaded question that guys always seem to respond to with a lot of excitement
[08:38] He said Johnny tell me about your very first car Then we all said it reminiscing about the cars we own guys just love doing that It would be the woman's equivalent of talking about their favorite shoes Well after talking about our first beaters for a while then I started thinking about all the cars I'd owned in Latin America I counted around 13 and then I started thinking about all the times I took my cars to the body shop because they got dinged in bang how many times my bumpers got whacked We're hanging by a thread That's when it struck me that every single one of the cars I've owned down here at one time or another was in the shop for a bumper problem Many of them multiple times and since there's no one easy or convenient to take it to and that happened You end up Rube Goldberging it together guys Especially you will often give it a shot and try to do it themselves
[09:25] It never looks right never looks like a factory fix and even if you can close the seam again somehow from underneath using wire or tie wraps whatever after a month or two or three it starts pulling away again because If you've bothered to notice every bumper has little clips Male and female plastic clips that fit precisely into the body of the car They click in and when someone tags your bumper even slightly those clips the male part Anyway, are thin and narrow the weakest link and thus break or get sheared off So how can you fix that you have to buy a whole new bumper? Well, you almost never have to buy a new bumper Anyway, bumpers are very expensive couple hundred bucks at least so then what about those broken plastic tabs? Well, it's not worth it going into detail on how to fix those things But if you really want to know check it out on YouTube
[10:11] The thing is you do have to take your bumper off put on a workbench to weld with plastic a plastic well new Tams so that would be the business bumpers only and guess what every single gringo in a Latino I know has said Johnny tell me where is there a place like that? I want to know give me the address because guess what last time I brought it up two of the five people in that discussion We're in need of exactly that kind of service They at that very moment had cars whose bumpers were duct taped tie wrapped or bandaged together Anyway, those are the kind of crazy ideas that turn into real business niches for gringles and expat sometimes It's out of necessity. Sometimes it's just thinking out of the box So then how do you market a thing like that? Well, I guarantee you your phone will be ringing off the hook if you advertise it on those gringo expat fake book sites
[10:57] Oh and speaking of niches to fill Now if you're a long time listener I'm talking about 8 10 12 years of listening to this show You might remember good old expat Eddie who made his fortune in the Latin American sushi business little sushi kiosks That he ended up franchising. Well, I'll never forget one of the things He said Johnny was you going to any Chinese restaurant here in Latin America and no one has fortune cookies No one and of course up in the States Canada and Europe fortune cookies are standard It's what you come to expect when you get the check a handful of fortune cookies, right? And of course, then there's a round robin of everyone cracking open their cookie and reading it even years later Expanded he was complaining that nine out of ten Chinese restaurants in Latin America still didn't have fortune cookie
[11:42] And although Latin Americans like Chinese food and most of them go to Chinese restaurants regularly because they're dirt cheap They don't even know what a fortune cookie is because they're just not the custom. They're not out on offer I'll never forget what expat Eddie said next he said it tug-and-cheek, but he said, you know They don't have fortune cookies here in Latin America, but how about miss fortune cookies miss fortune cookies? He said he said imagine even up in the States of Canada If you go into a Chinese restaurant and they give you two cookies a fortune cookie and a miss fortune cookie I said, what do you mean? He says well With misfortune cookies you could for example crack open one and it might say Something dark something snarky that'll make you laugh Like this be careful tonight. Your date has chlamydia or how about you crack open your misfortune cookie?
[12:33] And it says someday soon you will meet your real dad or how about this? You open your misfortune cookie and it says don't look now, but there's a Mexican stealing your car Good old expat Eddie. Oh, and I remember him telling me at the time fortune cookies were an American invention They don't exist in Chinese restaurants around the world. That's obvious I never saw them handed out in Chinese restaurants in Europe or in Latin America Though I know in Guatemala in some of the upscale malls. They've got a Panda Express Franchise from the states. I think they hand out fortune cookies as I could be wrong though But then again, it's an American based franchise, you know, there's another Americanized Chinese restaurant franchise Pf. Chang's I've seen a couple of those usually situated in upscale malls here in Latin America, too
[13:23] They're in Chile Costa Rica Panama, Mexico I must admit they're a cut above the average Chinese restaurant Which ain't saying much a little nicer a little cleaner a little more expensive again. It's not real Chinese. It's American eyes, China Oh and here's a word of warning about Chinese restaurants here in Latin America They are dirt cheap for a reason they skip on everything and cheap out on everything Most of the time they don't even have running water in the bathrooms. That's a very bad sign Nor paper towels, but then again, why would you need paper towels if you don't have running water? Which means of course you won't be able to wash your hands and that means of course the help Won't be able to wash their hands either, you know the people handling and serving your food I don't even want to think about it. That's why I'm giving you the warning now, but I digress as usual. Where were we?
[14:10] Oh, yeah. Nope. I don't think misfortune cookies work down here in Latin America They don't even have fortune cookies or running water in the bathrooms for that matter but up in the States, man, wouldn't that be cool? Misfortune cookies you had a mountain pears one with every fortune cookie good marketing to you'd certainly leave people laughing on the way out Sometimes it's not the first impression but the last impression that matters speaking of Mexicans stealing your car and or committing crimes in general I do still get the on email from people wondering if they open up a brick and mortar business here in Latin America Will they get extorted by the local cartels? What are the real facts regarding business extortion? Well, I can tell you this it almost never happens in nice high-end neighborhoods and in upscale business districts or with businesses on the gringo tourist
[14:58] Trail except in beautiful, Mexico where all bets are off Seems though in all very poor areas of Latin America in general There are some extortions areas where gringos expats and tourists almost never go or stay for any length of time That's true in most all of Latin America, but I'm hearing now reports coming from gringos and expats and Latinos living in that famous city of San Miguel de Allende Mexico's most famous upscale gringo retirement spot. It's very upscale and expensive Anyway, just to show you how out of touch first world journalists are especially the ones that write about retirement destinations in Latin America Listen to this according to a famous travel and leisure readers choice Awards They ranked San Miguel de Allende in Mexico as the world's best travel and leisure destination
[15:46] citing its distinctive cultural milieu World-class vibes and eclectic dining scenes. In other words, you have to have money to live or retire there First world style money But that's not the only list that San Miguel de Allende showed up on last week according to the most recent Mexican federal data on business extortions San Miguel de Allende ranks third of all cities in Mexico. We're talking about business extortions now Remember we mentioned earlier throughout Latin America. There are almost no extortions in gringo tourist areas But wait a minute. Wait a minute. I just mentioned that one of Mexico's hottest tourist destination San Miguel de Allende Has the third highest extortion rates in all of Mexico How could that be when Mexico is the number one country for business extortions in all of Latin America?
[16:36] Well, that's because as mentioned many many times on this show and elsewhere Mexico is a narco state and they are in control They run the country by the way, according to the mayor of San Miguel de Allende His name is Mauricio Trejo. He boasts his city's economy is 85% tourism and gringo-based this week. He also boasted get this That he can wear his Rolex and Prada shoes walking the city streets at any time He did that to show reporters that they shouldn't be concerned about crime here Meanwhile, the shift for brains asshole mayor walks around town with three Burly bodyguards in tow like he's ever gonna be in danger of getting ripped off for his Rolex or Prada shoes And what the fuck is he doing with a Rolex and Prada shoes a mayor whose salary is get this
[17:25] $28,000 a year by the way the mayor the alkali of Mexico City only makes 60 grand a year Yeah, right and they claim they don't take cartel money, huh? now speaking of personal and business extortions in San Miguel de Allende a place that's just Infested with gringo. Well, you talk to anyone who lives there expat or Latino They all have stories of extortion threats to tell yet Those stories hardly ever include any reference at all to police involvement because the cops do nothing Business owners there grudgingly accept extortion as the cost of doing business For example an unnamed guy working at a local travel agency said that his boss told him that Mexican business Just can't avoid paying extortion And if you don't pay you just better close up shop because something bad is gonna happen. In fact
[18:17] 2024 extortion stats coming out of Mexico say that 67% of businesses report giving into extortion demands and Mexico's largest business associations report 12.8% of all its members were extorted in 2024 That's just one year Mexicans tourism and commerce chamber describes it as economic terrorism The big problem is it's the victim who has to report the extortion putting their life at risk So they almost never do which brings us to the next biggest group of thieves in Mexico Pemex petroleum pipeline thieves the Pemex pipelines are heavily milked by thieves Very organized thieves. I know we've mentioned this a couple of times before but here are some amazing facts
[19:03] Get this Pemex reported in the year 2024 there were 11,000 774 illegal pipeline taps detected and in the first four months of this year 2025 another 3,699 have been detected, you know, the pipelines have sensors every couple of meters So if there's a large drop in pressure even a tiny drop in pressure They know there's an illegal pipeline tap and they're not just tapping the oil pipelines. They're also tapping the LPG The liquid petroleum gas pipeline, which for thieves are much harder to manage because they're under extreme pressure But the thieves are financed by the cartels. So they have very sophisticated equipment Pemex reports illegal tapping of LPG gas lines is up to
[19:48] 10,662 legitimate reports man, that's one of the big problems when government nationalizes a business No person or corporation really owns it. So no one's got skin in the game. So no one gives a shit It's a corollary to that old maxim of the tragedy of the commons When the government or supposedly everyone owns something like air water or oil under the earth when lard-ass bureaucrats are in charge When you've got the lowest common denominator shit for brains running things tragic things happen and no one person takes responsibility according to mexican police and civil defense authorities Fuel theft in mexico has become the most profitable Non-drug related criminal activity according to the consulting firm Petrointelligence they say that fuel theft costs the government around ten point six billion dollars a year
[20:40] By the way, it used to be that the trafficking of people by coyotes and such used to be the most profitable non-drug related criminal activity in Mexico But since so many illegals are recruited to take drugs through to the United States in their backpacks and such The trafficking of persons is now considered a drug-related crime by the way on June 30th one of the main Mexican petroleum tapping networks was busted leading to the rest of 32 people the seizure of hundreds of weapons and vehicles and 66 animals including a jaguar and a lion. Oh and they confiscated 4 million gallons of illegal diesel gasoline and Petroleum distillates, so does that pretty much dismantle the petroleum tapping rings in Mexico? Well not quite
[21:26] Since the 30s estimate there are over a hundred such oil pipeline tapping syndicates So on June 30th, they busted just one such gang big deal 1% meanwhile if you need more proof that it's the cartels that really run Mexico. Listen to this a guy named her nan Bermudez is on the run Wanted for leading a criminal group that has stolen over 4 million gallons of petroleum so far this year Well, this guy bermudez was head of security for the previous Mexican secretary of the interior Yep, you heard right one of the top oil pipeline thieves was head of security for the previous secretary of the interior Yet some of you are still dead set on heading to Mexico as your plan be I don't get it
[22:13] Alright moving on more good news out of Ecuador nice place to visit But I wouldn't want to live there. Did you know that just last week? There was a massive landslide that destroyed two water mains that feed keto Ecuador's largest cities reservoir leaving the water taps dry for a half a million residents Municipal engineers are saying it's a disaster of a magnitude. They have never seen before so for those folks the water has been off for the past couple of days and The water delivery trucks are making a fortune right now water tanker trucks continuously Circulate through neighborhoods with thousands of people queuing up with their plastic five-gallon jugs If you've seen the pictures or the videos like watching a news clip straight out of the streets of Gaza Anyway, the municipalities are working on it now the lesson we should learn from this
[23:03] You should by all means have an alternate source of water best case, of course is your own Well, which isn't always possible unless you own your own property with a yard Your next best choice is having a rainwater capturing system in which case you'll have to have access to a roof and have it set up So your gutters are feeding into rainwater barrels or a cistern Next best is just a plain old cistern a cistern will remain full as long as you've got water pressure in the house Then if there's some kind of emergency water problem your cistern, which is always full or topped off Can supply you with enough water to get you by for a couple of days or weeks depending the size of your cistern If you've been down here, you'll see those ugly cisterns on roofs everywhere. Yes, they are ugly, but they work Those rooftop jobs can hold anywhere from 150 to 500 gallons
[23:51] Sure, they get mighty heavy But the weights no problem if you've got a concrete roof or you can have it in your backyard or sitting on a garage slab Best yet if you own the property that is dig in underground backyard cistern Then you could go nuts and make a huge one 2,000 3,000 5,000 gallon if you play it right they could last a family of four a couple of months But of course, you should have that hooked up to a rainwater system, too So every time it rains your cistern captures part of the downfall That's the setup. I've always used I've had a redundant water system and a redundant electrical solar power system And even then when I've been completely off the grid, I have a small generator, too It's a good feeling going to bed at night knowing you're prepared for whatever mother nature or stupid humans might throw at you now
[24:37] I realize I've been saying a lot of negative things about Ecuador lately, but it's not all bad There are some very positive things going on there. For example, they're president. No Boa There's a lot of things to like about that guy. For example, he's got a bill right now He's pushing through Congress where he proposes to apply chemical castration for convicted rapists In fact his social media account X he's on X. Yeah, he just was quoted on July 11th They're saying rapists and Ecuador think that the power and the Constitution will protect them. That's how it's always been but not this time Rapists deserve chemical castration. They're gonna get it. They're gonna pay it with jail time He says our country needs to know who is truly with the victims and who's for protecting the abuser
[25:23] So we'll have a vote on it. Okay. Well, I'm for that But why do you think this has become such a hot topic? Because at this very moment Ecuadorian government is offering a hundred thousand dollars reward for information regarding the whereabouts of a guy named Santiago Diaz He's a dip utalo in the National Assembly. That means congressman or senator He's on the run charged with the rape of a 12 year old girl That seems par for the course for senators and congressman. I mean hell look who's on Jeffrey Epstein's list Well, I guess you can't because of all the congressman and senators on it. Anyway, this Assemblyman pervert Santiago Diaz According to the Interior Ministry They say they've been unable to locate the guy and think he may have left the country to avoid prosecution
[26:08] now according to congressional reports Santiago Diaz the congressman was dismissed from his party just last week when the rape Investigation was revealed. He then requested leave without pay and disappeared By the way sexual violence against women in Ecuador is that alarmingly high according to chat GPT? And you can look this up up to 42 percent of women in Ecuador have suffered sexual violence It says we do not have an authoritative percentage rate yet Because the three institutions that collect those kinds of numbers the police the fiscal area and MSP Do not release them in an open forum until that happens any percentage rate of rape in Ecuador You see online is speculative or based on partially leaked government data, which begs the question
[26:57] Why are there so many sociopaths and sexual perverts high up in government, which brings me to a question I recently got from an email or Manny see he says Johnny You've mentioned you went to Catholic school. So did I I'm a lapsed Catholic too, but I still believe in heaven and hell What about you? Hmm? Good question Manny if they exist I'll pick heaven for the climate and hell for the company, but seriously It's really pathetic that priests and preachers talk about heaven as all harps choirs and prayers I'd last about 10 minutes there than I'd die of boredom Except for the fact that I'd be dead already You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B We can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com
[27:46] And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in Central America Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com