#1406 – The Expat Files: Smugglers, Generational Divides, and Racial Complexities in Latin America

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 out to play And now as I wander Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to The Exped 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 Still got a touch of laryngitis today We'll see how long we can last Here's an email that just came in It says, dear Johnny, I'm a second generation Mexican American By the way, this is from Carl V. Carlos

[00:47] He says, you're spot on about your take on legal and natural born Latino Americans How they think, how they vote, case in point Most of us voted for Trump But I bet here's something you didn't know about At least you've never spoken about it on your show Did you know that Mexican coyotes and smugglers love Trump too? Sounds like a contradiction, but hear me out on this He says, I have some shirt sleeve relatives in Mexico who have a coyote or two in the family And here's what they tell me They love Trump because he's all bluster and the immigrants don't know that So the coyotes and smugglers just jacked up their prices very quickly The immigrants traveling through Mexico are afraid of what Trump might say and do

[01:34] But the coyotes aren't Trump is absolutely great for the economy of undocumented migration, AKA illegals And if migration slows down because the illegal immigrants are afraid to come through That won't affect the bottom line of the coyotes themselves They'll just raise their prices to compensate And that's just what they're doing Smugglers are going, okay, if you want to come over, prices double Because, haven't you heard? So much more dangerous now since Trump's been elected Even though it'll be no more or less dangerous I'm talking about the journey itself But once you get in the states, that's when it's going to be more dangerous Because you're more likely to get picked up and deported

[02:20] Trump might tighten up the immigration problem within the states But he won't have any control over what's happening in Mexico on the way through It's always been chaos and a free-for-all in Mexico But that's not the coyote's problem He's done his job and dropped you in the states And maybe raped your wife or daughter along the way But everyone making the trip knows way beforehand That's another unfortunate cost of making the trip Coyotes say that possibility is the cost of doing business I remember my relatives in Mexico saying that the smugglers they know Say that Trump, every time he talks about immigration reform Makes it easier for them to justify higher rates And whether the deportations he's talking about will start in any meaningful way

[03:06] As explained, it won't hurt the bottom line of smugglers and coyotes Signed long-time listener Carl V. in Ohio B.S. Johnny, by the way, I might look a bit Latino But don't call me Carlos, call me Carl I'm 100% American, just like you, Johnny Born in America, second generation All right, thanks for that, Carl Which reminds me, occasionally when I'm at a party, a big party Like, for example, a New Year's party, can't say annual parties A wedding, an anniversary Down here in Latin America, of course Occasionally at one of these parties Some relatives from up in the States show up You know, the ones that hit it big Are doing fine on the American dream They come down occasionally to visit the relatives I've noticed, subtly, and not so subtly

[03:54] They like to put on airs in front of the folks back home Rub their faces in their success a little Show off the good life they've achieved The American dream again, you know? Putting on the dog, as we like to say I hear that from Latin families all the time They talk about their relatives that came down from the States after they've gone They know they're showing off, it's obvious They're happy that cousin or Uncle Juan escaped to New Jersey Happy that he started that taxi, drywall, or glass installation business They're happy that he's doing fine, but they don't want their faces rubbed in it That's why families talk about these guys behind their backs, because they're pretty much intolerable Man, I've heard that same song and dance a dozen times Uncle Julio, we love him and everything, but he's such a braggart

[04:41] But he does come bearing gifts, he sends back remisses, and he's good for a small loan So, everyone back in the home country is super nice to him Believe me, I've watched people suck up to these guys Anyway, I've been witness to the following I'll be at a big Latino house party Sit next to a teenager or 20-something Latino second generation who came down with the parents He's a first cousin, or some kind of relative To the folks in the home Latin country he's visiting right now, but he does not know him very well He was born and raised in the States And the folks in the home Latin country who he's visiting right now Are living in a different world than his Who do you think this person, this second or third generation Latino Who's pure American, really, born in the States

[05:27] Who do you think he's going to sit next to at the party? Me, the gringo Guess what, he and I will have a conversation in perfect English Because he was born up in the States And then I'll find out by hook and crook He doesn't know much Spanish at all Often times he'll say out of the corner of his mouth He does not want to be here, but he's here because his parents dragged him down After all, you got to meet grandma and your aunts and uncles sometime The fact is, second and third generation Latin Americans living up in the States Have very little in common with their relatives back in the home country In fact, second and third generation Latinos up in the States They've told me when down here on vacation with their parents who do speak Spanish Often they tell me they are embarrassed to bring their gringo friends around the house The house up in the States that is Because their parents or grandparents and uncles and aunts are speaking in Spanish all the time

[06:16] And they, we're talking about the second generation Latino American Feel a little bit embarrassed, a little bit self-conscious about that Not to mention many of them have mothers who are really old fashioned Old fashioned Latino Christians And they've got those big altars and statues of Mary and Jesus all over the place You've heard me talk about how so many Latinos down here have rooms dedicated to Jesus, the Virgin They've got a little altar set up with the Bible on it Versus highlighted, candles burning, etc You know, Latino immigrants, once they get to the States They follow the same customs and set up religious shrines like that The thing is, their second generation Americanized kids are often slightly embarrassed about it I know my junior high school and high school buddy, Johnny Gonzalez

[07:02] His mom had a shrine like that in her house and he was embarrassed about it No one was more American than Johnny Gonzalez, man His English was perfect, born in the USA, his parents born in Mexico Even way back when, he wanted to disassociate himself from his parents' lifestyle Because he said white Americans, Caucasian Americans, viewed Mexicans as sort of second class citizens And you know, that's not the first time of second or third generation Latino Americans said that to me Yep, that's right, I've been told by some pure Latinos living up in the States Born up in the States, whose English is better than mine Anyways, over the years, more than a few of them have let on to me That they harbor a sort of inferiority complex about being Latino By virtue of the fact that uneducated Latinos who slip in do all the grunt work

[07:53] It's the stereotype that Latinos in the States are good gardeners, handymen, maids, cleaning ladies, grunt working, unskilled workers And so the second and third generation Latinos, the ones born in the States, want to try to shed themselves of that image They hate that stereotype And that's why a lot of them, young second and third generation Latinos living up in the States, don't even want to learn Spanish Some seem to want to break that connection completely and be 100% American But as more and more unqualified, uneducated illegals pile in More and more generational Americans, as well as Latinos who've been born in the States With them, it only fosters more resentment and more stereotyping Which brings us to this brand new article about racism in Latin America

[08:43] The article comes straight from South American News Service, no less It talks about how there's plenty of racism, but Latinos don't label it that way, they call it classism So you have to wonder, why do they call it classism, not racism I'll highlight a few bullet points for you The title of the article is Racial Discrimination in Latin America It exists behind the scenes, but it seldom talked about Long title, but here it goes It starts out by saying that Dominican Republic has a saying Quote, we're all black behind the ears And in Mexico, there's another saying Quote, there's a black grandma in every closet It says both statements refer to a long hidden history in Latin America

[09:30] Of African heritage that people just don't talk about It's a story of intermarriage and interbreeding in Latin America It goes on to say, discrimination in Latin America seems invisible But it's present and often insidious Yet, if you bring up race or racism to any Latin American To those in and from Latin America They'll respond with statements about class, not racism They'll say it's class that predominantly stratifies people in Latin America They'll say it's class that divides our society It's very apparent there's been so much mixing of blood in Latin America That Latinos themselves cannot be considered a particular race

[10:15] Which is something illuminated by scholars, activists, and cultural representatives But it's almost never discussed in the mass media People claim Latino is a race, but it's not It's a blend of many, many races and cultures European, indigenous, African, etc Most people never realize that of the 11 million African slaves That ended up in the Americas, only 450,000 ended up in the US The rest went south of Miami into the mainland of Latin America With Brazil receiving the largest number, 5 million Which is why now Brazil is the second blackest nation in the world Second only to Nigeria Then, starting in the year around 1900, Brazil underwent mass whitening

[11:05] Receiving 5.5 million immigrants from Europe and the Middle East In fact, if you were to visit Brazil today and talk to a cultural scholar You'll find out that Brazil has 136 variations of blackness, of color Sounds crazy, but it's absolutely true Haiti has 98 different variations of color, and Mexico has 16 Then it says, everyone in Latin America is able to track racial classification and skin color As if everyone possesses a color meter There are many identifiers Cabecio, Moreno, Moreno Claro, Moreno Escuro, Castaño, Negro, and many others Turns out in Latin America, the color categorizing of skin

[11:53] That system is so intricate that it's difficult for many North Americans Particularly African Americans to understand When they visit Latin America, they just don't get it It goes on to say, this is primarily due to the US being the only country in the world To have a one drop rule In other words, one drop of African butt and you're an African American It goes on to say, nonetheless, many in Brazil and Mexico continue to celebrate their multiculturalism And various degrees of blackness Yet, there's inarguable evidence that the darker skinned individuals in Latin America With the more African features are overwhelmingly cemented into the lower classes And in Latin America, it's very difficult to jump class levels

[12:40] Born out by the fact that Brazil's upper class is and continues to be almost completely white The same can be said for Peru and Dominican Republic Then the article goes on to say, everyone seems to know about black people from Africa Going to the United States Everyone knows about the black experience and the black American communities in the States But surprisingly, not many people around the world realize at all how black South America is For example, most people don't realize the first black president in the new world was not Barack Obama It was Vincent Guerrero who was elected the first president of Mexico in 1829 Another surprising thing is that up in the United States, when Latinos are polled

[13:27] Less than 3% identify as racially black or of mixed African ancestry Though statistically, the majority of them over 50% have African ancestry This has been born out by hundreds of thousands of genetic blood tests Like for example, the genetic test 23andMe However, the US Census Bureau does not reflect any of this Because it works to erase diversity in order to better slot the entire race of Latinos into one group Alright, so those are the bullet points Yep, those genetic blood genealogy services like 23andMe They certainly come up with some amazing stuff I'd never get it done myself I'm totally against anyone having my DNA But you know, you can't control your family

[14:13] And one of my dumb brothers went ahead and did it And through it, my family discovered that we, all the kids, the brothers and sisters Have, I think it's 1.3% Neanderthal genes I'm not kidding And you know what? I didn't want to know that From that moment on, every time I looked in the mirror, I see this heavy bony ridge above my eyes And I'm thinking, Neanderthal I'm thinking that I'm looking at Aliup Remember that comic strip, Aliup? Remember that song? If you do, for sure, you're a boomer But really, am I happy now to know that I'm 1.3% Neanderthal? Well, it does give me an excuse now when I do dumb and lunkish things Oh, and by the way, it always strikes me very odd that when I go into a government building

[15:00] A government building here in Latin America When I look at the wall of fame, or wall of shame, really Seeing all the pictures and paintings of presidents, vice presidents, past and present, and all the congresses It's shocking to note that almost none of those lard-ass thieving douchebag politicians Bears much resemblance to the average Latino on the street It's as if the politicians in those paintings are from another culture A taller, whiter culture Alright, moving on, here's another article that really made me laugh Another stupid move by a Latino government The title, and I'll translate this here Mexicans are offered $1,300 apiece to hand in their machine guns I'm not lying, that's the title Dated Tuesday, January 7th, 2035

[15:46] Oh, I think you're gonna love this one, it made me laugh It starts out by saying Mexico's government will offer up to $1,300 to people who hand in their firearms Including machine guns and assault rifles Under the new Citizens Disarmament Program, aimed at reducing violent crime It says these financial incentives for people dropping off weapons at collection points in churches were published on Monday in Mexico's official government gazette Here's the list of payouts If you've got a revolver, you'll get $430, that's 8,700 pesos You get $1,200 for an AK-47 rifle, which is 25,000 Mexican pesos And you get 26,450 pesos, or 1,300 bucks, for a machine gun

[16:34] Hmm, isn't it strange, though, that you trade your guns in at churches? It says it's about setting up places like lobbies of churches where people can go to turn in their weapons voluntarily At the same time, get economic incentives to give up those firearms That, according to President Claudia Steinbaum Then it says, according to data from the National Statistics Institute in 2023 The country of Mexico recorded 31,062 homicides, 70% of which were due to firearms Hmm, funny thing is, you know, in Mexico, it's practically impossible for anyone to obtain legally any kind of firearm at all So then you might be wondering why I laughed when I read this article Well, to me, it's so funny Here's what's really happening

[17:20] Not one single citizen is gonna turn in their gun Unless they've got a bunch of them in the house A bunch in the closet And then they just might turn in the ones that are garbage or pieces of crap In a state of terrible disrepair Just to get the money No one with a good gun in Mexico is ever gonna turn it in You know, in the states, there have been many programs like this before I remember in Chicago when I was there People, gangbangers and such, only turned in pieces of junk Which makes me think of sort of a side hustle here How about this one? You buy a bunch of really crappy guns up at a gun show in the states Just real cheap junk Then you bring them down to Mexico and sell it to the government for a big profit I'm sure the cartels have figured that out already

[18:07] Oh, and by the way, you longtime listeners might remember the story I told, I think, many years ago now Where I happened to be at a party with my girlfriend in Guatemala City And her dad, who happened to be there, was a retired presidential guard A bodyguard for the president A crack shot, expert in weapons Well, there were other cops and military guys at this party It was a quinceaños party for the sister of my girlfriend Really big multi-family event Anyway, later in the night, this guy sat me down for a second And he said, I hear you're looking for a gun He asked me a bunch of questions, what kind of gun Then he said to damn this thing Remember, this guy is a retired presidential guard Bodyguard He said, do you want your gun registered or not? And I was dumb, kind of naive

[18:53] I said, what's the difference? He said, price, of course A registered gun will cost you probably around, I think, at the time Your basic Smith & Wesson 9 mil or 38, 500 bucks Which was probably double what it was up in the States Anyway, he said, unregistered, half that Then, you know, it popped into my mind, something's not right about this And only then did I find out from my trusty lawyer Some days later, that an unregistered gun Is either a stolen gun that's been resold A gun coming into the country through the black market Or a gun that's been confiscated by cops In some kind of crime And sometimes they end up back on the street Because the cop never reports it The cop sees it's unregistered, keeps it for himself

[19:40] And maybe sells it later on And as it turns out here in Latin America People almost never get their guns back if they're confiscated Then again, they won't confiscate them If they're registered and you have a proper license So in effect, what this ex-cop, this ex-presidential bodyguard was saying is He could get me one of those police confiscated guns That's what I found out up front and in my face That the rumors you hear about cops Reselling guns that have been confiscated or impounded are true For certain cops, it's a nice little business Totally illegal, of course, but they keep it amongst themselves Now in the end, I ended up going to a gun shop Buying some guns legally And had them registered legally, too So then you might ask what happens if you get caught with an unregistered gun Well, it's going to end up getting confiscated again

[20:27] And you will be down at the station calling your lawyer However, you might be able to bribe the cop right then and there That's always a possibility, you know Happened to my friend Mike in Guatemala He had an unregistered gun In the glove compartment of his pickup truck Got pulled over for something or other He paid the cop a hundred dollar fine Actually a mortita, you know, bribe But the cop did not give him his gun back Oh, by the way, at that Quinceaños party I asked the guy who was a former presidential guard I said, isn't it dangerous for me having an unregistered weapon? He said there's an unwritten rule when you have an unregistered weapon You just never leave home with it Keep it at home, hidden Self-defense only Don't drive with it, don't take it hiking or biking Just leave it at home, always

[21:13] Anyway, as mentioned, the whole thing seemed too problematic to me So I just bought a few guns legally and had them registered So, bottom line, I don't recommend you have a gun in Latin America Unless you have it registered legally And of course, I do recommend you have a gun You need one for self-defense, anywhere in the world That'd be, I think, reason 4,264 why I would never live in Mexico Because you can't get a gun there Well, they say you can, but it's almost impossible Unless, of course, you're a Mexican cop, a thief, or a cartel member Then it's easy, isn't that nice? Alright, here's an email from expat gringa Cathy living in Buenos Aires, Argentina She says, Johnny, it's true, Argentina's turning the corner under Belay But a lot of deadbeat Argentine government workers are quite pissed off at him

[22:00] Still, he's got a pretty good public approval rating At least it's over 50% But hardly anyone's talking about the fact that He's back in negotiations with the IMF, you know, the International Monetary Fund A lot of people are asking the question, if Malay's in charge and he's cut back on everything Super austerity, especially in government Why is Argentina back at the doorsteps of the IMF, hat in hand? Oh, and if you didn't know it, Argentina's already $41 billion in debt to the IMF That might not sound like much debt to an American who's used to trillions in debt But it puts us on poverty row Well, here's the story Over the last seven decades of membership in the IMF Every Argentine government has taken out huge loans ever since the IMF opened its doors

[22:50] In fact, Johnny, the IMF has served as a lender of resort, last resort To the Argentine economy over 20 times Including most recently, July of last year, 2024 She says as of just a month ago, Argentina owed $41 billion just to the IMF More than any other country worldwide Over a quarter of all IMF credit, she says, has been issued just to Argentina Well ahead of troubled peers like Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, even Ukraine She says, given its long history of being both an unreliable debtor And a fiscal nightmare, Argentina has been shut out of all international markets

[23:35] Except the IMF Even the Chinese won't lend money to Argentina anymore Argentina is basically the IMF's basket case The beggar that comes around to the back door of a restaurant as it's closing So the IMF doles out a billion here and a billion there just to keep Argentina afloat The problem is, she says, every single government has worsened the problem Passing off their huge sums and their debts to their successors, like a hot potato The question is, will President Malay be able to break the cycle? We'll soon see Because Argentina is in negotiations with the IMF as we speak for yet another loan So stay tuned What do I think is going to happen, she says? They'll get the loan all right, but it'll be the smallest one they've ever received

[24:21] We'll see All right, moving on, did you see the news about McDonald's just two days ago? They're being sued over Latino scholarships Turns out, and who knew this? Since 1985, McDonald's has awarded over 17,000 scholarships to Hispanics and Latino high school students Hmm, you know, I've noticed since Trump got elected The newspapers and wire services and social media aren't using that sickening word Latinx In their news articles and press releases anymore You know, Latinx, the word invented by white academics that real Latinos absolutely hate Suddenly, everyone south of the border is Hispanic or Latino once again

[25:07] Anyway, McDonald's is getting sued because their scholarship program is not open to all races Well, I've made it different I'm in favor of them giving scholarships to Latino students Why? Because I just heard another very strange thing that could only happen here in Latin America Turns out, remember we were talking about call centers last week? They're one of the top two or three employers in Latin America But here's what you didn't know, and I just found this out myself Since the COVID-19 pandemic, when lots of people got to work from home, remember that? Well, you might remember me mentioning that employers would use McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc Food deliveries to the corporate offices, the call centers, etc Offering the workers free fast food like McDonald's and Wendy's

[25:54] To entice the workers to come back to work from home Well, guess what? I just found out they never quit doing that Now, all big companies here in Latin America Companies that employ big numbers of Latinos, like call centers They've all made deals with McDonald's, etc. to subsidize the lunch plans So people don't leave at lunch, they eat in a company cafeteria Where the McDonald's and Wendy's and Burger King, etc. are brought in every day In fact, I was told, you know, the huge Internet and telephone company Claro Biggest in Latin America I was told by a worker there, just the other day, that at 10 in the morning You go on a company website and put in your order McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried, whatever The truck rolls up at noon and you pay only 50-60% of the going rate

[26:43] That you'd pay at a Wendy's or McDonald's store You see, companies like Claro have cut deals with these big fast food joints Because if they realize, if people don't go out for lunch, they stay at the company cafeteria Then, no one walks in 5 or 10 minutes late, no one's on Mayanita But the secondary effects are terrible Number one, people don't cook real food for lunch anymore They eat that fast food junk Number two, they become addicted to it like Americans have And number three, just like in the US, over 60% of Latin Americans are overweight or obese So then why shouldn't McDonald's give scholarships to Hispanics and Latin Americans? After all, they're slowly destroying their health and welfare Giving out a scholarship to an obese Latino or a Latina with diabetes

[27:29] Is not going to cure them, but at least it's something 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, theexpatfiles.gmail.com 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 2-5 year head start on your Plan B Send me an email, theexpatfiles.gmail.com No spamos