#1525 – The Expat Files: Navigating Latin America’s Challenges and Global Implications

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border Down Mexico way Hello all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller, and I've been living continuously here in Latin America for over 30 years And I'm here to give you the good the bad the ugly and the great from the gringo perspective Yep, I talk about the real-life experiences and the things nobody believes until you come down and see it for yourself You'll get it all here at expat plan B.com that includes my full show archives over 1500 shows So just relax and take a breath because here comes today's show South of the border Down Mexico way all right as this show first goes out on Friday September 18th That means you've only got two days to get in on those early bird discounts for my November

[00:50] 2026 expat insider seminar in Guatemala and El Salvador just go to my website expat plan B.com For all the info and sign-up details and remember that early bird discount which ends on the 20th of this month Allows you to take advantage of a thousand dollar discount off the regular price So again, just go to expat plan B.com and check it out Alright, let's start out with a little hypothetical here Imagine being told that your local hospital may close in four months because the government and the company running it are still fighting over rough repairs following Hurricane Irma nine years ago Well, that's the predicament now facing the Turks and Caicos Islands You've heard of them right those beautiful white sand beach islands that only house about 51,000 people who actually live there

[01:38] But they get more than 2 million tourists a year Well lately anyway now, of course, technically Turks and Caicos islands are not part of Latin America But they're right next to the Bahamas and Dominican Republic So they offer a good example as to what didn't happen when you've got a socialized medicine scheme The reason why I'm bringing this up is to once again Reinforce the fact that you should never when considering your plan B move getting the hell out of dodge and all Never ever count on the fact that the public health care system is gonna be first world style adequate Never assume that because you've heard stories that for example, Columbia or Costa Rica's public health care system is Perfectly fine and adequate never assume it actually is not for gringos and expats Though the locals may not mind that their national health care system is third even fourth rate

[02:27] They're used to it And of course gringos and expats can get used to a lot of substandard things too But don't let it be your health care You should always always when moving to your plan B country invest in a private insurance plan now You can use the public health care system as a backup plan For example, if you get in a car accident right in front of a public hospital Then you'll end up in their emergency room and it probably is okay for trauma cases So let them patch you up just enough to have you shipped over to a private hospital of your choice Don't stick around let them stop the bleeding and get the hell out So your fast and firm rule should always be if for example you get in a car crash for anything except for a medical Emergency or crisis. You should always have the ambulance take you to the nearest private hospital or clinic

[03:17] Owen from the it makes me want to laugh out loud Department, did you know that Latin America actually has a space agency? Nope, that's not a punchline from a bad joke Let me read you part of this press release that just came out of Mexico City It says the Latin American Caribbean Space Agency ALCE has held its first general assembly in Mexico though the agency ALCE has yet to publicly disclose how much its member states contribute or what its operational budget is and What they need to do to align with other international space agencies blah blah blah on and on Hmm sounds like just another Latin American bureaucratic mess Basically, it seems like with everything that's government related here in Latin America. It's crushing itself under its own bureaucracy

[04:06] But hey Latin American countries are chipping in millions to get this agency going We can assume they use the usual Latin American accounting tricks You know one for you two for me one for you two for me Listen to this quote from Valeria Ramos Barba a consultant on space law and space policy based in Tokyo She's already predicting financial mismanagement and doom She says quote. It's disheartening that despite sharing common languages and cultural traits Spanish that is and a shared geographical area We are unable to establish cooperation for the common good with our worldwide plans concerning the Latin American space agency Which begs the question if you had a high-tech company and you needed to launch a satellite

[04:52] And you had your choice of let's say four companies to make the deal one was Japanese one was us One was Chinese and one was Mexican which company do you think would come in the last place least desirable least? Dependable what company do you think would hold itself to the lowest standards? Do I have to answer that for you? Reminds me of a story of my gringo buddy Mike who was in charge of all the Bell helicopter Technicians throughout Latin America all he did was travel from airport to airport in Latin America Checking on his crews and equipment since Bell helicopter has a maintenance department in every major Latin American airport and helicopters, man They're very touchy and need to be maintained properly and on a schedule anyway He told me a story that he said has happened repeatedly not just once though one particular incident really stands out

[05:44] he says he was in one of the Bell helicopter repair facilities at the Mexico City Airport and This very well-dressed guy a Mexican millionaire Maybe even billionaire walked into his office trailed by a couple of bodyguards he walked up to Mike and said he just flew in and his helicopter needed maintenance and Mike checked the computer the file and the maintenance schedule for his copter and a couple of Mike's Technicians were standing right there and Mike said grab the file and get to it See what it needs and that's when the guy with the chopper said no, no, no I want you a gringo to do the maintenance and Mike said wait a minute. Wait a minute. I'm the maintenance supervisor I don't repair choppers. I'm the boss. I give the orders. I have well-trained crews to do that stuff

[06:29] He said yeah But I want an American to check it out and he pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and he said to Mike What's it gonna take for you to do the job and Mike held his ground? He said I don't do that kind of work I'm the boss and the guy scowled at him a bit and said all right then and stormed off The moral of that story is Mike would often repeat. He'd say when pressed for an opinion Even wealthy Latinos with lots of mechanical toys Don't much trust their own countrymen when it comes to maintenance standards and practices and basic details So the question again is can Latin America ever compete with the rest of the world in the space race and Suppose in time Latin America's space initiative did send payloads and people into space. Would you buy a ticket?

[07:20] Would you take a chance? Sorry to say I wouldn't do it even if it was free like Mike would say not in mixed company, of course He'd say I'll take a drunk Elon over a sober Mexican any day I mean hell I've been down here 30 plus years and the government can't even keep the streets from flooding when it rains They can't even give the municipalities water 24-7 and when the government's in charge of the power company, they can't even keep the electricity on 24-7 and they're gonna send payloads and people into space. Don't make me laugh Though it might happen. All right. I mean look Practically every big car manufacturer has a plant in Mexico, but none of the tech is Mexican It's all first world import that might tell you something, huh? By the way, in case you were wondering and some people do wonder all Latin American countries have a social security system

[08:08] You know where people paying every month like they do in the States that is people who are registered working on the books paying to that system and Here in Latin America about 30% of adult workers are off the books Working for cash so they don't pay in by the way when you talk to people who are working off the books for cash They prefer it that way You know everyone working off the books has a chance to get on the books All you have to do is go down to the Social Security Office now you might ask yourself Why don't they do that? Then they'd qualify for Social Security when they retire and they'd be able to get on the national health care system The answer is simple. They don't want a chunk of their money Deducted every time they get a paycheck mostly because they just don't trust their government by the way It seems to a man or a woman here in Latin America if you ask them

[08:54] They'll tell you they hate paying into their social security system Just like Americans hate paying into theirs why because the payout is so shitty get this in the states Your average Social Security payout is almost 2,000 bucks a month now Of course if you're over 60 and that's your sole means of income and don't have much of a nest egg Live like a pauper. It won't be a nice nor comfortable lifestyle Of course down here in Latin America that kind of payout is considered a fortune. That's pretty much five or six times the minimum wage But imagine you're living here in Latin America, and you're on Social Security I'm talking about Latin American Social Security not gringo Social Security Yeah Like I said if you're on the books you pay in so you do get Social Security when you hit 60 or 65 Down here in Latin America the amount depends on the country

[09:43] Do you know what the average payout is down here? 150 bucks a month yeah, and even though the cost of living is much lower here in Latin America 150 bucks a month just imagine that won't get you much of anything But lots and lots of old-timers down here depend on that little pittance of a check So it's true every Latin American I've ever spoken to hates paying into that system, and it's not about the shitty payout 150 bucks a month though That's an insult to every working person down here It's the fact that for example a person down here making 400 bucks a month your average basic minimum wage by the way down here When a person's working on the books the employee and the employer share in those Social Security and national health care expenses Just like in the states the employee and employer both kick in and it's pretty much a crying shame because it really hurts when a person

[10:34] Makes such a small salary and the government takes a chunk of that for example in Argentina the total government Social Security pension And health care costs around about 22% of a person's income so the employee pays 11% and the employer 11% and that 11% deduction really hurts so again for example if a person makes 400 bucks a month 11% of that it's gone, and that's a little over 40 bucks that hurts when you're only making 400 a month No wonder people just hate that system now Let's take for example Brazil Social Security and national health care take 20% of their income as well and the worst countries would be Colombia and Costa Rica where they deduct 25 to 29% of a person's income For national health care Social Security and unemployment insurance etc

[11:23] Then adding insult to injury people have to pay income tax on top of that Oh, and let's not forget VAT which is added in the price of everything you know It's called EVA down here EVA so called value-added tax that runs anywhere from 10 to 20 percent depending Which country you're in so I think now you can see why? 25 to 30 percent of the population the adult population here in Latin America prefer to work off the books So bottom line for formal salaried workers in Latin America the combined payroll deduction for public pension Social Security National health care etc is typically in the 20 to 28 percent range of gross salary with the employees personal deduction usually falling between 10 to 12 percent

[12:09] With everyone and I mean everyone referring to their own government as a bunch of let their own as thieves Even people working for government say that about their own government Yet practically everyone would like a job in government cuz like a government job up in the state You just can't get fired even if you screw with the boss's wife They'll just move you to another department though if you screw his wife and then kill your boss Then you just might get fired though trials down here can drag out three four even five years But not to worry before you get the gas chamber. You'll get your pension and your back pay all right moving on Here's a question for you. What's the biggest franchise in the world? Who's got the most stores? You won't get it unless you look it up, but it's oh XXO now unless you've been to Latin America. You've probably never heard of it. It's a chain of convenience and grocery stores

[12:58] It was out of Mexico. They've got 24,000 franchises throughout Latin America. That's oh XXO By the way, here is a short list of the top franchises in the world OXXO 24,000 and change dollar general 20,200 subway 20,000 Starbucks 17,000 McDonald's 14,000 shell 12,000 Exxon Mobil 13,000 Hunt Brothers Pizza never heard of them 10,000 Dunkin Donuts 10,000 Taco Bell 8,000 family dollar never heard of them 7,000 Domino's Pizza 7,000 now you may be wondering how this Oh XXO become the number one franchise in the world well It's because it's also a place where you can walk in and pay your utility bill make bank deposits and make e-commerce payments with cash

[13:48] they're hooked up with 14 of Mexico's biggest banks and They've become a teller window for institutions holding some 80% of the country's deposits So basically it's a one-stop shop, which is a big thing when there's lots of terrible neighborhoods in Mexico Let's put it this way in Mexico and many low-income barrios throughout Latin America You don't want to get paid on Friday and have to run errands to five or six different places Not on payday when everyone knows you've got some cash in your pocket down here A one-stop shop is super convenient and super safe by the way that oxo brand which you may never have heard of brings in more revenue Just down here in Latin America than coca-cola does worldwide Alright, let's talk about air pollution here in Latin America. It's a pretty big and concerning subject

[14:35] Especially when you're at some distance away from a big Latin American city when you're in the suburbs looking towards the city You can often see a big hazy cloud a yellowish brown tint hanging over the city And you're thinking all those people living there are breathing that I'm breathing that however after a nice rain or a nice breeze It can clear up fast, but you can count on the fact that soon enough. It'll be back now You often hear vague statistics like well if you're living in Mexico City, it's like smoking two packs of cigarettes a day Well again the answer largely depends on where you are in Latin America in cities like Lima or Mexico City The annual average concentration of fine particular matter PM 2.5 They call it runs four times the World Health Organization's guideline for what's considered maximum safe levels

[15:23] By contrast in regards to air pollution The two cleanest big cities in Latin America are Brasilia and Panama City by the way If you've ever been to one or both of those cities you'll notice there's almost no manufacturing Brasilia has Brazil's national government buildings and Panama City's all banks and high-rises As for cities at the most polluted end of the scale in Latin America Mexico and Chile heavily dominate when evaluating mid-sized and large cities with populations of at least 250,000 people with five of the top ten cities with the highest levels of pollution being in Mexico and three in Chile So Chile and Mexico hold the top eight positions out of the ten worst polluted cities In Latin America yet another vote of non confidence for moving to Mexico

[16:10] So my advice if you live in a big Latin American city get yourself a nice portable HEPA filter for your bedroom At least that way at night at least you could breathe free and easy However, it really makes no sense to get a HEPA filter for the whole house or for your living room Whatever since most all Latin American houses are super porous when it comes to air filtration and leak like sieves Though when it comes to a simple bedroom, it's easy to plug the leaks All right yank in the wheel here, you know There's that thing called lag time here in Latin America And I was wondering how long it was gonna take for people down here average people to start using AI You know Groth chat GPT and thropic Well, as it turns out many business people and college students have turned to AI. It's something I've noticed just lately So I'd say the average lag time spent about a year

[16:58] The locals are catching on chat GPT almost exclusively you is with most people never even having heard of grok or anthropic or cloud Speaking of Mexico, there's been a recent AI scandal. That's making big waves in the media turns out Mexico's top public university called UNAM has just required 59,000 applicants to retake the entrance exam When they found out that thousands of applicants taking the test cheated Turns out this was the university's first year of implementing a fully online admissions exam So you could just run AI alongside of it and answer the questions as well as there being a super high number of high-scoring results leading to suspicions amongst the testing Commission

[17:47] The real clincher was that after the exam dozens of videos turned up on tic-tac With students bragging about how they'd hack their way using AI into a top spot at the university So obviously AI is catching on here in Latin America and those students who were bragging about it on tic-tac Probably don't deserve to get into university anyway Yep AI is lumbering through Latin America and it is having its effect In fact the human side of the customer service and call center businesses here in Latin America are withering on the vine By the way, if I want to stump a bunch of gringos when I'm sitting around at a coffee clutch down here, whatever All I have to do is ask this one question What's the Latin American country with the most civilian owned firearms per capita? Which countries people own the most guns legally? Go ahead take a guess yourself most likely you'll be wrong

[18:36] Well, it's Uruguay. Can you believe it? They've got 3.5 million residents and 1.2 million firearms So 35 out of every 100 people has a gun and actually it's a lot more than that Because when you subtract the kids the underage kids that can't own a gun It's claimed about 60 out of a hundred adults in Uruguay own a firearm Legally now a lot of gringo expats down here when you ask them that question They'll say Guatemala since Guatemala has very liberal gun ownership laws Oh and by the way, here's a statistic that liberals and wokesters don't like to hear They always say get rid of the guns more guns more murder less guns less murder Well in Uruguay with the most guns per capita in all of Latin America The murder rate is 10 homicides per 100,000 people

[19:23] Which is well below almost half the average for the region, which is about 18 homicides per 100,000 Hmm. Well, how can that be? Maybe those Uruguayans are just lousy shots. You think? By the way, I just love it when presidents and former presidents and vice presidents Well, basically any politician gets convicted of a crime and goes to jail gives me a nice warm feeling inside How about you? So looking at the news coming out of Ecuador? I'm feeling all Christmasy now because former president Lenin Moreno was sentenced to five years house arrest in that big Hydroelectric corruption case, of course house arrest in Latin America is nothing like real prison These guys have beach houses with dance halls sized patios and boats and ATVs

[20:10] Even ultra light planes in their garages. So there's no real sacrifice there though It does sort of cast a permanent shadow on the legacy of the guy and his kids and his wife and his mistress and his girlfriends Etc. Now it's worth talking about this particular case for a second now because former president Lenin Moreno was considered a true man of the people A guy stuck in a wheelchair with a physical disability that sort of in a way helped him get elected So the sympathy vote was big. His immobility seemed to more or less ground him with the common people Anyway, he was just sentenced to five years in prison after a court found him guilty of accepting bribes from a Chinese company Cino hydro in exchange for helping it secure a contract to build the cotto cotto Sinclair hydroelectric plant Moreno who was present for the reading of the verdict

[20:59] He's 73 years old was not sent to a regular prison because of his disability He will serve his sentence under house arrest that seems to be the pattern with most high-profile political convictions House arrest house arrest house So you should see the houses and you gotta wonder on a president salary of only maybe a hundred to a hundred fifty thousand bucks a Year, how could that kind of salary possibly support a house of that size and the staff then again? Look at the Clinton's Obama Nancy Pelosi and the rest of those bottom feeding ass white politicians Thieves all millionaires ten times over, but I digress as usual Anyway, somehow when these presidents and vice presidents etc get convicted you find out in the trial There is a long string of family and relatives who've also

[21:46] Plundered the state for example Moreno was convicted as direct participant in the bribery scheme during his tenure as vice president under that other presidential crooked ass thief Raphael Correa who was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to eight years in prison in a bribery case involving Brazilian construction giant Ogbrecht, but he remains a fugitive in Belgium where he has lived for many years with dual citizenship How convenient huh? He conveniently slipped away to Belgium because his wife's a Belgian citizen anyway Moreno's wife and daughter two brothers and brother-in-law were convicted as accomplices The daughter and wife each received 30 month sentences and all were ordered to repay Triple what they'd stolen illicitly within a period of 90 days

[22:36] Which by the way will be impossible because it's is in the millions and has been sifted through multiple international bank accounts By the way former Ecuadorian president Jamil Muhad was also sentenced in 2014 to eight years for stealing public funds another former president Abdullah Baccam is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of multiple financial crimes by the way Moreno's vice president Jorge glass is also serving a prison sentence for corruption So at the present time there are three living former Ecuadorian presidents who have been convicted and sentenced for their crimes so the obvious question is Must you be human scum shitbag through and through is that a prerequisite to being president or vice president in a Latin American country?

[23:21] Sure looks that way doesn't it? All right switching gears here But not much seems no matter what people think of that Russia Ukraine war It certainly wasn't a quick walk in the park for Russia Like most people thought it would be at the beginning and now that it's stretched out a couple of years The numbers of military-aged men are dwindling So both Russia and Ukraine are reaching out to other countries to hire soldiers and mercenaries and get this in Mexico Russia is right now recruiting soldiers through social media platforms like fake book You can get on there and see the ads for yourself. They're offering Mexican young men recruits 3,000 US dollars a month payment plus accommodation meals and a $28,000 bonus that's huge money here in Latin America or the average guy who makes maybe

[24:12] Five to ten thousand dollars a year by the way, Mexican authorities have confirmed There have been a number of successful recruitments to the Russian army, but it doesn't stop with Mexico according to one estimate since 2024 about 1200 Peruvian male citizens have enlisted in the Russian army also recruited through social platforms like fake book with the vast majority receiving offers in kitchen services security and transport if you check out the site yourself, you'll see they're offering a package deal a $2,500 a month salary and Sign up bonus ranging from 20 to 50 thousand bucks also huge money in Peru same thing with Columbia offers circulating on social media right now And through word-of-mouth promise a monthly salary of thirty five hundred dollars and a thirty five

[25:00] Thousand dollar bonus and if you stay in the army two years you get Russian citizenship Oh and cases of recruitment have been reported in El Salvador and Bolivia where Russia is actively recruiting impoverished individuals with bonuses ranging from 16 to 20 thousand bucks an Absolute fortune here in Latin America about three to four years cumulative salary for the average Latino Of course, we know Russia has been using Cuban and Venezuelan mercenaries for a long time They're allies and buddies so that's to be expected But the big surprise is the number of Cuban mercenaries sent to Ukraine by Russia the official number around 20,000 Cuban soldiers fighting it out for Russia in Ukraine The offer to the Cubans is 2,000 bucks a month, and if you stay there two years you get Russian citizenship

[25:49] Now according to a lot of the stuff you see online and the mainstream media Once the Russians make those offers suck you in and get you to sign on a dotted line They rarely come through with what they promised, but that just might be propaganda, too I mean look the media is completely tilted towards Ukraine Everyone seems to hate Russia in the mainstream media anyway So whether they're really paying out that door or not who knows but that stuff's out there being advertised on social media Just check out those fake book ads if you have fake book, and I don't And finally let's talk about the dream of many a gringo expat starting a business here in Latin America You have heard it so easy and cheap right well It is the cheap and inexpensive part that is and of course nearly every gringo expat Who wants to start a business here and wants to do it legally they want things on the up and up who wouldn't?

[26:38] Well, maybe not which brings us to that all-important question How many calendar days does it take to register your company in a particular Latin American country in other words? How many days does it take from the day you get your lawyer on the job to do the proper paperwork? Till the day you can actually move in and open your doors for business Well as of summer 2026 Columbia has the fastest company registry in all of Latin America It takes on an average of 12 days to get a company started in your doors open Seems almost unreal since in Canada takes 25 days to get that going and in the United States on average 50 days Remember that number in the US it takes 50 days to get your company registered and all the paperwork done and the odd

[27:26] Required inspections before you can open your doors now in both Mexico and El Salvador It only takes 30 days. Remember the US 50 Peru 50 days like the US Costa Rica and Ecuador 60 days and the worst most laggard Latin American countries when it comes to opening a business Paraguay and Uruguay takes a hundred and twenty days on average It's a wonder why so many locals anyway prefer to remain off the books by the way And you've heard me say this before if you have a business that's completely internet-based You don't have a dedicated building or office or inventory or walk-in customers You can if you wish operate completely off the books Gringo is who do it that way tell me it makes life so much easier now

[28:11] Of course, you're gonna need a bank account which you can easily set up online and in a foreign jurisdiction, too But you knew that already, right? And finally a little something that might blow your mind Did you know that Sweden is offering? $34,000 for immigrants to leave. Yes, and Bernie Sanders utopia of Sweden They're offering huge bribes legal bribes to immigrants to get the f out but get this It's apparently not a good enough bribe. Would you take thirty four thousand bucks to go back if you're from Syria? It's a fortune. All right, if you're living in Syria, but logically to an immigrant legal or not It doesn't make sense. Why would you take thirty four grand when you could get more than double that in benefits each year? That's the truth. It makes no sense. If you're a deadbeat sitting on your ass immigrant collecting twice that in benefits

[28:58] Yeah, I know $34,000 is a fortune to a Syrian whose only possessions might be a camel and a nose ring But guess how many immigrants in Sweden took the government up on that offer out of three million immigrants only 370 that's one 100th of a percent one out of about 10,000 took the deal and when a poll was taken amongst immigrants to see exactly the amount that would make them want to take that deal it turned out to be a hundred and fifty thousand bucks a $150,000 bribe that would move many of them to get up and go and simple deportation won't work You can't deport a person who's got a passport a person who's got dual citizenship one of them being Swedish

[29:45] By the way starting about 10 years ago Sweden liberalized their nationality policy Open it up to practically anyone In fact, you could get a Swedish Citizenship as an immigrant from just being in the country for three years. No requirement to learn a language No requirement to work. No requirement to have a clean criminal record. You could have been a serial killer and still get a Swedish passport Hmm sound familiar so that was the situation in the last 10 years and then came a huge increase in crimes like robbery and rape and Swedes will admit Swedish lefties walksters and bleeding hearts brought it on themselves and now they've got this huge minority of Unassimilated people who don't know the language living in their country who can't be deported because they have passports

[30:33] legal residents and people with passports have rights The question is which Swedish politicians were retarded enough to let that happen How about all of them? You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America, thanks for tuning in You know, there's a whole community of people out there like you thinking of getting the hell out of Dodge If you go to expat plan B comm you'll see the full show archive It's the home base for the show. By the way, if you need to do a one-on-one Consultation with me just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com Oh and for another uncensored take on life down here in Latin America from business to relationships and everything in between Including the scheduling of my kind of hand-holding

[31:22] Unconventional tours through Latin America, just check out Rico unchained dot-com. See you next time and stay sharp You