#1200 – The Expat Files: Drugs, Politics, and the Future of 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 up to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you expat 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 All right. Let me just state for the record before we start the show today Vaccines are safe and effective the border is secure your gender is fluid Islam is peace the dollar is sound and there is no inflation

[00:46] There will be no dissent allowed on these issues. Okay got it By the way, I was just presented with a brand new video documentary called died suddenly It's one of the most horrific things I've ever seen and it's been banned by the lame Street media However, the good news is you could have it to send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and I'll send it off To you for free. I'm not kidding. It'll be one of the most horrific and shocking things you'll ever see It should be a mandatory watch for every adult. Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com So on with the show. All right now Here's an email about something you won't hear anybody discuss on any other show except maybe on the dark web We'll discuss it here. After all, what's this show about living working playing and or doing business in Latin America, right?

[01:32] So we're obliged to discuss everything and anything about Latin America, right? Tasteful tasteless on the bright side on the dark side if it's about Latin America anything goes I haven't been cancelled yet But maybe now's the time Anyway sandy from Colorado writes how easy is it to get recreational drugs in Latin America Johnny? After all, you never know when you're gonna need some cocaine Then he says or maybe it's a she Probably a guy he says in Colorado pot's been legal for a couple of years now And I'm so used to having easy access to it though. It's pretty expensive I'm planning a trip to Central America and I was hoping I'd find easy access to it there as well. Well, Sandy I'm glad you asked that question because you ain't the only one not by a long shot

[02:19] Though I've never been in that position, you know where you absolutely had to have some cocaine Tell you the truth. It's ridiculously easy to get drugs in Latin America if You're honored near the gringo tourist trail because people who sell drugs will spot you out as a tourist gringo on vacation in a second Though for sure gringo will be ripped off money-wise. They'll see you coming So you might get half of what you're supposed to get but it'll seem like a great deal because things are so damn cheap down Here anyway, you'll probably think you took advantage of him judging from what I've heard you pay for that stuff up in, Colorado Now you long-time listeners know I don't hang out much on the gringo tourist trail But I go to resorts and stuff once in a while and get invited to occasional beach parties and beach clubs You know, I'm one of those antsy traveling guys I've been to well over 50 countries and sometimes you know

[03:06] No matter how well you're settled into a place how much you love it You got to get away for a couple days or a week or a weekend So when the opportunity comes up or a great deals being offered you pop off to a resort in Cancun the dr Roa tan Honduras Rio Panama, whatever all of those pretty much smack dab on the tourist trail and man I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting in a lounge chair at the beach or by a pool Some guy will come up hawking stuff cooler full of beer popsicles dove bars Whatever and after he sells you a beer He'll say do you need anything else and give you that look and sometimes put his fingers up to his lips You know, like he's taking a hit from a joint and guys like that. Believe me They can get everything weed cocaine ecstasy anything you can think of but should you trust a guy like that? Well, it's not advisable

[03:54] Now I'm not into drugs myself though. I've done some ayahuasca DMT, you know, and I've seen the third eye a few times In fact, I recommend it gives you new outlook on life. Hell, there are clinics all over the world now offering DMT Therapeutically, you know for people with PSD and people who are depressed or on their way out with cancer It's being used as a very effective treatment now for all kinds of issues So it's not strictly illegal forbidden and shunned upon like it used to be In fact, a lot of people come down to Central and South America just to have a little ayahuasca experience I've had a few people at my seminar come down and say Johnny hook me up And you know in a lot of Latin American countries, it's legal or quasi legal Anyway, the point is when you're on or near the gringo tourist trail people are gonna approach you unless you look like a FBI agent

[04:40] So then should you trust those guys? Well I'd recommend against it But you know gringos and all kinds of tourists on vacation are wild and crazy, right? Especially so-called spring breakers and such they'll bite that's usually part of their mission They're down here for one reason to party They're looking for recreational drugs if they can get them though from what I can see the major pipeline for getting drugs weed Whatever you want is on the backpacker cheap hotel hostel circuit Seems like anywhere you go on or off the gringo tourist trail If you run into backpackers that go to one of those backpacker hotels There's a local guy who sells weed and such always hanging around That means of course if you're so inclined you're much safer talking to a backpacker about your wants and needs Then hooking up with one of those questionable guys selling stuff on the beach

[05:28] Oh, and there's another place where it's ridiculously easy to hook up with people who are selling. Whatever I'm referring to practically any university campus here in latin america You longtime listeners probably remember me telling this story about a guy. I know An english teacher in one of those helicopter schools who loved his weed He'd go down to the university campus every month or so to get a supply and it was so out in the open Every kid on campus knew about it accepted it and took it as normal Turns out there was a guy in his bodyguard set up at a card table Selling this stuff at a particular location at a certain time of day He was there like clockwork and my teacher buddy told me there was always a couple of people standing in line waiting their turn to Get some stuff now as far as what happens to gringos and expats when they get caught with the stuff Well, it's all so relaxed here in latin america now, especially for weed often

[06:16] Nothing happens even if you get caught red-handed though. They might try to squeeze a bry body at 20 to 50 bucks Maybe the cops as it turns out would rather not bring you in They just figure it's too much of a nuisance a lot of paperwork and the judge will let you off anyway Since in many if not most latin american countries now It's a misdemeanor no worse than a traffic offense and in some latin american countries It's legal now like for example ergo in in mexico. They just passed a law decriminalizing it too The thing is though if you have that stuff on you and you get caught you better not have more than an ounce Because you know the way the cops are going to treat you depends on how much you have on you However talking about the harder stuff like cocaine etc Well, you're on your own and it's a roll of the dice though If you do get caught with cocaine expect harsher treatment and bigger bribes Yet another reason I don't recommend it because you see cocaine down here being more of an entitled rich kids kind of drug

[07:08] The cops know they're good for a bigger bribe Though the one thing you would really have to like about latin america is that the cops are quite flexible No matter what kind of jam you get yourself into unless someone ends up in the hospital a little dole smooth things over But it always pays to call your lawyer first Get him on the phone with the cop or whatever and let them do the hagland now I know that's not strictly legal. None of it is i'm just telling you the facts how things really work here in latin America many things don't work down here like they do up for you in the states I'm not saying I recommend any of this I'm just telling you what gringles and expats do when caught in a sticky situation and the cops get involved Though as far as the cops actually setting you up, you know plant drugs or whatever It seems like everybody's heard that rumor especially in mexico Well to tell you the truth as for me

[07:53] It is nothing but a rumor in the 30 plus years i've been down here with all the gringles and expats I know and all the stories people tell me I haven't met a single person that's happened, too Though you hear those stories once in a while about a guy who knows a guy who got Some weed or whatever planted on him or in his car or house or whatever. I've only just heard those stories I've never spoken to an actual witness still when you hear a story like that third hand It's like that game. What's it called telephone? The story gets more twisted as it's told from one person to the next Until eventually it doesn't resemble the initial story at all Though i've never heard a firsthand story that anybody's had anything planted on still It'll be sitting at a table usually with a bunch of green expats or tourists and someone when talking about drugs or predicaments

[08:38] Gringos can get into we'll bring it up. It's kind of like beach towns beach bums and shark stories People are always thinking when they go into the ocean or the caribbean Hope there aren't any sharks around when the truth is and statistics show you got a better chance of being hit by lightning Or killed by a falling coconut. Yep. That's right. Look it up So anyway sandy that's my take on the recreational drug subject here in latin america The bottom line if you come down here and you're the kind of person who indulges and you still have grave concerns or are panicking about it Don't indulge if you're paranoid just stick with beer rum or tequila All right. Let's take another short email. It's from erin. He says johnny. How do they handle pronouns in latin america? Well erin in a word or phrase latin americans have no idea that there's this huge

[09:27] Stupidly foolish controversy going on in the states about pronouns for latinos. It's the farthest thing from their minds It's not even on their radar though. That's not to say second and third generation latinos up in the states You know the latin x people They're all stupidly concerned even consumed with that stupid pronoun bs2 But latinos down here in latin america unless you're talking to the children of the rich who went to universities up in the states They have no idea what you're even talking about Now, of course for me, that's reason six thousand four hundred and twenty seven why it's time to get the hell out of dodge You guys before it's too late and you know, it just might be too late However, it does beg the question though. For example, if I happen to like barbies fake boobs Marilyn Monroe guns and trucks

[10:14] Riddle me this batman. What's my pronoun? just saying By the way, erin speaking of a plan be getting out of dodge while you still can I just heard of another trend. That's so revolting and disgusting. I don't know where to begin Have you heard of nullification surgery? I just heard about it, man Makes you wonder what bizarro planet we're living on. Yep nullification surgery I just heard about it myself. It's trending now with young kids on dick cock and twitter So what is it then? Well, the complete term is gender nullification surgery turns out It's a surgery performed from the neck down to remove a person's nipples naval and genitals In other words, they smooth over everything

[11:02] Except for residual openings for plumbing and such So what kind of morons are getting this kind of surgery done? Well, it's for persons who feel they're not binary and think they land right in the middle of the gender scale The good news is if you feel you're completely neutral and undecided about your gender You can elect now to be gender nullified and turn it into a kind of a gray alien Where do you think this started in california? Of course where surgeries like this are legal If this isn't one of the most alarming things you've ever heard and you still haven't got that plan b going Sorry to say but you deserve the hyper woke world you're living in But if you've got any kind of brain activity at all by now I'm sure you've come to realize america is more than

[11:48] And though i'm apolitical, I think the democrats and republicans are both Metastatic cancers on society though. I have to admit that this crazy ass fringe stuff is mostly coming from the far left So called progressives man, i'll tell you the word progressive has really gotten a bad rap lately It used to be such an upbeat forward thinking optimistic word But now that the wokesters have co-opted it Shit. Oh, and isn't it funny those wokesters who believe in that gender nullification crap coincidentally all of them voted for biden They call themselves died in the will democrats the republicans are sociopathic worms too But at least they don't call that type of barbaric body mutilation surgery. That's all the rage now normal But because they're corrupt bought and paid for two they haven't got the balls to stand up to it

[12:36] Lest they too like the democrats lose their funding from big tech big pharma and all those military defense contractors. Yep Politicians scumbag parasites all of them. All right back to all things latin america, you know When a bunch of gwengles and axe pads get together down here in latin america and there's a venezuelan in the crowd And believe me that happens a lot since 20 percent of venezuelans have left their country in the last couple of years You see them everywhere here in latin america And they've been piling into the states now too, or at least trying to pile in I know quite a few venezuelans myself and I keep hearing the same refrain from them and my gringo expat friends, too They keep warning us that the us is slowly but surely turning into venezuela Though I bet not one in a thousand persons up in the states personally knows of venezuelan

[13:24] Which means the vast majority of americans living up by you never get to hear the message Those escaped venezuelans are trying to tell us However down here in latin america where so many gringos and expats have personal friends who are venezuelans. We know the score Anyway, like I said, there are very few first world americans living up in the states who actually have a personal friend or acquaintance Who's of venezuelan? That means practically all the gringos and expats up north living by you get their news about venezuela from the lame street media And that being the case I was surprised to get this email just a couple of days ago from a listener named pace bac e Listen and learn he says johnny It's time for me to give you a story. I heard from some venezuelan friends here in florida As for me, he says both my parents grew up on farms in florida

[14:10] So I started working on my mother's family farm in the tobacco fields when I was just eight years old He says fast forwarding to 2006. I started my own landscape design installation business and for the most part. It's been really good He says though the downside to having your own business is the year to year increase in the amount of time you have to invest Dealing with government regulations permits taxes reams of paperwork, etc, etc, including insurance regulations osha rules Dot regulations and who knows how many others they will keep piling on he says hell We're not handling transporting or disposing of nuclear waste We're landscape designers for cripe sakes doing relatively simple everyday jobs But every time you turn around there's another bureaucrat with his hand in your wallet

[14:56] Telling you how to do things because he's from the government and knows more than you about your own business And not to mention he says you need an insurance policy for everything It seems like insurance premiums are akin to protection money You pay the local mobsters except the mobsters are insurance company reps and insurance company lawyers Anyway, johnny, he says I digressed a bit. It's time for me to tell you that relevant venezuelan story So here goes My background in farming he says and all the weekend projects with my dad growing up led me to the construction business Taking on projects like fence building barn building and other farm projects for customers in our area As it turns out with one of the farm construction projects we were working on the family running it were all originally from venezuela

[15:42] Till then I knew very little about venezuela or what was happening there except for the bits and pieces i'd seen on the news By chance he says one of the venezuelan gentlemen who I got to know told me they had a huge cattle farm in venezuela That had been in their family for multiple generations He said they normally had 50 men or so working in the ranch because it was so large He told me that if you came to the farm on horseback, it was a two-day ride to get to the main house That's how big it was Needless to say they weren't living in the suburbs, but that didn't stop the venezuelan government thugs from paying them an unfriendly visit one day He told me how he stepped out the front door in the morning to see 300 men with machine guns jeeps and armored vehicles scattered around the immediate area

[16:29] He said he was subsequently informed in a not so polite manner by the officer in charge that all the cattle All the farm equipment the houses the horses etc Now belong to the state and that he and all his employees were working for the state now, too Then he said with 50 men and some guns of their own They could have made a stand if it was a smaller group But with the ad stack so heavily against them It would have been a sure way to get everyone in the family killed if they resisted So it wasn't long before they made their way out of the country to the united states and tried to start all over again In the industry they knew farming So I suppose johnny at the time my impression was simply that i'm glad I live here in the USA where i'm free And don't have to worry about that kind of stuff But the times they are a changing fast johnny And i'm not so sure that same type of action can't or won't happen with regularity in our home country

[17:18] In fact i'm more certain than ever that each passing week It's more likely to happen sooner than later Look at how the canadian government recently ruined the lives of so many truckers If in fact some government slug can push a few buttons and take ownership of your life away Then you really should reassess whether you are a citizen of that country or its subject Then he says even with what i've learned from libertarian types like doug casey and bill bonner That is how to survive the coming bad times even with what i've learned from those guys We are in for really tough times in the coming years I struggled with the idea of moving out of the country either part-time or permanently Simply because it would be such an enormous change in every aspect of a person's life I suppose that's why it was such a blessing when I was first introduced to your podcast

[18:05] Finally I found someone who's done it already and helped many others do the same and is willing to help me and point me In the right direction and avoid the mistakes of so many others Thanks for filling that void johnny My wife and I are looking forward to the next seminar and a one-on-one interview with you Most especially to get some boots on the ground time with you and your seminar team Signed pace from florida Then he says ps johnny i've learned quite a bit from the podcast about latin culture Which certainly helps me understand a lot of things i've seen over the years with all the latin guys i've known and worked with My opinion is he says almost every one of them has been great to work with but boy Are they terrible at managing money not to mention the often self-inflicted headaches and heartaches they endure with jealous wives and girlfriends

[18:52] Those kinds of stories are endlessly entertaining He says I find myself shaking my head in agreement with you on many occasions as you give first-hand accounts or read an email From another listener about the good the bad the ugly and the great Anyway, there you have it a recent email from pace a guy who's pretty fed up with living up in the states I didn't read you the whole thing But I thought it especially interesting what he said about those venezuelans On a personal note. I heard pretty much the very same story from my venezuelan girlfriend Now, I know I told bits and pieces of this story maybe two or three years ago But just to recap because it ties in nicely with pace's story Turns out my venezuelan girlfriend like so many other venezuelans is a real go-getter She's got a very strong entrepreneurial streak

[19:38] She told me that before she even reached her 25th birthday She had three different clothing stores. She owned all three outright and owned the actual spaces in the shopping center They're called locales Spelled like the english word local. Oh and one more thing You probably heard me say this and other people say this before that venezuela for a long time It had the highest gdp in all of latin america That is until the shaves crowd came in and socialized it that happened right after the millennium right after the year 2000 Venezuela also had the highest educational level of all the 20 latin american countries, too In fact the lady i'm talking about has two bachelors degrees One in medical instrumentation and one in child psychology. So she definitely knows how to handle me Now the thing is and this is a hard thing to grasp Even though venezuelans are highly productive and highly educated too compared to every other latin american country. Anyway

[20:30] They still suffer from the same screwed up social problems Like for example huge levels of male infidelity and deadbeat deaths But somehow still the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well Anyway about five years ago about 50 military guys went into the big mall in caracas They taped flyers on the windows and doors of every business there It said this mall and all the businesses in it are now property of the people property of the state Don't be alarmed Nothing has changed to continue to work at your business earn your money what you earn is yours But from now on the actual physical store is the property of the people property of the state Then she explained that maybe half the people in that big mall owned outright their own locales and the other half rented

[21:15] So it was no big deal for the renters They just kept paying their rent this time to the state But the owners they got totally screwed for some owners if not most that was their nest egg their savings their retirement fund So anyway, the lady in question worked for two years Saved enough money up to get herself her mother her brother and her father-in-law out of the country And believe it or not within a year She had two or three little businesses going again in a completely different country. She'd never been in before By the way, here's something i'm sure you didn't know about venezuelans who are up in the states now all my life living in chicago I never met a single venezuelan lots of latinos up there All right, but all the latinos I ever met or knew were mexicans What I found out lately is 90 of all the venezuelans who end up in america end up in florida or texas

[22:02] Here's what else I found out. There have been two waves two distinct waves of venezuelans entering the us Turns out the first big wave came in years earlier by plane legally All of them conservative people who lost a lot in the socialist revolution Highly educated and even though they came over with not much most of them now are well off and still conservative and very anti-socialist In fact, just the opposite very heavy on the entrepreneurial spirit Now the second wave came in just recently within the last year or so We're talking about the poor and undocumented wave of venezuelans You've been hearing so much about the news the ones that somehow push through central america end up in mexico and sneak in through The border undocumented, but here's what you didn't know the ones that came in legally

[22:49] The well-off and conservative type I was talking about They've got nothing good to say and have no love for the venezuelans who are piling in illegally Here's a fact that'll startlea between 2014 and 2018 four years according to us customs data They never caught more than 80 venezuelans a year trying to sneak in illegally. That's 80 8 0 meanwhile Just last year the year 2021 border control caught 240 000 venezuelans trying to sneak in illegally. Are you getting this? That's 240 000 a year these days versus 80 a couple years back and all those 240 000 of course applied for asylum Anyway, the situation has not engendered sympathy from venezuelans who came into the country legally

[23:36] They had the money to fly in and passports, etc Practically every single one of the old arrivals interviewed say the new arrivals are tarnishing the image of venezuelans everywhere It turns out the first wave that people have flew in legally Were mostly made up of middle and upper class venezuelans who left during the past 25 years after the rise of chavism and socialism Making them the latino community with the highest education level in the united states even higher than the u.s Average a lot of them as it turns out were former oil workers in venezuela fired when shavas purged The country's oil company to make way for jobs for all his friends Their friends his family and his family's buddies and now of course venezuela's got tons of oil, but no refining industry

[24:22] Oh, and you probably didn't know that venezuelans in the united states have a higher average wage than any of their latino counterparts Even crazier venezuelans in the united states who speak english have higher average wages than the average us population By the way If you want to know the difference between the two types of venezuelans that have been coming to the united states All you have to do is ask one of the venezuelans who came in on the first wave like for example francis chacon A lawyer who moved in 2017 from venezuela to manhattanan island She says there's a big cultural difference between the two For example, I won't go to your home without your permission unless you invite me She says that's not the thing educated venezuelans do but that second wave of newer immigrants are lower class

[25:07] She says they're bringing an attitude of what's called vivesa criolla a concept in south america that describes taking advantage of others and the government She says for example people coming to the united states illegally come believing the government will give you everything We'll give you a home give you food that once they get there. They're entitled to benefits She says that she believes that media disinformation and ignorance including the promises of immediate asylum or temporary protective services Are inciting poorer less educated people with fewer skills to make the trip You think she says i'm not a prejudiced person just making this up I have friends and family members in venezuela who say why should I need a visa to come to the united states? All I have to do is show up apply for asylum and they'll let me in

[25:54] Even rouse duke a venezuelan lawyer based in miami who owns the caracas chronicles an english language news site for venezuelans in the states He says the first waves of venezuelans who got into the us legally Don't look kindly on the new migrants without visas who are coming in now The old wave venezuelans are saying the new wave is making all of us look bad Bottom line the general feeling of the first wave of venezuelans who flew in and got their visas legally They're convinced the second wave who can't afford air passage Come on foot and don't qualify for a visa to the us Are obviously coming for the benefits because once they hit panama costa rica or billy's They keep going north Those are some of the countries they have to pass through on their way to through mexico and onto the states

[26:42] That first wave the older wave of venezuelans have a point when they say If those people on foot are truly escaping a dictatorship in totalitarianism They're safe from the totalitarian radical socialism of maduro once they hit any of the other democratic countries in latin america If they insist on moving north through mexico and onto the states, there are no longer refugees but benefit seekers Anyway, that's part of the controversy. By the way, some of the venezuelans. I know personally tell me There's a special coyote service operated by mexican narcos That will for the small sum of 8 000 take you all away from venezuela or in fact any country in latin america Escort you all the way to the us and deposit you into a safe house in texas

[27:27] Yep, so they're coming to a neighborhood near you That's good news, huh 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 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 No spamos