#1116 – The Expat Files: Chinese Influence in Latin America and Beyond

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-pat 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 Workplay 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 Hey, it's 2022. How many weeks or months will it take you to finally start writing? 2022 instead of 21 you see takes me about two months to get into the groove. How about you? Alright, let's start out with a few comments about an article that's getting a lot of air and internet play entitled

[00:47] China is rapidly expanding its interest in Latin America as US influence wanes It's kind of a warning to gringles and expats and the world if they move to Latin America They can expect lots of Chinese influence. Well, you know, if you're living down here more than 30 years now I can tell you that alarming title flies in the face of what I'm seeing I almost never run into Chinese people or see him at the mall except maybe the very infrequent tourist and I mean infrequent Even when flying into big international airports like in Mexico City or Panama City. You just don't see too many at all They're there all right But you only see one Chinese person out of maybe 500 even a thousand people and i'm seeing no Chinese lettering anywhere Except at Chinese restaurants and stamp don boxes coming from China because virtually everything manufactured comes from China

[01:37] Meanwhile, a lot of these recent articles are making it seem like the Chinese are overrunning the place Well, sure They're down here buying up stuff and making deals with governments because governments are broke and they'll always take money wherever they can get it But i'll tell you this the Chinese have been burned awful bad in the last 10 or 20 years When they initially invested in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Yep They came in like gangbusters 15 or 20 years ago, but they're more cautious now The first slap was with Venezuela when they defaulted on the loans They took out from China The second slap was Nicaragua and if you remember in Nicaragua, the Chinese were trying to make another canal They spent billions and after many false starts and many political payoffs They badly biscalculated and had to abandon the whole project And now when i've heard this from a few Chinese investors myself, they're gun shy

[02:25] About investing heavily in Latin America Sure, Latin America is a huge market for their products Just like the u.s and Europe, you know down here like up in the u.s When you go to a hardware or appliance store practically everything's made in China, too And they're still making all kinds of side deals with scumbag government bureaucrats for mineral rights and such And the cell and internet companies are using Chinese equipment I mean the Chinese make everything right But the truth is and people don't like to hear the truth First world woke people that is unless it's their version of the truth as if there are different versions of the truth The vast majority of Latin Americans and in fact, i'd have to say close to 100 of them They don't actually dislike Chinese people. They just don't want to have anything to do with them They've got nothing in common with them. They don't want to be like them. They don't admire them

[03:10] They don't want to live next door to them. They don't want their kids marrying or dating them They don't understand anything about the Chinese culture and have no interest in it either Latino schools don't teach about Chinese or Chinese culture They have no interest in learning any of the Chinese dialects if they have any interest in learning any language at all It's always English. That's not to say that latinos dislike or hate the Chinese not at all It's just that they're way too far apart culturally to ever mix And I can prove it for all the dozens if not hundreds of parties and get-togethers I've been at in the last 30 years living down here in latin america I've never met a single chinese person there or saw one in attendance But maybe i'm just hanging out with the wrong low lives though over the years I've been to a few parties thrown by new york gringles who own mikilas, you know clothing factories here in latin america

[03:56] And some koreans were occasionally in attendance, but just a very few That's because there's a korean business connection with those clothing factories lots of koreans own them here in latin america But they too keep very much to themselves And my gringle buddies in the clothing business tell me the koreans don't blend with the locals at all either Or with the new york factory owner contention and they only get invited to certain events for the business connection That's it. Now i'm bringing this up to make the point If the first world media thinks that chinese are infiltrating latin america Well, they're right to a degree their products are down here and they're spreading their money around Just like they are in the states europe canada and australia The thing is you have to live down here and see for yourself that there's a cultural wall that just cannot be breached And of course you've all heard of the gringo advantage

[04:42] Well, there's no such thing as a chinese advantage. In fact, it's more like a chinese disadvantage Everyone wants to be like and emulate gringles, but no one wants to be like or emulate the chinese besides that many latino governments Have burned their bridges with the chinese and defaulted on their loans So bottom line as far as the chinese influence here in latin america It's no more and probably much less than the influence they have up in the states in europe Besides that the chinese are not down here in latin america to steal patents and trade secrets because there are none here in latin America the latinos don't have a culture of inventiveness or patents So the chinese aren't sneaking around trying to steal trade secrets and intellectual property That's their mission in the first world. Not the third So am I worried about the chinese influence here in latin america?

[05:29] Not much and what there is of it. I think is highly exaggerated Why would I be when I can walk around for days and days in a huge city and not see a single chinese person? Even the chinese restaurants are mostly staffed with latinos. The question is or ought to be if they're taking over Where are they? hmm By the way, as far as my february seminar starts on the 18th Once again, the covidiot rules are in flux. They've changed them again Looks like as of january 10th people will need to be vexed to fly into guatemales. So here's what we're going to do Since a lot of our attendees are unvaxed It looks like and we're not 100 certain yet We'll have it figured out in a few days that everyone will be flying into el salvador's airport instead of guatemales because El salvador does not have a vax requirement

[06:16] So stay tuned for more on that The good thing is the airlines are allowing people to change their flights and destinations without a penalty due to ever-changing covidiot crap Oh, and by the way, there's still time to sign up for this seminar Just go to expatplanb.com and click on the seminar link Oh and you want to hear a little boots on the ground new year's eve story Well, I went to one of those all-inclusive resorts and man, did this place put on a spread They set up a portable dance floor on the beach like 10 feet from the water And the entertainment started around nine o'clock. They had a live band and a dj Right on the beach. They flew in a troop of cuban dancing girls direct from cuba They were all decked out carmen Miranda style fruit bananas pineapples in their hair the works Man, could they wiggle and jiggle and after they came on the obligatory singers and dancers

[07:04] Sort of vegas and circ de soleil style then around 11 o'clock came the firewalkers fire breathers and fire acrobats, man Those guys were taking their lives in their own hands, but I guess they knew what they were doing. No one got burned At least I think no one got burned. No one seemed injured But you never know if you do that for a living, you know how to hide it then about 10 minutes before midnight The mc did the usual. Where are you from bid? He said first shout out people from mexico and Probably 50 people shot it out then shout out columbia another 50 people Then it was shout out guadamala another 30 people Honduras another 40 and on and on through all the 20 latin american countries then There was a shout out for canada about 20 people then a shout out for russia

[07:50] Yeah, about 20 comrades were there da and finally shout out usa estados unidos. Guess what? me Johnny the only gringo in the place There must have been 500 people at that exclusive beach party and was only one gringo me And man was my gringo advantage sailing that night Oh and the number of chinese or asian people at that party Zero which just goes to show you really have to have boots on the ground to know enough to write a decent article or blog You can't just sit on your sofa up in cleveland and write a story about the chinese invasion of latin america If you have never been there before Oh and something else happened that might amuse you I was talking about my gringo advantage, right? Well At midnight, they had a huge fireworks display like 50 feet from the ocean and when those things exploded

[08:37] It was scary loud. It was the closest i've ever been to where they launched the big stuff Anyway, there was a beach bar right there too, and I moseed over Ordered a drink lit up a cojiba and plopped down in a little sitting area There was about 10 other people sitting around too. I didn't know any of them Turns out though three or four of them were from venezuela and you know, I always like to ask Venezuelans I meet how they escaped and what they're doing now how they're surviving And these three guys they were family were in a leather accessory business in caracas The family was in business like 75 years and they went bankrupt due to hugo shavas's wonderful Socialistic economic miracle man. Did those guys hate shavas? Anyway, they made leather belts purses Even upscale horse saddles and accessories for equestrians and the market dried up when hugo

[09:26] Shavas started nationalizing everything after about 2008 Which started the brain drain and the wealth drain they said their high-end client base all dried up So they planned their escape by going to a leather goods sales convention in bogota columbia a routine trip, but they never went back Then as we got to talking They started explaining how they're so disappointed that the rest of the world doesn't understand what's really happening in venezuela The older guys said they run into people all the time, especially europeans now get this Who when they start talking about venezuela and the problems there always somehow Try to pin the cause on the u.s Embargo and u.s and cia interference in regime change The older guy said it's like a broken record people who've never been to venezuela before always blame it on the u.s

[10:14] There's lots of propaganda out there a repeating mantra that says u.s Embargo has destroyed the venezuelan currency and caused all the economic problems They're experiencing now to which those guys said only the ignorant believe that only people who Have never been to venezuela and I said tell me more He said if you've got money anything but the local currency boulevards you can buy anything Sure, they said the u.s has an embargo on goods, but they don't have any goods to sell The u.s doesn't make anything. It doesn't manufacture anything anymore. What are they gonna do prohibit happy meals and harleys? He said if you go to the stores in venezuela You'll see everything comes from china or brazil or columbia or europe and it's very expensive But it's all there these days. They said a u.s embargo is totally laughable because tv's microwaves paint washing machines

[11:01] Computers cell phones are all made in china or mexico or columbia or brazil and cars are all made in mexico brazil europe or korea It's so funny They said especially when they have a long discussion with a european who always think u.s Imperialism is to blame but those big mouth europeans have never been to venezuela They're just buying into the u.s embargo propaganda people would rather believe the propaganda than investigate. It's easier All right enough said about that now an email This comes from upcoming seminar attendee james He says you may recall johnny i'm a pilot as such I still get to travel quite a bit and see different places in the u.s and also other parts of the world Well i'm in moderate california now and it's definitely the place to be selling masks People seem to be addicted to him here

[11:46] I guess you could consider me a rebel because i'm driving a car alone without a mask shame on me I'm still amazed as how much insanity i've seen here For example, it's a bit chilly here this morning, and I thought I'd go to the hotel gym I spotted it yesterday and actually quite a nice setup Well, guess what everyone is wearing masks in the gym lifting weights running on treadmills You name it they're masked up So I went in did some weights with no mask and got the evil eye Then I decided Outside where it's a bit colder might be a better place to work out The good news is i've noticed across the country though The people in the gym finally do wipe down their exercise equipment when they're done Thank god for small favors. See you at the seminar

[12:33] James Well, james. Thanks for that little comment about the people's republic of california But i'll admit you hit on one of my pet peeves The very reason i've always had my own gym in the house why I never signed up for a gym membership anywhere Even when I had a free membership to any gold's gym because they sponsored my radio program. I never went Why because of the lack of hygiene you sit and touch machines that hundreds of other people have sat and touched And sweated farted and drooled on yet You almost never see anyone wiping down if they do they don't use any disinfectant just a moisture dry towel Not good. So I guess there is a small positive secondary effect to this covidia nonsense At least people are getting into the habit of being more hygienic in a general sense Though this covidia thing has caused yet another problem. Where do you dump your used masks?

[13:19] I see them all over the ground here in latin america Of course, that could be just because this is latin america and most people still toss their trash everywhere It seems most every latin american country is about 30 years behind in trash etiquette Oh, they've got litter laws are right, but no one enforces them and the day they start enforcing them That's when trash etiquette will become a priority But until then well, it's not pretty especially after a big rain You see floating masks plastic bottles and other plastic bags and garbage everywhere, but you knew that already, right? And now this very interesting email from listener art in maui He says johnny many years back when I had a cold a cash year from jamaica Told me when she was growing up her mom would make this tea for her when they were sick And they claimed it always worked to me at the time. I thought it might be just folklore, but it turns out to be factual

[14:10] It turns out it was actually hydroxy chloroquine in yet another form Did you know it's part of quinine and tonic water and some club sodas too? But that stuff has lots of high fructose corn syrup, which is bad for you So you're better off not to resort to club soda. Take some zinc with this homemade tonic It amps up the tonic's potency. They'll be moderate with the zinc as the tonic water That's recommended is one tablespoon every two hours whereas zinc too much of it is not a good thing So when sick with flu like symptoms, you should take under 100 milligrams of zinc per day But daily regularly, otherwise about 25 milligrams of zinc per day. That's safe enough and effective You can easily make this jamaican tea for yourself and also share the recipe with your friends and family

[14:56] This is art signing off from hawaii aloha wishing you a happy healthy new year Well, thanks for that art You know I always remember those old black and white hollywood movies when people are in the jungle taking quinine pills for malaria Why is it only now that people are putting it together that quinine whose base is hydroxy chloroquine has always been a potent anti-viral Could it be there's no money in it? The patent ran out a hundred years ago Hmm, I guess we'll have to axe that world-renowned expert liar doctor falsi By the way, did you read in the news that falsi stands to earn the largest government retirement pension payout? In the history of government pension payouts You know I hope he lives a good long time because he won't be able to spend that dough Went behind bars with a wardrobe limited to an orange jumpsuit

[15:44] Nuff said about that while we could say more but too much falsi makes me want to vomit All right Now let's talk a little bit again about getting off the grid and you know sustainability should be everybody's goal But as wes says in this email sustainability in the states is a con job a fake scheme That's propped up by government tax credits and wes who writes this is also coming to the upcoming seminar in february Anyway, he has a few stark comments about trying to go off the grid in the states He says johnny most people in the contiguous 48 states and alaska still need backup generators for solar power Even if they're attached to the grid in the altiplier regions you talk about of course You don't need to worry about being too hot or too cold But here in the states even if you're off the grid a generator is necessary but more expensive and more work

[16:30] In fact, we just had a small ice storm which knocked out power to hundreds even a friend of mine in california Who thought it would just be an inconvenience if he didn't have enough sun for a few days because he's got solar Even he knows he needs a generator after a few days of no sun so much for getting rid of fossil fuels, huh? I call the whole fossil fuel solar tax credit thing build back bozo because it's ridiculous in my neighborhood People have already figured it out wood has always been the best btu for the buck up by me A lot of people can't get wood though until next year because of the huge increase in heating oil prices Me johnny here I guess what he means is that all the woods sold out because when oil prices ran up people went out and bought wood Then west says fireplace inserts here for wood heating have become very popular

[17:18] We already have solar in these parts even when it doesn't make sense And it only makes sense when you've got tax credits and the cash flow to pay up front And these people the ones that can afford it all have nice automatic propane generators connected to their solar panel systems, too Just in case the sun fails them The plan is here in hawaii that if there's a natural catastrophe People with solar and who are off the grid will get by just fine But really just goes to show sustainability is a con job to hide behind using tax credits It's all artificial government subsidies. For example a friend on oahu Got a grid interactive. That means grid tide permit before the utility was able to kill that program She spent 30 grand not including the tax credits just for a solar panel array though. She does have plenty of sun

[18:09] No batteries though. She's grid tied and sells some power back to the grid her bill dropped from 500 bucks a month to 50 bucks Even when running an air conditioning unit but get this typical government Instead of expanding the solar base to get away from fossil fuels due to its success Like with my lady friend the government public utility hired a public relations firm who did a campaign to convince people In urban hallelu that they were subsidizing people whose solar panels were tied to the grid Like my lady friend even though the power they sold back to the grid. They were being paid wholesale prices No subsidy there Anyway, the lady I know who's in that plan is grandfathered in but they won't allow any more people to tie their solar panels

[18:57] Into grids and get permits Of course people who were in the know early on and had the cash to afford solar panels and got plenty of sun Got in on that program before the government closed the window. What's fair about that? Nothing But that's hanalulu on the big island. They have a customer self-supply system All you need is to have a solar array on your roof and you can tie to the grid And you don't have to have batteries. It's all allowed because it's good for the utility They don't need to spend extra to grow the infrastructure And because batteries are so expensive most people will just buy their power from the grid at night because Batteries don't make financial sense to them even with the highest priced electricity in the country. It doesn't make sense Oh, and by the way here in hawaii your electric bill is a minimum of 25 a month Even if you don't use one single watt, that's just a hookup charge

[19:45] The best part or the craziest part is that the government figured out a long time ago They could power the entire state using underground volcanic heat But that system was held up decades ago due to protesters Even so the existing punter geothermal venture typically produces something like 30 of all the island's electrical needs But hasn't affected the price of electricity at all. It's still the highest in the country How does that make sense? Sign west in hawaii. Well, thanks for that west and it just goes to show as soon as government gets involved in anything especially electricity subsidies tax credits and all that crap It just gets more complicated less fair and is never efficient and cost effective And for me every time I get into discussions of this kind of I always ask the question

[20:34] What government department would actually pass a cost benefit analysis? Another way to put it is what government department is actually doing a satisfactory job What government department saves more money than it spends what government department or departments are streamlined and efficient? How about non non zero and none? But you knew that already And now an email of the sort i've never really gotten before you just might like this. It starts dear johnny It's another dave here one from bucolic suburbs of philadelphia big fan of the podcast I believe that a huge increase in gas prices Is imminent whether due to government actions inactions or other geopolitical forces? And even though i'm a huge fan of electric vehicles, I never understood the anti-gas pipeline people

[21:19] Wouldn't it be better to pipe it down from canada than to move it via oil tankers trains and trucks? Where i'm at in philadelphia one gallon of regular gas is already over 375 So realizing the trend last year I purchased a nissan leaf sl plus with a 62 kilowatt battery and 250 mile range A little less expensive than a tesla, but I really love it. No gas Reduced maintenance drives fast and I get discounts on toll roads, etc, etc I even took it on a 2200 mile round trip to florida just to get acclimated to the nuances of highway range and the various charging options and networks and just to get used to the Way electrics drive and handle and here's what I learned from that 2200 mile trial run trip to florida. It's all about the charging stations and charge stops

[22:08] You should map out that stuff ahead of time. Remember I said my car has a 250 mile range limit About the regular range limit of a gas car But like I said, you got to find the charging stations and charging takes time a lot more time than just filling up with gas And be aware there are three general levels of charging Try not to get stuck with the worst option the 110 volt wall outlet You only get five miles of charge per hour You know what that means you're going to be stuck with that outlet for 24 to 36 hours to get a full charge For me that only works at home or in emergency situations You don't want to be stuck with a 110 wall outlet while traveling especially long distances Charging option two is a standard 220 volt outlet like a dryer outlet

[22:55] Where you get about 25 miles of charge per hour So it takes about six to eight hours to fill so you have to sort of plan what you can do during that time Best case is you're in your own bed or hotel sleeping while it's charging option three is a rapid charge It's called a cha demo plug. It's 45 minutes to one hour to get full charge Though still charging with any kind of charger is very cheap The most I paid even for a fast charge to fill up was only 18 bucks If for example, I had a gasoline car and had a 10 gallon tank had to fill up it'd be at least 35 bucks So by that measure electric car is less than half the price for fuel than an equivalent gas car And some electric car charging stations are actually free Yep, but they're the slow kind and you have to wait hours for a charge, but they're free for now

[23:45] Anyway, and here's the tip john. You should join all the required fee based charging networks online ahead of time I found four of the most common ones were Number one electrify america number two evgo number three charge point number four blink That way when you pull up to one of those charge stations You're all signed up already and they just bill your credit card Oh and always charge your battery to slightly less than full if you charge it all the way the battery won't last as long Now for my questions johnny. I want to drive my electric car from the us to guadamala What do you think? Seems to me johnny like a northerly route would be covered by more charging options and stations Then he says I priced insurance for driving through the mexico part It seems to be in the 500 range for a one-month trip. Are there other insurance options signed philadelphia dave?

[24:35] All right, dave. Thanks for that. Here's my take number one and you're probably not going to like this answer Your nissan leaf rides rather low and those batteries are right at the bottom of the frame of the car That means you should never drive at night because if you hit a pothole or one of those tumelos are called in mexico I think policia acostados that means a sleeping cop The problem is you hit one of those things at a decent speed You'll scrape the bottom frame of your car the batteries That's why I who've been checking out lots of different electric car models because i'm gonna get one myself I won't be buying a sedan. I'll be getting a small suv or a small pickup truck. Not a tesla I think they're too ugly by next year. Most car companies will have a pickup. You've probably seen the electric ford f-150 pickup

[25:23] That's a huge monster. I don't want anything that big though It seems a pretty nice vehicle if you're living in the states in latin america You need maneuverability parking places are tight and so are the roads So big old fat american heavy metal even if it's electric just doesn't cut it Not for me. Anyway, unless I lived way out in the boonies then that electric ford f-150 might just be perfect But dave just because your car is rather low It shouldn't stop you from making the trip You just have to be a lot more careful and never drive at night And as far as insurance, you know as you pass through borders of every country There's always a little insurance station there. You can buy local short-term insurance just for the drive-thru Finally dave, you know every high-end shopping center in latin america seems to have a charging station these days I'm seeing them all over the place all the time now, you know more about the brands than I do

[26:11] But the ones i've seen especially at airports you always find them at airports You just stick in your credit card and they've all got standard universal chargers So all you have to have for your ev car is a universal female power adapter So if I was making the drive, I'd just pull into a big shopping center plug the car in I've never seen other cars plugged in so they're pretty much always available then head into the shopping mall have lunch Whatever. Oh and the chargers are always in guarded parking lots. In fact, i've seen them lately popping up at drive-in banks Now I don't see people using them, but i'm seeing them all over the place But get this never in low-end sections of town Not in so-called barrios always in higher wealthier more secure sections of a city Now if I was planning to drive down fitness states

[26:56] I just plot out where all the major airports are pull my car up get it charged at the airport and there's always Airport hotels just stay overnight while it's being charged Like I said, the charging stations are always in gated guarded parking lots in short and long-term parking at airports, too So just work it out so that you stay at an airport hotel and have your car charge for a couple hours or maybe even overnight That way in most cases your charging station will be within walking distance of your hotel And i'm thinking if you're driving from the states to guatemala If you're driving straight on through it should only require two at most three nights in a hotel 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

[27:44] 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 nos famos