#1043 – The Expat Files: Easter in Latin America, Legal Challenges, and Medical Alternatives

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

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now that 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 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 today's show first goes out on Easter Sunday 2021 and you know, that's a huge day in Latin America Actually, it's not just one day. They celebrated down here for a week or two or more by the way They don't call it Easter. They call it some mana Santa translation Saint week

[00:48] Even though you know, it's got nothing to do with Saints because it's supposed to be of course when that famous guy with the toga and the Sandals, you know got tortured and killed on a Friday then the following Sunday Well, you know the rest of the story and why Latinos referred to the whole main event as Saint week I'll never know though as one Latino sassar doty. That means Catholic priest sassar doty What a name, huh? Sure many Latinos call him padres, you know fathers But the most proper term for a priestess sassar doty what a tongue twister, especially after a few tequila's anyway I asked a sassar doty why they call it Saint week and he said well most likely Due to the fact that everyone who hung around for the main event eventually did become Saints So as he said there were more scenes hanging around and having face-to-face meetups on that particular weekend

[01:37] Then at any other time in Christian history 2000 years He said it would be kind of like having a backstage pass at the Woodstock of Christianity now for me That wasn't a very satisfying answer. But hey, he's the sassar doty the expert in those things not me Hmm Woodstock of Christianity, I kind of like that But somehow I don't think the guy with the funny hat in Rome would appreciate that analogy Oh and this sassar doty buddy of mine. Well, I guess you could say he's my buddy Well, at least until he tries to ram the old religion rod down my throat, then I'll have to you know, cut him off Nothing worse than people trying to push their religion on you, huh? In fact, I had a sister like that She became an evangelical Christian and it seems to me and I've got plenty of proof that probably 95% or more of new

[02:24] Evangelical Christians are fallen Catholics That's absolutely true down here in Latin America because here if you check out the Datsun stats You'll find that 50 years ago or so every single Latin American country was around 98 percent Catholic And now it's still the majority but mostly in the 60 and 70 percent range and the rest mostly evangelical Go ahead. Look it up. Oh, and I've also noted that most new Evangelical Christians again, mostly fallen Catholics came to that decision that is flipped because of some kind of moral or spiritual crisis In my sister's case She had a two-year-old daughter that picked up a virus It went to her heart and get this she ended up with a heart transplant at two years old But it didn't take and after six months she died

[03:10] That's when my sister had this crisis of faith since she'd been praying and going to church every day But God must have been on break or out to lunch That was her crisis So she ditched the guys with the funny hats and went evangelical in a huge way, too I remember visiting her house He had a Bible open in every single room with a different passage every day highlighted in yellow marker Yep, there was even a Bible with pages open and highlighted in the crapper Now I know what you're thinking How could you fit the word Bible and crapper in the same sentence and not get some heat for it? Well, we'll see Anyway, as for my sister not only enough. She began to wonder why her family just quit visiting her Eventually, she got the hint and Bibles around the house started disappearing and she found out soon enough if she quit peppering her phrases

[03:57] With Bible quotes the family would start coming around. So then why am I bringing this up? Well, do you remember that latino? Sesadote padre pastor friend of mine. Well, just the other day I ran into him again And he told me there's a big problem going down for some anasanta, you know Easter week turns out the edict has come down not from the big man himself the pope but from local mayors Mayors by the way are alcaldis here in latin america. They're called alcaldis Anyway, local mayors and governors down here are telling the public that they can no longer do the usual catholic Easter week rituals like for example on good friday You go into a church and just that day on good friday the catholics put a statue of jesus on the cross Directly on the floor in front of the altar just on good friday

[04:43] Then there's always a line of good faithful catholics waiting their turn to wash his feet Yeah They got a little bucket of water right next to his feet and then the rest of the ritual is to kiss Those famous wounds made by the sword and the nails So the sasser dote was lamenting the fact that for the first time in history faithful catholics will no longer be able to Indirectly swap spit with the rest of the faithful and he said for Covidiot reasons, there'll be no more kissing of the pope's ring by the way here in latin america. The pope is called el papa papa p-a-p-a Oddly enough papa is also spanish for potato. Hmm You know, I just don't understand why comedians don't make more hay out of that connection Anyway for covidiot the catholics have nixed a few rituals, of course

[05:30] That means in church, there'll be no more shaking of hands with your neighbor That was always a tradition especially in catholic churches at the end of the mass You'd turn to the guy or gal next to you and shake their hands say hi That's out of the question now though. Maybe a fist bump will suffice which begs the question if old mr Potato head is into fist bumping in lieu of ring kissing, but I digress as usual All right Now let's talk about things you discover along the way that you never stopped to consider before but they really make you think Now your longtime listeners have heard me say many times That as soon as you start dating a latina or girls a latino And or as soon as you start hiring household help and get to know the families of your help You're going to get solicited by people, you know, and you barely know

[06:15] For money for dough talking about people hitting you up for a loan Loans are called prestamos Prestamos if you do that be prepared to be disappointed Consider it a gift always consider it a gift because you'll probably Never get paid back even if you sign a note and do it in your lawyer's office You might recover some of your money, but probably not all it's just a fact of life here in latin america And almost every gringo and expat learns that lesson along the way And man sometimes lawyers themselves are the worst now I'm not saying a lawyer won't pay you back if you lend him money They probably will that's another story all together by the way if a lawyer asked to borrow money from you Man, that would be a huge red flag meaning the guy does not know how to handle his own finances So you shouldn't be doing business with the guy in the first place now

[07:00] Here's the thing when I first moved to costa rica a long long time ago. I ended up with two separate lawyers Note not one at a time too concurrently you long-time listeners know this story I bought some raw land across the street from the one santa maria airport to build a bunch of u-storage units That got built eventually except once the place was up and running my neighbor Who I didn't know and never even met before filed a lawsuit against me saying that I built my fence my border fence 10 feet on his property which in the end turned out to be a typical latino move pure bs to try to extort five grand from me Because that's what he said in the legal papers would satisfy his claim Now most gringos and expats moving down to latin america and not knowing any spanish at all Would certainly be pissed off if that happened to him

[07:48] Though their lawyer would probably tell him to just go ahead and pay the guy five grand get it over with and it's done Instead of you know dragging it out in court for two to three years By the way, my costa rica and lawyer told me that once the case got to court and would be various court dates And various times you'd have to take off and go see the judge and stuff He told me the plaintiff the so-called injured party would certainly lose but he's counting on the fact that he'll never get the court However, he said once a lawsuit is in progress. That means you can never do anything with that property For example, if someone came up to me and said johnny, I like to buy Your u-storage business or perhaps I wanted to sell it Well, I could never do that until the court action was complete and scammers know it and that's why so many new green gringos and expats cave in quickly and pay the 5gs because

[08:34] Though it's a nuisance. They just want to eliminate future problems and have a clear title So it's like this when a latino parasite tries to sue you and you know, you're gonna win He's betting on the fact that you'll pay him to go away Of course, he knows if you go to the distance he'll lose and have to pay your expenses too In that case the court will put a judgment against him But chances are he won't pay that either After all the guy's a liar in a scumbag to come after you you think he's gonna pay you Just because the judge levies a judgment sure there'll be a judgment against him But most of the time there's no enforcement of that at all However, if there's a judgment against a foreigner like you or me They can put a block on your passport and you won't be able to leave the country until you pay up So the question is did I pay the five grand? Nope My lawyer knew I'd moved permanently to Costa Rica I wasn't one of those gringos coming in and out every couple of months to monitor a business

[09:23] That's when you get in trouble, you know when the cat's away and all that anyway He called up the other guy's lawyer. He explained that we're gonna go the distance We're gonna go to court and the guy dropped it right away because he knew I was serious about My lawyer said that happens to gringos and expats all the time Especially with gringos on the tourist trail who don't speak Spanish They'd rather just pay the five grand or whatever and get it over with Though it does leave a pretty bad taste in your mouth for doing business in Costa Rica Yep for us north americans a five grand loss stings, but it won't alter your lifestyle Whereas for a latino that could be a half year or even a year's wages So it's worth it for them to go after you if they think they could squeeze five grand out of you Even if they know damn well, they're gonna lose the case They figure you'll pay up way before it ever gets to court and 90 percent of the time. It's exactly what happens

[10:12] So anyway on the advice of my lawyer, I didn't pay they end up dropping the suit and it was all over But it really wasn't all over because then came more problems Turns out the local zoning board put in a complaint against my business saying because they were storage units Usually housing cars and trucks and thus combustible fuel because you know every car and truck has a gas tank, right? They said in the complaint that within 10 days. I had to shut down my operations or Never allow cars or trucks to use those facilities even though that was exactly my targeted customer cars and trucks So I had to sit down with my lawyer. I said, what are we gonna do now? He said, you know what the zoning board just wants to get paid off throughout to extort you. I said what? He said they'll pull that stuff all the time

[10:57] Especially with gringos and expats who don't know better and who don't speak spanish Then he said look there's five guys on the zoning board. They want a thousand bucks each and they'll drop it I said you're kidding. You mean I got a knock on the door and hand each of them a thousand bucks He said no, no, no, that's not the way it's done You hand the money to your lawyer and he does all the dirty work Then he said but I don't do that kind of dirty work But I know a couple lawyers who will so we had to sit down with his crooked lawyer buddy And in the end they negotiated it down to 500 bucks a board member So I think in the end it cost me something like 2500 or 3000 bucks to make that go away And that my friends is why I had two lawyers in costa rica One straight up nice guy a law professor at the university

[11:42] Even published a book of poems and my second lawyer a crooked ass guy He recommended and believe me this guy could get just about anything done for a price Though I have to admit after 30 plus years of being here in latin america I only encountered that double lawyer business when I was smack on the gringo tourist trail When off the gringo tourist trail You only really need one decent lawyer and that guy will have some tricks up his sleeve because lawyers have to be ready for anything, right? But every gringo and expat needs a lawyer who's also his friend So basically if you're living off the gringo tourist trail, it's your own fault if you get gouged whereas if you're on The tourist trail like in cancun or costa rica parts of belize mexico, etc You're always going to be a target The thing is though if you're doing things on the up and up legit business legit property owner

[12:29] Whatever if some person or lawyer does try to sue you or gouge you all you got to do is let them try 95 of time it'll never get to court because they know they'll lose and remember if they lose they pay your expenses, too They're playing the ads that you'll cave early and pay up So by all means bond with your latino lawyer, he'll know when to hold them and know when to fold them I just made that up, right kenny Hey lawyers love gringo sin expats for a lot of reasons Mostly because we do what we say we're gonna do we show up on time and we pay our bills on time And if they do right by us, we refer a mother good gringo clients, too Because you know down here especially off the gringo tourist trail Having gringo clients is a real feather in the head of any latino lawyer

[13:14] And you know now that we're on the subject of the law and lawyers gringles and expats have a lot of confusion when it comes to The latino version of the legal system versus the first world gringo version There are some stark differences because they're not the same you should know this stuff So you're not completely taken by surprise if you find yourself in court down here The first legal point of confusion for gringles and expats comes when hearing about local court cases or high profile Court cases that we see in the news. We're understandably confused. We're thinking why is the judge making all the decisions Why does he say if the person is guilty or innocent? Where is the jury and you know, it's long time gringles often say to ourselves behind closed doors. Hmm. There's just a judge

[14:00] That's a good thing. That means there's just one guy we got to pay off not 12 Hey, a lot of us are born cynics, you know, or we wouldn't have gotten the hell out of dodge All right so the first thing you have to know is latin american law is based on the civil law or Napoleonic law system in the u.s And most of the first world except parts of europe the common law system two different systems in the common law system You can request a jury in the civil law system. There are no juries. All decisions are made by the magistrate or judge That's why so few frivolous lawsuits ever make it to latin american court Whereas in the united states frivolous lawsuits seem to be the norm In fact, they say according to a site called us federal news every man woman and child in the u.s Pays a lawsuit tax of around a thousand bucks a year you get that by dividing the estimated

[14:49] 300 plus billion dollars worth of frivolous lawsuits by the u.s Population and you know a jury trial costs a hell of a lot of money There are dozens of people that just have to get paid investigators cops prosecutors defense attorneys judges jury And win or lose in the american court system. You don't have to pay for that Those costs are shouldered by the court system itself And in the case of career professionals like medical doctors dentists architects engineers and such they carry malpractice insurance They know damn. Well if they get sued for let's say $5,000 or less. It's just not worth it to go to court What with all the time lost and the paying of their defense attorneys and the bad publicity If a case goes to court and it's taken to its final conclusion There's always well over five grand spent

[15:36] So even if the professional wins the doctor architect engineer if he goes to court it'll cost him more than five grand That's why insurance companies who cover architects engineers doctors dentists, etc Will almost always pay off a small claim in lieu of going to court even though they know damn well They'll win it in fact my sister who's a well-known dentist up in chicago She tells me that most dentists get sued once or twice a year And it's always for five grand or less and the insurance company always pays out funny thing too She said it used to years ago Be a black mark on your reputation if the insurance companies settled out of court, but now it's become so common It's not considered a big deal She said you'd be amazed as to how many physicians and dentists got sued and how many insurance companies paid out

[16:23] Though now it's pretty much common knowledge that any suit settled for under five grand Was most likely frivolous up in the states. No professional these days is immune for one thing She says insurance companies will pay out without the professional ever having to admit guilt Because of course, you're not considered guilty or innocent unless you actually do go to court because then there'll be a verdict guilty Or not. So for example in the case of malpractice They say that for every case that makes it to court There are nearly a hundred cases that never make it and are settled behind closed doors But that's in the united states that stuff almost never happens here in latin america. So in effect Civil law napoleonic law that is the kind they practice here in latin america makes people in the most basic of terms responsible for themselves and responsible for their own actions

[17:11] They can't just blame others a company or the government if something bad happens to them They have to take part or most of the responsibility themselves For example in the u.s If you're walking across the street and get hit by a car You sue the driver for psychological and physical damages and perhaps you sue the city too because the lines on the crosswalk were old And faded even if they weren't or perhaps the red don't walk light was burnt out and wasn't flashing Even if it was well in latin america, guess what? If a pedestrian gets hit the driver is responsible for that person's hospital bills And of course if he dies the judge will award the family some money but you could never sue the city because the crosswalks weren't painted right or lights were burnt out or You stepped in a manhole because the cover was gone It's just not possible because built into civil and napoleonic law is the understanding that a person should be smart enough

[18:03] And responsible enough to avoid walking across the street when cars are whizzing by and avoid stepping in open manholes Of course if that happened in detroit cleveland or chicago You're likely to get a million dollar payout from the city Another great example is when you go to the pharmacy here in latin america Remember i've said many times you don't need a prescription to get practically anything at the pharmacy As long as you know the brand name or generic Well, you can imagine what would happen up in the states if that was the case As soon as someone had a reaction or od'd on a medication They'd sue both the drug company and the pharmacy for giving that stuff out Well, guess what here in latin america? You can't do that. It's impossible a judge would never hear that case Why well again because napoleonic or civil law?

[18:52] Has a built-in premise that you're supposed to be smart enough and responsible enough to make your own wise or somewhat wise decisions In other words, it's on you if you Up that's another reason why so few people sue their doctors here in latin america Even when plastic surgery goes bad and a lot of times it does if you're going for the lowest bidder, right? Well, just the fact that you went to the lowest bidder Means you decided to take a risk and throw the dice that it was going to turn out Okay Because all over the world even here in latin america people price shop and a lot of people go with the lowest bidder Way more often than not you get what you pay for Do remember that when you're listening to this show Meanwhile for all you guys and gals out there who love mexico And refuse to face the facts comes this article just came out today called crisis in paradise mexican tourist mecca in the riviera maya

[19:42] Desends into chaos as cartels wage war during spring break You know, I don't want to keep harping on the fact that the mexican cartels are targeting gringos and tourists now But the latest news out of the riviera maya that would be playa del carmen can kun talum and kazamel Etc those wonderful mexican tourist destinations and they are nice Well, they've also because of all the dough that's flowing through them have become targets for gangs and narcos With for example homicides and talum jumping 100 percent from 2018 to 2019 and then another 48 percent The next year and in 2021 so far homicides and violent crimes are up another 40 percent Now till around 2015 the riviera maya in mexico has been quite placid

[20:29] However in 2021 it's been undergoing a turf war among six different cartels Especially in talum the main reason they say because with all the gringo tourists in the area There's a huge demand for party drugs with even a shooting in the tourist downtown area during easter week And within the last 24 hours three cartel shootings occurred within the city limits killing two and wounding eight So the fact is there's a real problem. The media is not covering. Why should they it's a tourist town And the media is well aware that would kill the tourist vibe Meanwhile local cartels are fighting for turf and control even at venues on the beach road and people are getting shot almost daily By the way, if you check the net and search talum You'll see that there are dozens of demonstrators and protesters in the street holding signs in both english and spanish that say things like

[21:21] Attention tourists. You're not safe in talum Not to mention you've got the usual police Shakedown of tourists for mordita or bribe money, which is the usual source of extra income for most cops Especially around spring break time. Remember everyone's got that fourteen hundred dollar stimmy check to spend Meanwhile with instagram influencers flocking to the tiny beach town of talum There's a dark secret. They won't share with you on their feed That talum has its share of corrupt cops in daily shootings where five different cartels wage war against each other All for a piece of the tourist dollar. Yep. I'm reading that from an article That just came out today from a tourist feed in talum mexico. So again as for mexico I know it. Well, it's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there

[22:09] All right. And finally, I want to ask you this question. Suppose you're over 50 suppose You've got a knee or hip problem Maybe because you were a sports fanatic when you were young and you had some arthroscopic surgeries cartilage repair, etc Take my brother for example, who was a hockey player a goalie who's had eight joint surgeries starting when he was around 20 years old He's 50 something now and just a few months ago his doctor gave him the bad news that he's going to need a knee replacement That's just for starters sooner or later a hip and an elbow too The question is what if that were you and your doctor said sorry your cartilage is shot or it's near bone on bone You need a new hip or a knee average cost these days in the states around thirty thousand bucks Most often insurance will pay eighty percent. So you're out of pocket costs. Maybe six grand

[22:56] Now that's a big surgery with lots of recuperation time And of course after that you've got no pain But still you'll always have limited mobility and you're not going to go jogging or run around the bases anymore Now, what if I told you you could fly down to mexico and for about three to five grand depending on the procedure Get an ivy and a couple of injections of stem cells and quite possibly within a few short months see your conditions drastically improved No guarantee, but thousands of people have had this treatment including bus loads of professional athletes You know, they're the most at risk of losing their entire careers from a sports injury, right? So why do you think top sports professionals fly down by the plane load to mexico or panama they elect stem cell treatment Instead of surgery up in the states now remember it's completely non-invasive

[23:43] No surgery at all and it's all done in one day with people reporting spectacular results including people who listen to this show My question is if you're facing a thirty thousand dollar surgery in months of recuperation What have you got to lose by trying stem cells now? Look, there's thousands of stem cells studies going on Let me read you just the results of a few like this one coming from the u.s National library of medicine from the u.s national institutes of health. These are u.s funded peer review studies This one is concerning severe hip arthritis leading to joint replacement with the results showing after stem cells No patients worsened with respect to their pre-op condition and there was improvement on all measured variables And here's another study from the u.s national library of medicine july 2017 this with patients who have severe hip

[24:32] Osteoarthritis the results presented in this clinical study It says revealed that shortly after the intra-articular infusion of stem cell products There was an immediate improvement in hip function Then it says the reparative effect which is fully maintained over time proved to be free of complications and side effects Even after a prolonged follow-up Moreover, the radiographs of the hip joints assessed on a time period ranging from seven to thirty months after stem cell infusion Clearly demonstrates a halt in the progression of osteoarthritis Now I could go on with study after study, but you know hip replacements a thirty thousand dollar procedure in its big business There are nearly a million hip and knee replacements in the u.s Every year to the tune of three billion dollars. That means the average orthopedic surgeon makes about a hundred thousand a year

[25:21] Just with hip and knee replacements alone You can look all this stuff up and if you want to see any documentation Send me an email the expect files at gmail.com and i'll send you so much proof and data You won't be able to plow through it in a single day So then why am I bringing this up? Well since I occasionally talk about the stem cell clinics here in latin america I have been receiving emails from people telling me to shut up about it from guess who? Orthopedic surgeons. Hey, you know, they're just defending their territory, right? Like for example this email and do remember those hip and knee replacements are a huge money maker No surgeon wants to hear about a magic shot that just might eliminate most of that work And if they don't work there's always surgery Anyway, this doc says hi johnny. I'm a long-time listener and i'm serious about a plan b I enjoy your advice about living in latin america, but please stop giving medical advice

[26:09] You don't know your stem cells from your sternum and you keep hawking this unproven treatment while dissing proven ones He says why don't you quote some real science supporting your position if you want to continue to do so Well, I just did and i'll give you lots more but i've got limited time on this show Then he says I attached just one of many studies about joint replacement something, you know little about but clearly think is expensive It is and ineffective. It's not hey doc. I never said it was ineffective. Of course, it works Though i've always advised try stem cells first You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain then he says I know it's effective because I perform them and would be happy to discuss This so you have a real understanding of the procedures Then he says looking forward to hearing more about plan b issues and living in latin america Please don't use my name on the air signed an orthopedic doc. Okay doc. Thanks for that

[26:57] But you're not the first doc to tell me to shut up about stem cells Though I often wonder if an orthopedic doc had to have a knee or hip replacement himself Woody or would he not fly down to mexico to give stem cells a shot or just blindly go under the knife I wonder how many orthopods are so stubborn and inflexible as to not even consider it and remember in a past life I was a real biomedical engineer. So i'm not a complete doofus on the subject I probably know more about the materials and mechanics than the average orthopod But I get you doc everyone's the hero of their own story including me 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