#506 – The Expat Files: Navigating Corruption, Discrimination, and Cultural Dynamics in Latin America

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

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now 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 Okay. Now here's some recent latin news for all you expats gonna bees and wannabes out there who are thinking about Ecuador Possibly because you believe it's slightly less corrupt than a lot of other Latin American governments

[00:46] Listen to this and this comes from a South American newspaper called that not see on it says and I'll paraphrase that cut out the boring Parts in one of the most telling examples of political corruption in recent history. We have the case of Pedro delgado Pedro delgado was the director of Ecuador's Central Bank until he fled the country a few years ago Why well, it was discovered amongst other things that he had a fake diploma in economics Okay, so you're thinking maybe that's not so unusual in a Latin country anyway, but Pedro delgado Guess what? He's president Correa's cousin Then it goes on to say adding insult to injury when this was found out Delgado was allowed to flee Ecuador without any trouble and at a press conference

[01:33] President Carrera insisted at the time that Delgado was only traveling to my jammy to attend his son's wedding. Yep It's me again. Johnny. There you have it more proof that these big wig government thieves have to go to my jammy That's the place to be Oh Brother but back to the story. Anyway, Correa The president said at the time if he did not return from my jammy He'd publicly denounced delgado his cousin himself however to this date the president's cousin Pedro remains a fugitive and There is an active warrant out for his arrest, but only in his country nowhere else Meanwhile, he's living the life of a king in South Beach, Florida What else is new, huh? Then it goes out to say this was not the first time president Correa tried to deceive the public with his forked tongue in

[02:22] 2008 he vowed to resign if a commission could prove that he the president was aware of bloated and padded Government contracts his brother Fabrizio had signed Well, the commission assigned to the case to investigate his brother Concluded that the president did indeed know of these contracts But instead of fulfilling his promise to resign Correa turned around and sued the commission He said they were liars. So he sued them for perjury So the commission disbanded and the case faded away no more publicity on it at all Now you might wonder how all this is possible and how he can get away with all this without the media going nuts Well, it's possible because Korea and the Ecuadorian government control about eighty five percent of all the media outlets and the ones

[03:14] He doesn't like that do not follow government protocol or policy He shuts them down or has a government agency investigate them until they clam up or are forced into bankruptcy Oh and by the way, the National Institute of Human Rights released their annual report on October 17th Labeling Venezuela and Cuba as the top two repressive governments out of all the 20 Latin American countries No surprise there, huh? And by the way singles out Ecuador as the worst Latin country in terms of violations of free speech So why do I bring this up? Because I can tell you this so many long-term Expats down here in all the Latin countries know absolutely nothing about what's happening at their own doorstep

[04:00] Politically and it's not because so many expats don't know enough Spanish It's just that they don't care and they don't bother to find out either. In fact, here's a perfect example I must know two or three dozen long-term expats that live in Antigua, Guatemala I'm talking about expats who've been there 10 or 15 even 20 30 years And you know what every single one of them was duly surprised when maybe year and a half ago The three term or was it four term mayor of Antigua was thrown into prison And I guess they threw away the key after they discovered he'd stolen over the years about 40 million dollars and had 25 Was it 50 phantom employees on the payroll for years and years and all the while these long-term expats living and doing business in that

[04:47] City not two or three blocks away from the courthouse the municipal building and the mayor's headquarters Not only did these long-term expats have no idea this guy was stealing the city blind and that's been going on for 15 or 20 years The fact is not a single one of these long-term expats even knew the mayor's name So yes in every single Latin country all the politicians are corrupt from the bottom on up But in the end as gringos and expats really don't give a Why they live in their own corrupt superficial world and don't affect us Really except when their pinhead bodyguards double park their bulletproof SUVs blocking traffic. That's why expats I always recommend you keep your gun at home. So in regards to

[05:34] Perulent pus-brained politicians, we don't mingle. We have nothing in common We don't ask them for anything and even if you're invited to mingle with them I suggest you don't because they're poorly educated superficial low-lives with varying degrees of halitosis Why bother with them? It's just not worth it They're completely out of our business in social circles Anyway, and the real point is you should never pick your Latin American final destination By what you perceive as your country of choices level of corruption. They're all thoroughly corrupt in the end You should be rating countries based on their security and climate as well as their economy and cost of living and maybe most Importantly not the strength but the weakness of a particular Latin countries government

[06:20] So the more corrupt chaotic weak lazy and small a particular Latin government is the more gringos and expats seem to flourish Oh and about that international human rights survey I mentioned it also points out that the Latin country that practices the most race sex and class discrimination is Come on take a guess. Nope, not Costa Rica though. They're way up there. Are you thinking maybe Argentina? Now I don't blame you if you said Argentina. They are highly racist and classist In fact a couple years ago, I was at a beachfront resort in Argentina It was a big fancy four-star first world style hotel And since in most countries in Latin America the beachfront is public So if you build a nice four-star hotel or whatever there or even a residential property

[07:07] You can't fence off or block off your property all the way to the ocean or the lake Whatever you have to leave some space open for people to casually walk by, you know The public and if you're close to a city that just might be the sweaty masses So look out on by the way many beachfront property owners do Violate that law with impunity and they black off their own little section of beach with a fence or a wall Whatever and because this is Latin America. They get away with it I mean, there are no beachfront police, you know So unless a complaint comes in from someone up way high, you probably can get away with it, too Not telling just saying anyway at this particular resort There wasn't a lot of public if you're on the beach Maybe you'd see six or seven people walk by about every half an hour

[07:54] Coming from the north or the south of the beach. Yep There were locals you could tell they couldn't afford to stay at a three or four-star hotel Just a bit too Unfashionably scruffy you might say I mean these days in fashion anything goes right But when it comes to beachcomber types, there's scruffy and there's scruffy So every day a lot of people from the hotel would make their way over to the beach where there was a nice bar and restaurant All the upscale ladies would be working on their tans reading about Latin soap stars and the Kardashians and the Latin version of people And Cosmo magazine. Yes, they have those rags in Spanish, too So the upscale ladies and guys sit around all day sucking on expensive umbrella drinks and such And everybody would usually take a stroll on the beach or walk out on the pier that was located there and on your way back

[08:43] Into the hotel There was a guard standing and the big arched opening and he'd make sure that either had a colored bracelet on Signifying you were staying at that hotel If not, he'd still let you in if you were a business person nice clothes upscale looking if you look the type So in effect this guard was the filter for people coming off the beach in case They weren't staying at the hotel or in his eye you weren't the upscale type So the regular locals were definitely discriminated against and I saw it for myself Four or five different times as I was walking in the guy would just nod and smile at me being a tall light-haired white gringo That gringo advantage again Oh and he'd flash his snaggle-tooth smile making sure I'd see that lone gold tooth in there

[09:30] Yes, he was a member of the sweaty masses himself only as a kind of a bouncer. He was on the inside looking out So ironically, it was his job to keep people like him out Interesting, huh? I remember one hotel guest a very dark-skinned girl from the Dominican Republic Who was following a few steps behind me into the hotel the guard didn't ask me for ID or what room I was staying in But he gave her the third degree Okay, big deal you might say but she was with her family all of them dark-skinned Dominicans And they all got the same treatment too over and over and in the week that I stayed there I saw that happen three or four more times surprise surprise It never happened with light-skinned European looking people or gringos like me

[10:15] However, if you were a bit dark and short the guard would generally ask for their room number or to see their key Even if those people had one of those colored bracelets on meaning they were signed up for the all-inclusive package In fact one time I said to the guard. How come you quiz people who've got a bracelet on he said? Well, you know a bracelets an easy thing to counterfeit Maybe that could be but I didn't have one of those bracelets because I was not on the all-inclusive plan Yet, he never asked me what room I was staying in I must have walked in and out of that place for the beach 50 times. So bottom line Yes, Argentina is a highly racist and classist society And that would be mostly because of all that European blood that came in at the turn of the century and in and around World War two and when they got to Argentina

[11:03] They strictly stuck to their own kind and basically inbred which is why about 5% of the people in Argentina Most all of obvious European descent own about 80% of the land in the businesses in the country But I guess that's pretty much the way it is everywhere, right? Yes, even in Obama inland that said Argentina showed up number two on that same survey Which ranks all 20 Latin countries in discriminatory behavior based on race culture? Socioeconomic status and general physical appearance So who was number one on that list? Did you guess Chile if you did? Maybe it's because you've been down there and you've seen discrimination in action In fact that survey and report goes as far as to say that 61% of Chileans admit openly in this survey that they engage in discriminatory behavior based on physical appearance and

[11:57] 57% of Chileans say they engage in discriminatory behavior based on socio-economic status and 52% of Chileans say they engage in discriminatory behavior based on the type of clothing and appearance a person has Now, of course that goes for Chileans judging other Latins though As far as gringos and expats in Chile Remember, you've got that gringo advantage going for us and all Latins seem to like if not love everything gringo So we're kind of the obvious exception to that role The fact is you could be a scruffy greasy haired backpack and gringo in Argentina or Chile And the locals will smile and treat you quite nicely In fact, they might even invite you over for a drink or dinner In fact, I've seen that happen myself a college-age scruffy backpacker sitting in a bank in Chile next to an older lady

[12:47] They struck up a conversation as will happen with gringos and before you know it He was writing down her home address because he'd just been invited to dinner with the family I saw it for myself. I've seen that happen many times. In fact, it's happened to me too So might there be ulterior motives in a situation like that? Well, sometimes it's just because a local Latin person has never seen or talked to a gringo before in person So they're extremely curious like anywhere life can be boring and certainly inviting a gringo over to the house for dinner The neighbors will talk. In fact, she'll probably make sure everyone in the neighborhood finds out So for her it's a feather in her cap and for you just that good old gringo advantage and sure There's always that sly secondary motive if there's a unattached daughter or two in the family for mom or pop

[13:35] To invite a nice gringo over for dinner Often they're thinking maybe sparks would fly but nice to have a gringo in the family now I'm not handing you a load of Obama here either that's happened Not only to me but quite a number of gringos who come down and hook up with immersion families You longtime listeners will remember maybe 250 shows ago or so I spoke about how many Latin immersion families especially the ones way off the gringo tourist trail We'll use that opportunity of having a gringo around the house to parade a few of their unattached female family members around I've been through that one before and you know soon enough you figure out what's going on Every few nights an aunt will knock on the door about five or six o'clock at night Just dropping over to visit and say hello and she'll have a daughter or a niece in tow

[14:24] Those daughters and nieces by the way seem just a little too dressed up for the occasion So all you single guys out there if you're going to stay at an immersion family off the gringo tourist trail get ready for that It could happen to you and on the gringo tourist trail Well, you won't see that too much people are just a bit more jaded and it's obvious gringos aren't the rare fashionable oddity They are when off the tourist trail Unfortunately, everyone's a dollar sign and there's really no special cache However off the tourist trail you are a b-grade rock star But back to the Latin American racism and classism angle So then what Latin country or countries might you think would rate at the bottom of the scale in other words colorblind and very equal Opportunity-minded well, you could probably guess all day and not come up with that little country Uruguay

[15:14] And it surely has a lot to do with ex-president Mujica's attitude about society and politics when he was in office Remember he was the guy that had nobody guards and drove to work every day and an old Volkswagen and his wife Drove to work every day on her little scooter So as much as he really was a dyed-in-the-wool socialist, you gotta love him for that However, here comes another very interesting news story in Spanish, of course showing that even the more modern progressive countries like Uruguay have certain socialist liberal policies that sometimes Backfire and worse again, I'll paraphrase and translate and read the interesting part It starts out by saying Uruguayan residents were baffled as Syrian families That's Syrian stood with arms open outside the headquarters of the presidency of Uruguay

[16:03] These recent Syrian immigrants are asking to leave Uruguay because they find the cost of living way too expensive Okay, let me stop for a second here and say you all know there's a huge immigration problem happening in Europe Mostly Muslim immigrants and Africans flooding into Western Europe in record numbers Anyway, that said as the United States gets flooded with Latins Europe is being flooded with Africans and Muslims and in Europe Anyway, they're fighting it out right now deciding who's gonna take how many and where are they gonna go? But now the story is about Syrians in Montevideo, Uruguay What's that all about? Turns out since former president Munyeka was such a nice guy He offered last year when he was still in office to help Syrian refugees by accepting a certain number of them into his country

[16:54] But back to the news article. It says on Montevideo Uruguay national news TV One Al-Shaebi Marhi 51 a Syrian says he and his family are disappointed in Uruguay He says the food is too expensive here and the wages are low How am I supposed to feed my family? There were get this 17 people in his family him his wife and his 15 frickin children So the report goes on to say Al-Shaebi and his family arrived in Uruguay in October at the invitation of President Mujeka Received free housing as is by the way the right of all Uruguayans even though these visiting Syrians are just

[17:40] Temporary residents and there are 15 kids received the right to free public education Free health care not to mention a first in Latin America monthly financial assistance, too Which is the right of all Uruguayans of which they're not so they're getting special dispensation Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me stop right here Doesn't that system sounded awful lot like the welfare system up in the states free housing free education Free health care free financial assistance monthly. Well, there's reason number 2,246 not to move to Uruguay, I guess anyway, the article goes on to say yes Al-Shaebi and his wife did find work, but he said the wages they received are very low Saying Uruguay is a very expensive country. Yes, it's true and the job offers and the access to them

[18:32] Well, it's just not the same for us as it is with Uruguayans now Uruguay's secretary of human rights have year Miranda says by law the Uruguayan state Supports immigrants like the Syrians for two entire years. We cannot do more than that. He said and yes Mr. Al-Shaebi did say true his kids can get a free education in Uruguay, but the food too expensive How am I gonna feed my 15 children? He said while being interviewed barefoot in the living room of his state-provided home meanwhile the TV also Provided by the Uruguayan government is tuned to an Arabic channel to which Al-Shaebi points out that Unfortunately, there are no

[19:19] Uruguayan government programs that allow you to develop any skills or activities Then he complains they give you no sheep no cows and no land Meanwhile a Uruguayan government spokesman and political scientist Daniel Chisquedde Says that president Munyeka did have a good idea in line with the tradition of Uruguay to be a country of immigrants and a land of peace He showed a high sensitivity by allowing the Syrians in however Everything was much more complicated than expected the cultural differences. He said were vastly underestimated in addition He said Uruguay is not a country overflowing with opportunities It's not like Argentina Brazil or Mexico if you come to our country our economy

[20:04] Requires only highly skilled workers or people willing to invest which is not at all the case With these Syrian people and finally when the interviewer pushed the TV mic in the face of a local Observer in front of the presidential palace the Uruguayan lady said just think of it all this commotion and all this publicity over five Syrian families a total of 42 Syrian people that came to Uruguay in October last year Alright, so there's an article that deserves to get some play in the first world press don't you think but it won't so if you're thinking There's sort of a low-level Muslim invasion into South America think about these numbers a total of 42 Syrians have entered Uruguay

[20:51] Legally in the past year Okay, but you know there's one thing they didn't explain in that article that bit about the Syrian guy sitting in his living room Provided by the state his TV tuned to an Arabic channel now I've been in every Latin American country and I've only seen Arabic channels in the very big ones like Mexico Peru Argentina and Brazil of course things change rapidly. Maybe they've got Arabic TV pay-per-view Who knows owned by the way the other day I was talking to an expat that came to one of my seminars He's living down here with his family permanently now, and I can't remember the conversation exactly But I remember him saying that before he came down. He was quizzed by some of the family members You know they always think it's the wrong move one family member of his alluded to the fact that a lot of Muslims are pouring into

[21:38] Latin America So shouldn't he be worried and you know statements like that always come from people who've never actually had any boots on the ground down here They'll just pile on all kinds of excuses and grab at any straw to try to dissuade you from leaving the good old USFA at least some people will anyway, but as far as this new expat Here's the facts he moved down to Guatemala And he mentioned to me that as far as he can determine in all of greater Guatemala City With a population over 3 million there are only two mosques Now the whole country of Guatemala has got about 15 or 16 million people and it appears There are only three other mosques in the country one in each of the other three biggest cities Which makes for a grand total of five mosques in the whole country of 15 or 16 million now there could be more

[22:29] But that seems to be the count right now So what does that say about the Muslim population in Guatemala for example? Well, you know Muslims are very very devout in fact in some ways extreme about attending their services and mosques So if they've got five mosques in the whole country of Guatemala How does that stack up to other western countries and locales in the world? Well, let's take the state of Illinois where I'm from Did you know that the entire state of Illinois has about a hundred and ten mosques? So then what's that got to do with anything? Well, I'm mentioning, Illinois because Guatemala and Illinois have nearly the same population Illinois may be two million less but close so that said I can see no Muslim invasion of Latin America anytime soon

[23:17] I mean, come on, Illinois has 20 times as many mosques as Guatemala So if you're obsessed about some kind of Muslim uprising, where is it gonna be? Okay, now for an email starts out. Hi Johnny you expat savant I've been listening to your show for five years or so and have taken much that you say to heart I am currently living in Central America But I don't really want to tell you why or how because you will instantly put me in the bad Category, we all got to do what we got to do. Like I said, I agree with much of what you have to say Just not all I hope you continue to do well. Thanks for my favorite podcast Scott Okay, so what's he referring to you long-term even short-time listeners? No, how much I hammer on NGOs do-gooders US Embassy types military, whatever

[24:08] So I have to assume that Scott's career path is somewhere along that trajectory and believe me That's not the first time I've gotten an email like that In fact when I was doing my regular live radio shows down here in Latin America There was always an open line or two for callers, you know Just like radio shows up in the States and you know with almost every live show I did My board engineer guy would shoot me a hand signal meaning to pick up on the line that wasn't on the air and that would be Someone who wanted to speak with me privately talk about a few things and never ever would want his or her voice on the air Yep, I'd get calls from military guys stationed down here Also US corporate types stationed down here for a while like for example Used to have a Costco executive call me all the time

[24:55] I had United Nations people calling me and of course US Canadian and British Embassy people, too Yes, they were the most cautious. Sometimes they'd even whisper to me How do you think I got all that inside information back then when I had my live radio shows? Almost no first world people down here had live streaming radio off the Internet. It didn't exist then they missed Rock-and-roll radio DJ's they had back up in their hometown in the States So I filled that spot of course these days up in the States It's all canned music and canned this and that so it's all over up there But 10 or 15 years ago, you might remember it was alive and well and a lot of fun So even though I'd say evil and crass things about NGOs and do-gooders and especially embassy people They all still tuned into my program. Why well insiders there told me because I was one guy that was telling it like it is

[25:47] In fact, how do you think I get invited to all those embassy parties? I told you about on some past shows and all I ever did was rip them new anuses when I was on live radio Just like Nick Lowe sang in 1979 You've got to be cruel to be kind I mean really that's when you know you're making the impact when you've got embassy people calling you off the air Egging you on and giving you the inside dope too. So anyway, Scott I understand where you're coming from with that email. Don't worry I won't pick on you not if you're doing something constructive down here like building out houses for Jesus It's a much more honest and decent gig than working for the US Embassy That said let me mention once again that on January I'm having my expat insider seminar and if you sign up by November 1st, there's a

[26:34] $500 per person early bird discount. So as of the date this show goes out October 25th You've got exactly seven days to get in on that early bird deal Go to www.thenewexpat.com click the link on the top of the page that says Johnny's 2016 insider seminar and Sign up before the normal prices kick in, you know Every first world person I talked to these days has a premonition or a feeling that something bad is gonna happen any time now up in the States Everybody with the brain it seems has a feeling of impending doom. I'm sure you listeners feel that too So what are you gonna do when the big blowout comes you're gonna channel surf and dial 9-1-1 Well, good luck with that. You're much much better off getting a plan B started

[27:22] So come on down to my Latin seminar in January Come and see how you too can live the good life down here in Latin America, you know way you've never thought possible south of the border You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border email me the expat files at gmail.com And if you want me to help you sort out your own Latin American plans schedule a one-on-one Consult with me just send an email and let me know at the expat files at gmail.com. No spamos