Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller discusses the surprising news that Citibank is exiting 11 Latin American markets. He highlights the bank's expansion in the region, its popularity among locals due to the perception of being a 'first world' institution, and the irony that Citibank itself was a failed institution that required a massive taxpayer bailout. He also shares a personal anecdote about a Latin American employee who was proud to work for Citibank, only to be disillusioned when Johnny revealed the bank's true history. Mueller emphasizes the corruption within Citibank's management in Latin America and the consequences of their actions, leading to the bank's decision to scale back operations in the region.
The podcast segment discusses Citibank's decision to scale back its operations in several Latin American countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru. This decision comes after Citibank discovered $15 million in fraud in its Mexican Banamex unit, following a larger fraud loss of over $400 million linked to a Mexican oil services company, Oceano Graffia. Johnny Mueller attributes this to a broader pattern where first-world franchises and businesses often fail in Latin America due to the region's culture of bribes, payoffs, and corruption. He highlights the common scenario where local management, often from the board of directors, loot banks and flee to other Latin countries, rarely facing punishment. Johnny also references other successful franchises like Ace Hardware, Sears, and Office Depot, which initially struggled but eventually adapted by maintaining close oversight of their Latin American operations. The segment concludes with Johnny making a sarcastic remark about Citibank's situation and transitioning into a discussion about Latin American education, where he notes that a two-year degree is sufficient to become a teacher and that corporal punishment is still practiced in some schools.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the cultural and educational differences between Latin America and the first world, focusing on the treatment of teachers, the influence of private schools, and the use of slang terms like 'mula' in Latin culture. He highlights how public schools in Latin America often have a more traditional approach to discipline and respect for teachers, while private schools, especially those catering to expats, adopt first-world educational trends. Johnny also explains the cultural significance of the term 'mula,' which is used to refer to someone who is stupid or dumb, and shares a humorous anecdote about an expat friend who pretends to understand Spanish to avoid appearing foolish.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses strategies for expats to navigate conversations in Spanish, emphasizing the use of filler words and phrases to avoid looking foolish. He highlights the importance of learning a few key words and phrases, such as 'clado' (a neutral response), 'tendo' (I understand), 'verdad' (affirmative), and 'poor supuesto' (in English, meaning 'of course'). Johnny also humorously critiques the overuse of the word 'incredibly' in Latin American media, suggesting it has become a cliché. He concludes by sharing a personal anecdote about using these strategies to make conversation with a Johnny Walker model at a concert in San Salvador, illustrating how these techniques can be both practical and effective in real-life situations.
The podcast segment discusses a story about Eddie, an expat, who uses Spanish filler words and a bit of Spanish to impress a local woman during a date. Despite not knowing much Spanish, he manages to get her phone number and set up a date. The segment then shifts to an email from Brent, who questions the prevalence of large statues and monuments in Latin America, particularly those honoring conquistadors and other historical figures. Johnny Mueller responds by acknowledging the cultural significance of these monuments and their often controversial nature, suggesting they are a form of historical remembrance and a subject for academic analysis.
Topics
Citibank's expansion in Latin America, Perception of Citibank as a 'first world' institution, Citibank's history and bailout, Citibank's decision to exit Latin American markets, Corruption within Citibank's management in Latin America, Citibank's withdrawal from Latin America, Corruption and fraud in Latin American banking, Cultural and systemic issues in Latin America, Franchise success and adaptation in Latin America, Education and corporal punishment in Latin America, Cultural differences in education, Respect for teachers in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:32 Citibank's Exit from Latin America 00:01:33 Citibank's History and Bailout 00:05:44 Citibank Exits 11 Latin American Markets 00:06:17 Citibank's Decision to Scale Back Operations in Latin America 00:07:33 The Challenges of Entrusting Latin American Management 00:09:43 Ace Hardware's Adaptation and Success in Latin America 00:12:19 Teacher Respect in Latin America 00:12:51 Private Schools and First-World Trends 00:15:13 Discipline and Cultural Differences 00:17:01 Expat Experiences and Language Challenges 00:18:16 Learning Key Words for Spanish Conversations 00:19:37 The Phrase 'Poor Supuesto' and Its Use 00:21:04 Critique of the Word 'Incredibly' in Latin Media 00:24:20 Eddie's Spanish Attempt and Date Setup 00:25:13 Brent's Email on Statues in Latin America 00:27:36 Closing Remarks and Call to Action
Transcript
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 Now here's some Latin American news that took me by surprise Remember maybe three months ago I was talking about how Citibank came down here in a huge way opened up offices everywhere In fact, I believe in Central America more than 500 Citibank branches have opened since the 2008 2009 bailouts
[00:51] And I also mentioned that Citibank has become hugely popular with the locals Since it is a bank from gringo land and Latins think anything coming from the first world is better than what they have down here Especially banks they feel any bank up in the US is as solid as the rocket Gibraltar and as good as gold talk about Delusional, huh? And remember I mentioned in a past show that not one Latin in a thousand even knows There was a banking crisis at all up in the first world back in 2008 And I don't care if you're quizzing lands on a college campus down here only one in a thousand would know that in fact I don't think one in a hundred thousand Latin Americans realize Citibank itself was such a failed corrupt institution that it wouldn't have survived at all if the US government wouldn't have given it the
[01:41] Biggest taxpayer bailout in human history and here's the thing I know a Latin guy who doesn't speak a lick of English was middle management at one of the big Citibanks down here and guess What since he's been hired he walks around like his feces has no odor and you know I see him around enough busting his buttons because he's a Citibank employee I mean come on knowing what we know about Citibank you can only take so much of that crap, right? So one day at a party while he was busting his buttons I busted his balls and started telling him the history of a Citibank up in the states the true history Because you know, they never tell you that at the Citibank orientation down here. Nope Why'd they got the dirty laundry, huh? From what I understand They only tell you how lucky you are to be working for such a fine exemplary first world organization like Citibank such BS, huh?
[02:29] And you know when I set this guy down and told him all that he looked at me as if I'd just insulted the Pope To him. I not only insulted the bank and insulted him personally, too I mean after all ever since this guy got the job about a year and a half ago He's been the hero of the family the only guy ever Connected to anything first world. So I suppose I did put a big dent in his ego, but that's life now You might be thinking Johnny. You're kind of a cruel bastard, aren't you? But really what would you have done every time? I'd see the guy whether I'd run into him at a party or a restaurant or whatever He'd proudly display his little enamel Citibank lapel pin whoopee Like that old Saturday Night Live saying gag me with a spoon So I think you'd agree his bubble was ripe for bursting
[03:16] Anyway before I tell you about that Citibank news now that really took me by surprise Let me read you a short paragraph to remind you how screwed up Citibank really is and was This comes from the December 15 gold and silver daily report. It starts out quote Citigroup slash Citibank is the Wall Street megabank that forced the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 and once that Glass-Steagall Act went away Citibank blew itself up as a result in 2008 then it was propped back up with the largest taxpayer bailout in the history of the world Even though it was insolvent and didn't even qualify for the bailout now It's reared its ugly head again Citibank has written its own
[04:04] legislation to actually deregulate itself it got the president of the United States to lobby for its passage and The legislation received a thumbs up from both houses of Congress in less than a week. Okay So what does that mean and why should we care? Well, the Banksters up north like Citibank might have Congress and the president and the Federal Reserve in their pocket Making sure whatever stunts they pull illegal or not They just can't fail. The fact is south of the border where in the last few years They've opened up many many hundreds if not thousands of branches That's by the way where a huge percentage of your taxpayer bailout money went not for jobs or loans up in the states But for them to expand to the third world. I mean really you can't make this stuff up
[04:53] How else you think they were able to come down here to Latin America and buy up all that property and all those tiny little banks That they converted to Citibanks. Anyway, what started out for Citibank is an unbelievable boon because like I said the minute They came down Latin's by the millions abandoned their traditional Latin American banks Which are if he institutions at best and they piled into Citibank whom they considered first world and therefore Solid as the Rock of Gibraltar and beyond reproach, but the bad news is for Citibank Anyway, they didn't count on the fact that the Latins they put into their Citibank Management positions down here are even more corrupt than the banksters in management positions up north And now you might think what goes around comes around and that paybacks are hell and karma really exists when I read you this
[05:44] The title of this next article which I'll translate is called Citibank exits 11 Latin American markets. It's a long article. So I'll paraphrase again It starts out by saying Citigroup customers across Central America will be looking for a new place to bank next year Citigroup slash Citibank said Tuesday that it will bow out of the retail banking business in 11 Latin American markets in an ongoing effort to restructure and slim down the news came as Citibank announced its third quarter earnings Which were positive up in the first world and negative in Latin America a Citibank Spokesperson said the scaling down would primarily be in the Latin American countries of Mexico Costa Rica
[06:29] Salvador Guatemala Nicaragua Panama and Peru Citibank says it'll be exiting personal banking services in those countries But continue with a limited amount of corporate banking these announcements come after Citibank revealed that they discovered 15 million dollars in fraud following an investigation into their Mexican Banamex unit that followed by a massive fraud discovery earlier in the year when its Banamex division had lost over 400 million dollars as a result of fraud related to a Mexican oil services company known as Oceano Graffia So in effect Citibank is finding out the hard way that once they set up bank branches down here in Latin America
[07:16] And hire local Latin American Spanish-speaking management teams once they're trained in Operations and their first world trainers go home. Well little did they know that the Fox was in charge of the hen house So Citibank has discovered the hard way what so many first world Franchises etc had discovered years ago when they first came down that you can almost never walk away completely and leave the operation in the hands of Latin American so-called professionals and They did that in a big rush willy-nilly in every Latin country they came into now in hindsight It looks to everyone as if the Citibank people just came down here and started buying and setting up these things never looking at the history of Latin American banking or the Latin American culture of bribes and payoffs and well
[08:03] Larceny, it's like this local Latin American banks come and go all the time and when they go It's because the banking insiders and management usually the board of directors Soon enough end up playing with the books and looting the place and eventually word gets out There's a run on the bank And by then the board of directors have usually flown the coop and are living like kings and queens in an adjacent Latin country It's a very very common scenario and these guys rarely get punished in fact many times They're welcomed into these adjacent Latin countries because they got so much dough now that they buy their way in And of course Latin presidents and politicians are notorious for doing the same thing, too In fact right now there's any number of former Latin presidents under indictment in their own countries
[08:52] Living the life of Riley in another Latin country who would never think of extraditing them because they're spreading around way too much cash Down here loading on a grand scale is a way of life and Citibank didn't figure on the fact They could do it in a big way up in the first world But when they came down here someone else their own insiders would stick it up their ass now That's not to say it happens all the time But you really have to be careful all the u.s. First world franchises and businesses that have come down here to Latin America and are making it have learned They could never really leave their operations in the hands of the locals They have to keep a close eye on it now in Citibank's case they had billions in bailout money so they just dove right in Latin America headfirst where as they should have started with baby steps like so many other
[09:40] Successful franchise companies do in fact I remember the very first ace hardware in Central America was in San Jose Costa Rica back in the 1980s now That store was in existence for about ten years before they ever opened up another one in Latin America Now they've been very successful and have franchised out all over the place down here However that very first ace hardware nearly went bankrupt in the first couple of years and ace almost threw in the towel Left in the hands of local Latin managers the place just fell apart It didn't take long for it to turn into a dirty scruffy ace hardware that would never have passed muster up in the states The franchise managers up in the first world couldn't really get it off the ground until they were able to figure out the Latin American
[10:25] mindset and how to deal with Latin Americans in middle management positions The same thing happened with Sears and Office Depot and Costco They came down in a very small way and nearly crashed and burned too in the first couple of years until they figured out how To you could say manage the managers So anyway, the word on the street down here in Latin America is that Citibank is not telling the half of it They're reporting officially close to a half a billion dollars in fraud in their Mexican unit alone But the word is there could be ten times as much They're not talking about because that would be the kiss of death for the stock price, but who knows? So what's my take on the shakeup that's happening with Citibank right now in Latin America? Well couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of ass wipes. Okay moving on now
[11:14] I just like to lay a little Latin culture on you. I'm sure you never heard before This one was a new one on me, too. The other day I was speaking to a Latin American grade school teacher and By the way down here, you only need a two-year degree to teach. How's that? Anyway, this lady does not speak English and she's taught at some low-end cheap private schools But mostly she's made a career out of teaching in the truly pathetic bottom-of-the-barrel Latin American public schools You know the ones with the broken windows and the leaky roofs in the bathrooms without water, etc, etc Here's what she told me that made me laugh I asked her about corporal punishment in the grade schools in Latin America and she said yes It's always been understood that you could apply corporal punishment to a kid if you deem it necessary
[12:00] I found out from her parents surely won't complain because down here It's still an awful lot like it was 30 or 40 years ago in the states when Teachers were kind of on a pedestal and got a lot of respect from parents and kids So in that respect the lag time effect down here is all in the Latin teachers favor And down here she said and she's been teaching about 30 years She said essentially the teacher is always right and if the kids a bully or a disruptive influence in class or whatever There's no bigger embarrassment to the family than to have the teacher or the principal call mom and dad in for a consult And by the way about respect for teachers up in the first row I'm sure you'd agree that rarely exists anymore up there. It's this spoiled brat kid
[12:47] That's always right and it's the teacher that needs the counseling, right? Anyway, this longtime Latin American public school teacher told me she's well aware that in those expensive private schools that pay teachers a lot more and require English by the way it's pretty much the reverse and the kids and their parents sort of run the schools and because those expensive private schools have adopted first world teaching formulas and Directly copy all the latest greatest trends and fads in teaching up in the first world Which by the way is a big selling point to gringo wanna be parents to have their kids go to a school like that That's pattern and copied directly from first world teaching methods No matter how ridiculous or far out they might seem when transferred down to Latin America to gringo
[13:35] wannabes and Latin social climbers anything first world is always better Which is why these so-called helicopter schools have a good percentage of gringo teachers there And why these schools market themselves as so-called clones of the first world progressive education system Yeah, right. That's working. Well up in the states, isn't it? Go ahead I dare you just ask a high school kid in Cleveland to point out Latin America on a map and I bet Two to one he points to someplace like Los Angeles, you know, LA Wait a minute. I guess he'd be half right then wouldn't he but we were talking about corporal punishment and discipline now Weren't we? Anyway, my teacher friend said in all her years teaching in public schools
[14:20] She never really had to haul off and hit anyone even though you get the very poorest in the lowest classes of kids there She says that in her experience the higher the socioeconomic class the less respect kids and parents have for teachers Again, that reminds me of what it was like 30 or 40 years ago back in the states But she did say on occasion She uses a rather popular age-old method of disciplining kids when they deserve it involving peer pressure and embarrassment Now if you remember up in the first world a long long time ago There was the practice of putting a kid in a corner and making a more a dunce cap Of course if you did that up in the first world today the teacher would be fired sued forced to go to Psychological counseling and probably end up on Oprah or doing a couple months in jail same difference, right?
[15:13] Well down here in Latin America It's still done and no one blows a gasket over it though It is done in a slightly different way instead of the kid wearing a dunce hat the bad boy It's almost always a boy By the way has to don a pair of long fake donkey or mule ears That's mule M-U-L-E. So then you might ask what's that all about? What's that signify in the Latin culture? Well, the longer you're down here the more often you'll hear that word Mula and not that old gangster slang for money either mula. I'm talking about mula Which is the Latin word for mule as in stubborn as a jackass or mula Same thing. So when you hear someone call another person a mula
[15:58] That means stupid or dumb or idiot or moron or all three So now a kid's being punished by sitting in the corner and looking like a mula Now as far as banding about that word mula yourself You can say it as a kind of a joke to someone You know really well a friend or a relative But you don't call anyone a mula that you don't know very well And especially not if you're an employer or the boss you should never call one of your employees a mula it's on par with calling someone an idiota, which is idiot or Tonto which means stupid don't go throwing that around with anyone. You don't know either Oh and for you real old-timers out there the word tonto means stupid And it's also the name of the Lone Ranger's trusty sidekick and for you real trivia buffs
[16:46] The name of the American Indian that played tonto or stupid was Jay Silverheels I wonder how that worked out for him when his Latin gardener found out Hmm and speaking about Latin American social and cultural differences Well, my buddy expat Eddie came down to Latin America about five years after I landed and you know when I first met him I thought he was truly bilingual Because you know I saw him sitting on the couch in the middle of a Latin party where no one spoke English At least none of the Latin American people there did and later on I was at the bar And I remember saying to Eddie, you know, I've been down here five years and my Spanish is still terrible Then I asked him I need you to help me out. You see that guy over there Can you walk over there with me and translate something and Eddie said who me you want me to translate?
[17:36] I don't speak Spanish Come on you were over there with that group of people laughing away and having a great old time I saw you you were all speaking Spanish then Eddie laughed and said so you fell for it, too Then he said I don't like to feel like a fool or an idiot down here I've been through that so in order to not appear totally inept I learned a handful of easy responses So when a Latin person talks to me or tries to get some out of me I'll play along as long as I can hoping to pick up a few tidbits here and there So then he told me in order to look like you're actually paying attention and getting some of the conversation You only have to learn three or four keywords in one phrase Then if you can keep a straight face at least for a while you get away with it
[18:24] Go ahead. He said it's fun when everybody speaks Spanish But you don't sit there with your thumb up your ass make a game out of it And when it's your turn to say something or there's a pregnant pause just say the word clado CL a ro which is a great neutral response to pretty much anything Someone says to you then you know expedite he says you can't just use clado all the time You got to mix in a few other words like for example in T endo That's in T endo Which sounds very much like the game Nintendo, but it's actually in T endo Which means I understand I get it and the third Latin filler word That works like a charm in a conversation when you don't know what the hell they're talking about is the word
[19:11] Verdad that's verdad V-e-r-d-a-d which basically means affirmative in English or that's right or Just like the previous word in T endo means I get it so Mixing those four words up here and there will keep you from looking like a dummy if that's your intent Then Eddie says after you got those four words down you can learn this one little phrase And that's it, then you've got your whole Spanish imposter skill set down and that little phrase is poor supuesto p-o-r s-u p-u-e-s-t-o Poor supuesto and note that it's two words poor supuesto which means in English of course Now if you slip in a few poor supuestos in the conversation
[19:59] You're not only agreeing with what they say whatever that is But you're in complete sympathy with them a kind of a verbal pat on the back So it's a compliment and a bonding thing that is as long as you say it with sincerity Now at first I thought Eddie was joking or screwing around with me But you know he was right learning that stuff's not a bad idea at all because as you start picking up little bits of Spanish You'll often get lost as soon as the next sentence comes by so you can inject a word or two like that Stopping the conversation for a moment to let your mind regroup and process What was just said before the next line comes which is great because your number one complaints gonna be that Latin folks talk way too fast
[20:44] So the key is if your Spanish really sucks is to act interested throw in a few kladdos or verdads or Intiendos or poor supuestos and soon enough if you're not too big of a mula, you'll catch on When by the way when it comes to that terrible a word that I hate awesome Did you know that Latins now have their own word for it? It had to come here, right? I mean, how long has the a word been around five ten years and I'm talking about the word Incredibly, that's incredibly Incredible in English, of course Latins have been beating that word to death for the last six months to a year Everything these days is incredibly You wouldn't believe it and because incredibly is no longer incredible enough. They've come up with super
[21:33] Incredibly now you might look at it this way The number of times a person says incredibly in a conversation is inversely proportional to their IQ Just like people up in the states who beat that a word to death In fact just the other day on a good morning Latin American show, you know, they copy that too They have mine every station one of the inane but very sexy hosts use that word Incredibly a total of eight times in a short five minute segment So anyway, that's where we're at with Latin American filler words on the street and in the media now Do remember if you're off the gringo tourist trail, like I recommend for everyone these days You really are eventually gonna have to learn some Spanish now You're a gringo. So even if your Spanish really sucks soon enough
[22:19] You'll be way too popular because every Latin will want to be your friend off the tourist trail having a gringo buddy or friend Constitutes bragging rights for any Latin, but you knew that already right now before we get off the subject of Latin filler words Eddie will freely admit That's how he kept the conversation going when he first met his girlfriend to be the way the story goes He was at a big free event a concert in San Salvador with the band manna now I'm sure you don't know this but the band manna ma na Was kind of what you might call the first Latin rock supergroup now That ain't saying much because Latin rock and Latin heavy metal, etc Really sucks again It's just pretty much a carbon copy of everything that's ever been done in rock and roll up in the first world
[23:06] Only it's in Spanish, of course with about a 10 or 20 year lag time But you knew that already right anyway for the uncritical uninformed and uninitiated down here The band manna is considered somewhat akin to the Latin version of the Beatles Which of course is blasphemy to anyone up from the first world, but you can't fight popular opinion It is what it is And the band manna in the 80s and 90s just happened to be the first Latin rock group to sell a million records Anyway, some years back expat Eddie was at a big stadium concert in San Salvador and at this concert event There were about five beautiful girls models dressed in white Tuxedos top hats and canes and tails Johnny Walker girls dressed just like Johnny Walker on the whiskey label
[23:58] They were giving away tiny free samples in the VIP VIP section And I might add that Eddie was pretty much the only gringo there He said which I'm quite sure is true Anyway, Eddie said he kept trying to make conversation with one of these beautiful Johnny Walker girls And though his Spanish really sucked every time she came around and offered him a little sample of Johnny Walker He'd say ah Jack Daniels muchas gracias and she'd say no No, señor Johnny Walker Johnny Walker and of course she caught on and always smiled So later he caught up with her during one of her breaks and started in with that Latin filler word bit with the clados And the verdans and the entiendos and the por su huestos But no not incredibly because that word wasn't popular yet
[24:47] Anyway, Eddie said believe it or not He was able to get her phone number and kind of set up a little date with her the very next day And the whole while she really did think he knew Spanish that he understood everything They were talking about at the concert the night before but on their first date she caught on that said Eddie says all it took was patience Persistence five Spanish filler words and the gringo advantage Alright, let's take an email now. This is from Brent Dear Johnny, I've only been on what you call the gringo tourist trail in Mexico of all places I know you don't agree with that But do tell me what's up with all those giant sized marble statues and bronze figures all over the place Seems like everywhere you go there's a dozen big bronze monuments usually heads
[25:37] And the odd giant statue of a guy riding a horse I know every culture has its heroes and its historic figures and such but I didn't recognize any of these guys Except some of these guys I know were popes. They have a thing for popes in Latin America, don't they? Can't mistake the funny hats I mean, come on. What's up with those gigantic expensive monuments to those Spanish conquistador dudes and stuff I mean, come on. They must cost a fortune I mean really what are those Mexican and Latin governments doing spending money on that crap what with all those Millions of potholes and the dirty tap water that runs only 12 hours a day. What's wrong with these people? It seems so obvious, but they don't get it. So adios from Mexico Johnny. Keep up the good work Brent Well, thanks for that Brent. Welcome to the wonders of Latin America
[26:24] Yeah, and I have to admit you go to any Latin American city Take a nice long walk through any one of their parks and there's a million of them If you're paying attention That's where you're gonna see the most outrageous bronze and stone pretentious statues That you've ever seen in your life and it's kind of a sick joke really Yep, if you're paying attention, you'll see a whole rogues gallery of famous Conquistadores and genocidal dictators. Remember these guys they honor are the ones that looted the country They killed or enslaved most of the indigenous people and stole all their land and the modern ones like Chavez were even worse And note the peculiar things about these statues the ones that are life-size always seem to have a head Vastly out of proportion to the rest of the body latin sculptors always seem to give these guys
[27:11] Hydrosophilic heads, maybe it's an inside joke The question is why don't you see that big headed effect in other cultures only in Latin America? Now there's a great master's thesis grad students everywhere first world and third world They're always looking for new and different social topics to dissect. Go ahead and run with it I'm sure no one's touched that one yet 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 don't forget to check out expatwisdom.com to sign up for your free reports on latin america See you next time. Nos vemos