#1081 – The Expat Files: Crime, Culture, and Controversy 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 as 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 back in the saddle again after a week in the jungle Oh and actually witnessed a robbery yesterday how about that as usual an idiot green gringo was flashing his bling a Stupid newbie and or tourist move for sure turns out in the big city yesterday a 50-something gringo on his wife

[00:48] We're getting out of a rental car rent a cars by the way Always stick out like sore thumbs down here now I didn't know the guy or gal, but I was about 20 feet away walking down the sidewalk Apparently there was something wrong with that car They pulled over right when I was walking on a pretty busy street in a nice neighborhood, too The guy popped the hood got out In fact, I was gonna walk over and see what the problem was maybe give my hand But before I could even make a move to snarky 20-somethings on a crappy rice-burning motorcycle pulled up Seemingly offering their help too and while the guy was bent over Looking down into the engine compartment the guy riding on the back of the bike reached out and ripped the guy's big-ass gold chain right off his neck and man They were off like a rocket the guy and the gal never saw it coming and you know

[01:34] It's a typical move here in Latin America. I hear about things like that all the time You've heard me talk about bad boys down here riding two on a motorcycle Just looking for stupid gringos foreigners and other dupes why because they know gringos and foreigners Don't wear cheap fake jewelry like the locals do they wear the real thing Oh, and by the way, this didn't happen in Guatemala City This happened in Panama City because I'm traveling right now But it happens in every medium and large city here in Latin America gringos with bling are easy pickings for bad boys on motorcycles Of course that mostly happens in crap neighborhoods But low-life guys on motorcycles will occasionally swoop through high-end business districts, too And though this might sound crude I have zero sympathy when that happens to people and when iPhones get stolen, too

[02:20] So I say if you must wear jewelry, where are the fake stuff? Oh, and by the way a few years ago I was in the Dominican Republic and you know The Russians are able to fly into the Dominican Republic without a visa It's one of the only Western countries that allow them to do so that's because the Dominican Republic is totally dependent on tourism They've got that fantastic beach strip and probably 200 all-inclusive hotels and resorts In fact, they've got their own international airport that just feeds the resorts and another International airport just for people flying into Santo Domingo the capital with 6 million people which practically has no tourism at all Though it is a fantastic place to see because they've got that historic district where Columbus first landed and became the governor And it's funny when you're walking through that area You see the bronze plaques on these old historic buildings saying things like this is where Columbus and his son

[03:10] Francisco lived and things like this is the house of the very first governor in all of the new world They've got bronze plaques on 400 year old buildings saying things like this is the site of the very first cathedral in the new world Etc. Etc. And most of that stuff is still standing and restored and kept up Of course, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site, but you see almost no gringo tourists. Sure There's a steady small trickle of European tourists, but North Americans. They don't care They're not interested in seeing that kind of stuff They'd rather go to the far south eastern side of the island about three or four hours by car away from the capital Santo Domingo and fly directly into the beaches and resorts. Do they have some fantastic beaches and resorts? Anyway, a couple of years ago I was in the historic district in Santo Domingo and I saw pretty much the same kind of robbery happen

[03:59] Now I mentioned the Russians have visa free travel to the Dominican Republic In fact, there are so many Russians coming in that the menus in the big hotels and restaurants in the beachside tourist districts are in English Spanish and Russian I've never seen that anywhere else in the world Why because it got so many Planeloads of Russians flying in directly from Moscow and st. Petersburg and of course it costs big money So a lot of those Russians are what you might call Russian mob characters or people who made their money in a sort of sketchy way and a good percentage of the Russian men are Completely tattooed up just like you see in the John Wick movies In fact, it seems like every shoot-em-up movie these days has a Russian mob character or two or ten So if you do come down to one of the Dominican Republic resorts

[04:45] You're gonna see those Russian characters with their beautiful blonde tall Russian wives or girlfriends again Because it's the only Western country in the world that allows Russians visa free travel. But where was oh, yeah Walking down the street a couple of years ago in Santo Domingo I was walking about 20 feet behind a big tall thick-chested Russian Tattooed guy built like an MMA wrestler accompanied by his tall blonde Russian wife or girlfriend Whatever and those Russians man, especially those tattoo clad ones Love wearing heavy gold chains around their necks and this guy and gals necks were both loaded down with the stuff So we're walking down the main pedestrian drag in Santo Domingo called el Conde the historic district that place just loaded with historic buildings

[05:31] I was mentioning before so anyway We're walking up to one of the corners on el Conde where cars are allowed to pass through and sure enough two snarky guys And a crappy rice-burning motorcycle pulled up and the guy riding on the back ripped the chains right off the girls neck and the Russian guy Man, it was the funniest thing to see he instantly twisted his right hand around to the middle of his back suddenly realizing his gun Wasn't there because obviously you can't take your guns with you on vacation in a foreign country But it seems so natural a move just like a Russian bad guy in the movies I had to think man This guy's not a nice guy either Then the both of them the guy and girl started shouting things in Russian throwing their hands up in the air and within two or three Minutes poly tour a tourist cop walked over and then it got even more confusing because Russian tourists don't know how to speak Spanish

[06:18] I learned that a long time ago when I was at one of those resorts in Punta Cana I asked the waiter when I first came across a menu that was in English Spanish and Russian. I said why Russian? Why bother? Well, that's when he told me that a huge amount of business is done with Russians And he said almost none of them speak Spanish In fact, he said all the big hotels and resorts have a Russian speaking concierge on duty because it's absolutely necessary And Google Translate from Russian to Spanish is exceedingly crappy. Oh, and by the way I totally understood why the guys on that rice burner took her jewelry instead of his because he was no guy to mess with Oh and when the tourist cop came up I stood there and interpreted a little bit for him because the Russian girls spoke some English and the tourist cop who spoke no English He said Russian tourists are huge targets for just that kind of crime because they love to wear that gold jewelry and the bad boys

[07:08] All know they don't wear fake stuff. It's real and the moral of the story Well, you know the moral of the story leave the real stuff at home In fact, don't even tempt them with the fake stuff because you know wherever gringos and expats are in Latin America They have a reputation of having money at least enough money to travel around the world and that means is practically guaranteed They don't wear cheap jewelry. Oh, and that reminds me I see so many gringa expats and gringa tourists taking videos pictures and selfies with their expensive colorful iPhones And those bad guy thieves on bikes always have an eye out for gringos with expensive iPhones, too If you were a bad guy, wouldn't you and it's funny I run into lots of gringo couples where the wife has a high-end iPhone and a guy has a mediocre run-of-the-mill couple-year-old Samsung Android

[07:55] Well, I gotta tell you if you have an Android phone You're much less likely to be a target and you know iPhone prides itself on a certain kind of look you can spot I'm a block away right plus you can get him in all those candy colors, too They're so obvious and the moral there well, you know the moral of that story, too In fact in my own case, I have a Samsung. I think it's model 3j or something like that It's at least five years old works fine. In fact, I even bought it used I think was 60 bucks had a used phone store here In fact, sometimes I wish somebody would steal it You long-time listeners heard me tell the story of the last time I had a phone stolen here in Latin America It was way back in the flip phone days. I'd say it was about in the year 1999 practically pre-internet. All right now for some interesting emails. This one's from chick he says hello Johnny as always thanks so very much for all your time energy and entertainment a

[08:44] Quick request though for that report you spoke of a while back regarding dog vaccinations. Would you please send it to me? All right, me Johnny. Yeah, I just did chick. You should have it by now by the way for all you listeners out there I have a very good report pointing out how people continuously Over vaccinate their dogs to the point of illness even premature death again all because 95% of the vets out there believe all the blurbs and advertisements big vet Pharma Bombards them with and all the free samples, of course, man does that sound familiar, huh? In fact, you'll find if you look at this report which was put together by a group of very concerned vets and vet researchers Who seen what the dog vaccination industry is turned into just another case of follow the money So anyway, that report tells you exactly what vaccinations your dog should get and should not get with heavy emphasis on the fact

[09:36] That some in fact most all vaccinations are only required once in a dog's life Not every six months or a year. So for all you mud owners out there You really need this report send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and I'll ship it right off to you Oh and another thing the report stresses is that people are giving their dogs Vaccinations way too early in their lives, which according to this report sets them up for loads of trouble as they age All right back to chicks email Should mention that chick and his wife and family are homesteaders out in the boonies of Ecuador You might remember he sent an email a while back talking about how he rescued some cats That an owner tried to kill he put him in a plastic bag and threw him on the side of the road Anyway, he says Johnny for the record all of our buildings. I built using hand tools. No generator

[10:21] No electricity at all as a result. I'm sporting a weak case of tennis elbow So I recently bought a lovely acoustic guitar to keep me busy The wife and I are having a blast playing and singing during my recovery But unfortunately playing kind of hurts my elbow to can't win for trying Johnny, but we're having loads of fun today, though I'm in town getting my nearest neighbors five kilometers away Getting their cat Spade poor thing keeps getting pregnant all the time Spangs the only solution though. I keep hoping when I get into the nearest town I find out humanity has wised up and the criminals behind the fear-mongering have been strung up by their toes Mussolini style on that note Johnny. I bid you a fine farewell, sir many. Thanks chick in Ecuador Hmm. I think when he referred to being strung up Mussolini style

[11:09] He was talking about the whole co-videa thing and fake news Falsy gates and all those power-hungry jerks now speaking how terribly ridiculous this stuff is a listener Just sent me a copy of a bill HR 49 80 That's speeding its way through the House of Representatives right now And if it passes it directs the Secretary of Homeland Security To ensure that every individual traveling on a flight that departs from or arrives to an airport Inside the US or a territory of the US it will require all travelers to be fully vaccinated Against Covid and the idiot author of this stupid bill Representative Torres of New York where else it should be he and all the sponsors of this bill who should be strung up by

[11:55] Their toes like Mussolini and to think George Orwell thought he was just a fiction writer and in the end He turned out to be clairvoyant. All right, speaking of big pharma medicine and animals Comes this email from Fred He says hey Johnny. I really liked your Ivermectin hydrochloroquine information and your attitude about it So crazy that so many people died and are dying without need Just wanted to mention that here in the states There is one other option than getting the somewhat expensive meds from online doctors. Most people don't know Ivermectin paste for horses is sold by veterinary supply places It may seem strange and hazardous but in general medicines developed for animals are as pure as those for humans All right me Johnny here. Let me stop and comment on that

[12:41] You know over the years I've been told the same thing by many vets who occasionally use Veterinary drugs for their families and themselves in fact up in Chicago I had a couple of friends who owned race horses and greyhound dogs that would race at the dog track I was invited to watch them race many times and I'd go down to the stables and kennels and talk to the vets They were always shooting them up with something and the vets said the very same thing The same purity and sanitary standards apply to both human and veterinary medicines, too In fact many times they're made at the same production facilities though almost everyone believes somehow veterinary medicines have lower standards It's just not true In fact one vet told me that belief comes from the fact that people judge everything in the veterinary world by the canned and dry Dog and cat food example

[13:26] They know how gross that stuff looks and smells But as preppers and survivalists will tell you if all else fails in the systems go down dog food will keep you going with all The necessary vitamins and minerals and is actually a far side better than any fast food that a good percentage of the human Population is addicted to right now though. The cliche is true No one wants to go into the factory and see how the sausage is made But those dog and cat food plants are just like hamburger patty and hot dog factories If the labels on the boxes and cans were removed the average person taking a tour wouldn't know the difference But for sure either way he'd be disgusted I should know I went through the Oscar Mayer Wiener factory up in Chicago when I was a kid and I'll never forget the image Indelibly burned into my mind that before the hot dogs were packaged

[14:14] They were pure white like sticks of lard with the last step in the process being Dipped into a vat of pinkish red dye to make us think they are actually made out of red meat What a miserably enlightening experience that was anyway Fred continues in his email talking about ivermectin paste for horses He says it may be called ivermectin paste, but more commonly it's called by a brand name Dura Mectin if you search Dura Mectin paste for horses anywhere including Amazon You'll find plenty of the stuff for sale although I think it's generally cheaper to look online for veterinary supplies directly Prices range from about 5 bucks to 15 bucks a tube in fact Johnny. I just ordered 12 tubes for 59 bucks It's not actually a tube But rather a plastic syringe that is made so you can squirt it directly into the horse's mouth as it happens horses are dosed for worms

[15:04] At the same dose humans take for Covid 200 micrograms per kilogram weight and the syringe Contains enough for a 1250 pound horse, so it's not too hard to calculate if you're interested I can explain exactly how to set up using a cheap digital scale again from Amazon or other places which costs about 13 bucks for the battery that seems to last forever by the way Johnny I got faxed about four months ago for peer and family pressure reasons, but before that I was taking ivermectin regularly And with the Delta scare I've started taking it again anyway Johnny. Love you work keep it up signed Fred all right Fred Thanks for that Fred. Let me do a little calculation here if a horse weighs 1,250 pounds and they get the same dose of ivermectin as humans do 200 micrograms per kilogram and a syringe contains enough for a

[15:53] 1,250 pound horse so a 1,250 pound horse weighs 568 kilograms you know pounds divided by 2.2 and since one of those syringes has 200 micrograms per kilograms if you multiply that times 568 you've got about a hundred 14 milligrams of ivermectin in one tube and for humans the average treatment dose is divided over five days So one syringe is just about right for a whole human treatment of five days because the daily dosage of ivermectin for humans that is it is from 18 to 22 milligrams a day and if you divide that out into the 116 milligrams in a tube that gives you slightly over five days So as Fred says you can use one tube for a human just break it down into five doses

[16:39] One per day now am I recommending you do that well I'm just providing information here telling you what certain gringles and expats are prone to do the thing is though if you get ivermectin online legally Through the steps I mentioned in a previous show it'll cost you around 150 bucks Versus 59 bucks as Fred says for 12 tubes That's 12 separate complete human treatments if you get it from the veterinary supply house So if it's just about the price you're getting it for a tiny fraction compared to getting it the legal authorized way Through a doctor's prescription and all that by the way, there's nothing illegal about taking veterinary medicines I mean really if you look at some of the medicines, they give dogs cats, etc They take the same basic ones humans do especially with antibiotics like penicillin erythromycin Tetracycline the works and vets will tell you it's the same quality impurity as the human stuff only when vets buy it

[17:30] It's a hell of a lot cheaper though It's debatable whether they pass that savings on to you because I know some people who spend more at the vet for their pets Then their own visits at the human doctor back in the states. I knew a lot of people who are stuck in that trap All right. Now, let's talk about a country Guatemala. That's got only four percent of the people vaxxed funny though The emergency rooms are not filled and it seems only the woke gringos and first-world NGOs and do-gooders were riling up the masses Causing all the ruckus. So on that note, we'll read an email from a friend up in Mexico. Oh, haka Oh haka Bob He says and I'll paraphrase this a bit Guatemala's 4% vax rate seems to imply at least at this point to a much lower infection and die-off rate there as Contrasted to the more heavily vax spots in Latin America. Bob says in my region here in

[18:19] industrially B9 Oh haka with its heavy indigenous population We are much less vax than the rest of Mexico to to the point that Mexico's president has now decreed a national policy to use Various governmental agencies to go out in the compo in the boonies in the less vax regions and get that vax rate up But it seems to me from a boots on the grounds perspective that it was 95% lip service Anyway, from what I see as a failing bankrupt important state There's not any such mobilization to speak of in this area Oh haka though I predict when the vaccine supplies do arrive then they're mostly the Chinese ones By the way, the ignorant locals will indeed eagerly line up, especially when it's free and they give incentives Then he says back to the point

[19:04] Guatemala just to the south of us in Oh haka is going to be a rather benign spot compared to even here this winter when vax overreactions to new coronavirus exposures appear as Dr. Lee merit former Navy surgeon posits in the above linked interview and he includes it here Dr. Merritt says the cancers and heart issues related to the vax may surpass the vaccine related secondary effects We're seeing now in short We may be looking at a future where the medical facilities are overrun not to covet itself But the secondary effects of the vax so we me and the wife are hunkering down and getting ready here And God help the folks up north who are in the true vax to impact zones He says I know in the end. There's a lot of speculation at this point, but I tend to favor acting overreacting

[19:50] It's always best to think ahead though Not to the point of letting fear rule your lifestyle choices fact is me and mine are in two choices But here's south of the border to cower in fear and not enjoy every day best wishes from Oaxaca State Oaxaca Bob. All right. Thanks for that Bob And one of the reasons I read that is because you're absolutely right about how out in the boonies here in Latin America Almost no one's getting vax In fact under pressure from first world governments the local Latin American governments are panicking with government puss heads in The news spouting that same rhetoric that Mexico's president's been bleeding about every day They're doubling and tripling down on efforts to get the vax to the people out in the hinterlands Well, let me tell you Bob with Guatemala's vax rate at around 4% The same thing is happening

[20:35] In fact the government's even got uber in the act and in some cases not only will they give you a free ride back to The vax site they'll give you a bonus and uber discount and local funny money, too if you don't believe me a good friend and a friend of the show and Seminar repeater offender Jennifer sent this notice she received from uber it's in Spanish and I'll translate here But it's really ironic and I'll tell you why in a second again The title of this message from uber is let's vaccinate together in Guatemala No joke how happy and upbeat that does sound huh? Anyway get this I'm translating for Spanish. It says dear Jennifer We want mobility not to be a barrier for Guatemalans to get vaccinated That's why we had uber have added Guatemala to our global commitment to facilitate discounted trips through our uber app and today We will want to tell you that we have a special promotion for you until October 11 2021

[21:25] You'll get up to 32 quetzales That's about five bucks off two trips to and from your vaccination center by just entering this promotional Uber code into the app site. It's uber bacuna's GT that says your promotional code includes a trip with up to 32 quetzales discount to go to your vaccination center and another with up to 32 quetzales around five bucks discount for the return available where the uber app is active as In Quetzaltenango in Guatemala City and others Then it says the promotional code applies only to trips that begin or end in the authorized Vaccination centers in the cities where uber app is available hmm, so there you have it now I wonder if you'll be able to sue uber when those nasty secondary effects start piling up

[22:11] Guess we'll have to see about that time will tell now if that isn't crazy enough Here's the irony remember we mentioned that only 4% of Guatemalans are vaccinated Well, the other 90 plus percent are mostly indigenous people indigenous people who have never ever Used uber before and don't even have the app. They don't even know what it is So again to me it looks like it's all about the money a way to get indigenous people who've never used Uber before and don't even know what the hell it is or how to download the app to try it by getting a free trip To the vax center to do that of course We'll have to download the app that they've never heard of and once it's on their phone They'll be bombarded with offers and promotions You know the usual internet garbage and spam and some of them even if it's a very small percentage who can afford it We'll become uber customers by the way in all my years down here in Latin America

[22:56] I've never seen an indigenous person You know with the indigenous stress and all that getting it in or out of an uber unless accompanied by the upscale Lady of the house who they're either working for as a maid or nanny indigenous people are chicken bus people That's it cuz it's cheap So believe me uber is not offering free rides to back centers out of the goodness of their heart It's all about capturing an untapped market on another thing a very large percentage of indigenous people live out in the boonies Where there's no uber service at all so that 90 plus percent of the population that has not been faxed We'll never even know or hear about that promotion good thing, too, huh? So just like on the boonies of Mexico, there's a huge push to get people faxed, but it's mostly lip service So again in this case It's to the public's advantage to have lazy lard ass unmotivated bureaucrats in charge of enforcement though in contrast to first world places like Australia where they've locked down the population

[23:48] So tight that you can't even walk outside without risking a huge fine So in lunatic fashion, they've got a whole list of new Orwellian rules that will be enforced I'd like to thank Andres expat insider seminar alumnus for sending me this summary of the Draconian rules in place in Australia right now number one police can enter anyone's home without a warrant number to curfew every day is 8 p.m Number three there's a sixteen hundred dollar fine if you're outside of your home without a valid reason number four You cannot visit any family or friends number five It's a two hundred dollar fine if you're not wearing a mask inside and outside at all times Number six you can only exercise one time per day for up to one hour number seven only one person in a household per day

[24:33] May leave the house for example to get groceries or go to the pharmacy number eight weddings are now illegal number nine Number nine gatherings of any size are illegal ten You cannot travel more than three miles from your house 11 if you live in an apartment complex where units have a balcony you are not allowed to sit on your own balcony 12 if you live in a house with a porch you cannot sit on it or on your own back patio You must stay inside at all times 13 cars on the road will have their license plates checked by police and if they're more than three miles from home The car will be stopped the driver pulled over arrested and the car impounded 14 citizens are encouraged to call a hotline number to snitch on others 15 unvaxed children will be taken from their homes without parent supervision and herded into stadiums to be vaccinated

[25:23] All right, me Johnny again, you know in first world countries They enforce the law no matter how stupid Regressive and contrary to human nature it is and to think years ago when I was a young adult watching Crocodile Dundee movies me and so many other of my friends thought Down Under would be a great place to live work play and or Do business man were we wrong? Oh, and by the way, isn't it a coincidence that Australia has one of the most stringent gun control laws Of all so-called free democratic countries. What a joke Yeah, you know the story the first step take away their guns Hitler Mussolini Mao Lenin Stalin Castro Chavez and that fat boy from North Korea whose name I can't always pronounce exactly What are they all got in common besides being failed socialist states early on the first thing they did was take away the rights of their

[26:09] Citizens to only guns because believe me in the case of Australia those Aussies are tough You think they'd let their government get away with what they're doing right now if guns were legal I mean really you can't exactly take to the streets to fight a protest against your government's totally ludicrous Unjust actions if all you've got is pots pans and kitchen knives Oh, and of course strict gun control has already come to Canada and Europe and you can count on the fact that the woke crowd Will get ready your gun rights in the states shortly, too, man Am I glad I live here in Latin America own one last thing Have you noticed in all that footage in the news coming out of Afghanistan? Not one of those tens of thousands of gun-toting Taliban guys running through the streets is wearing a mask and Social distancing is like two inches. So it'll meet this Batman. Where are all the COVID victims?

[26:57] Why aren't the streets just littered with dead COVID bodies? You might say the US is getting their comeuppance karma or payback if you believe in that You know, it's Mark Twain that said you get the government you deserve because you voted for and as for dr Falsy, I can't even stand looking at his ugly lying prune-faced mug anymore If there's anyone in this world that needs a good waterboarding Well come to think of it. So does Gates Sucketerred Soros the Clintons the bushes and Kissinger they're on that short list too, but I digress as usual Hmm, where were we we're supposed to be talking about Latin America, right? 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. No spamos