#1399 – The Expat Files: Navigating Mediocrity, Crime, and Solar Power 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-pad 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 Let's start with a pretty harsh question. This is from Iggy He says Johnny the way I see it and I've been to Latin America a number of times Latinos seem to thrive in mediocrity Everything they do is sort of average sort of mediocre or even a cut below that

[00:47] The way they do things almost everything would never pass muster up in the first world or would be simply mediocre Question is do Latinos know their mediocre? He says I hate to start out an email with a criticism, but that's a question. I've always asked myself Don't get me wrong Johnny. I love it in Latin America I wouldn't think of living anywhere else and the mediocrity of the culture in general well That's kind of been tearing like having a 17 year old kid around the house asking him to cut your lawn Do your gardening or paint something? You just know it's not gonna get done the way you'd do it yourself But it will get done. So you get used to it. You accept it. You can't change it I guess unless you're seriously gonna build a house or start a business in that case

[01:35] Mediocre just doesn't cut it with me signed longtime listener Iggy Mmm, Iggy. Yeah after being down here in Latin America so many years myself I can see how you think that way believe me though you get used to it after a while It doesn't bother you Except again like you say if it's something that's close to your own heart like building a business or a house, etc Funny you should mention it though. There's a Venezuelan author a famous guy. His name is Carlo Rangel Now I don't suppose a single person listening to this show has ever read a book by a Venezuelan author Or any Latin American author for that matter. I mean very few of the books get translated into English I'd say 99% tone, which is almost none. Anyway a while back. He wrote a book called the Latin Americans

[02:22] Right up early, right? And here's what he said which relates directly to Iggy's question He says the most notable feature of Latin America is its failures They just can't seem to do anything 100% right sloppy always missing a detail or two when they construct a building it's missing some nails When they're mixing concrete, they're always a bag short of cement when they assemble a stove in a factory here It's missing a screw Always minus a few details always at best mediocre. So sloppy is a good word It's like everyone's trying to get the work done, but no one's doing their best. I Don't get it Johnny. Everyone talks about how Latinos who come to the States Anyway are such hard workers and they are I've seen it if they'd only work a little less harder and pay more attention

[03:11] Maybe that would solve the problem Alright Iggy. Thanks for that. We were discussing that very thing on last week's show about painters here in Latin America And if you're a frequent visitor down here to Latin America, you'll see that he's right. You'll also notice something strange There aren't certain hotels stores tien des restaurants, etc That are absolutely first world in most all respects which makes you think well some Latinos have it, right? They've somehow learned to do things the first world away Well, I'll tell you if you dig a little deeper, you'll find the best hotels stores tien des restaurants Almost always are owned or operated by first world foreigners That's the dirty little secret about Mediocrity in Latin America. That's also why first world foreigners gringles and expats, etc

[03:59] Flourish in business down here, even if they themselves are mediocre Expedited he'll tell you a mediocre person up in the States is a cut above when he comes down here case in point Expat Eddie says who expat Eddie it's like what I've been saying for years now the definition of middle-class here in Latin America is lower middle class up in the States a middle-class salary in the States is considered wealthy even rich here in Latin America an Upscale or even luxury home here in Latin America has considered pretty much the standard issue up in the States Now I know what you're thinking sometimes you'll land in a very nice fancy hotel here in Latin America It's got everything all the details you're used to in place and you'll find it's owned and operated by 100% Latinos. Well chances are if you dig a little deeper, you'll find those Latinos are from Spain

[04:48] They speak the same language, but there's a big difference culturally. They're not Latin American Latinos, but Latinos from Spain man I'll tell you there's a ton of very successful businesses throughout Latin America owned and operated by Latinos who are from Spain And you might remember Spain is a first world country that makes all the difference That means first world construction first world detail first world values Oh, and you can't help but notice a lot of first world clothing and fast food franchises down here. They're identical It's as if you closed your eyes and we're in that same franchise back home in Cleveland. You might wonder why how did they do that? American and foreign franchises our first world then their homegrown franchises are ratty and constantly deteriorating

[05:35] The question is why why because they have to maintain those first world American standards or lose their franchise rights In fact, I told the story probably seven or eight years ago on this show about three expat gringle friends of mine Who bought the Harley Davidson franchise for all of Guatemala now do note they weren't the first ones in That Harley Davidson franchise existed for probably ten years previously Now before my three buddies ever got control of it It was owned by a Latino a 20 something rich Latino kid barter Well really wasn't him his dad had all the money and you know what happens down here if your dad's mega wealthy Owns pineapple sugar or banana plantations when is entitled and generally useless kids grow up

[06:21] Dad says you can either work for me and do nothing until you die then you inherit the thing Either way you have to stay busy. So if you're bored, I'll buy you a business Rich Latino dads often say to their kids pick one that you like or a franchise or something. I'll buy one for you Well, that's just what happened with the first Harley Davidson franchise in Guatemala City back in the 90s A rich dad bought the franchise for his entitled kid And you know what it was in one of the nicest sections of downtown Guatemala City Went in there a few times myself way back when Anyway, like any American franchise that branches out to a foreign country The home office keeps closed tabs on the place They have to keep up the standards and you know in a case of Harley franchises They'll actually send a guy down at least once a year walk through the place checks things out go through the books

[07:09] Anyway, one day Harley pulled the franchise on the guy. He didn't have what it takes. He didn't have it in his blood He was just a lazy ass And my three gringle buddies saw an ad in the yellow pages of the biggest newspaper in Guatemala I saw that ad too I used to read that paper all the time and since Harley's had been sold through that dealership They had to keep it open, you know for parts and maintenance and stuff and new sales. So they put out feelers That's how my three gringle buddies got together and picked up the franchise and man within three or four years They turned it into a huge success. In fact, they sponsored my Latin American radio program for a couple of years Until get this Harley pulled the franchise on them Why not lack of detail or professionalism because one of those three partners was embezzling dough

[07:58] things were disappearing inventory going out the door without sales receipts and the Harley accountants up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin caught that now I don't know all the details, but I knew the guy that bezler Just disappeared one day with his Guatemalan wife and the other two guys the guys left hole in the bag had plenty of egg On their faces. Plus they were out at least 50 grand apiece. So do they hold a grudge man? Do they hold a grudge? They'd like to get a hold of that guy It's bad when you get ripped off like that But it's especially painful when your own buddy stabs you in the back and just disappears Alright moving on remember in the last show I was talking about living in Mexico in a gated guarded community that there is a chance That you just might be living in a neighborhood with a narco or two

[08:46] Hey, they got though they can afford it and some of them have a little class and education and they want to live in a nice Neighborhood too, right? Well that little boots on the ground story I told last show about that narco living in a regular nice gated guided community Well, apparently that story hit a nerve with one of our listeners up in Mexico who's also living in a gated guarded community Well, he told me a story that I'd never heard before but makes sense He said it's always been pretty normal for his gardener or cleaning lady to hit him up for an advance on their salary Especially when the holidays come around or one of their kids has a birthday or something He said in his case, they don't make a habit of it But once in a while they'll wait around when they're supposed to leave work and say can I talk to you for a second?

[09:35] Could you please advance me? 200 300 or 500 pesos then deduct it from my salary for the next month or two Well, the gringle guy wrote me saying suddenly the cleaning lady was asking for more and more advances till Finally, she broke down and told him why turns out in Mexico Narcos have infiltrated all levels of society and they're now Exstarting cleaning ladies man. How low can you go? Specifically cleaning ladies who work in gated guarded communities. They're perfect targets too because you see every morning chicken buses and such will pull up in front of the guard shack at a wealthy subdivision and a cluster of cleaning ladies will jump off The bus sometimes in uniform ready for a day's work at their perspective houses

[10:22] So the narcos know they're working for people with money because you know down here in Latin America, whether it's Mexico Guatemala Salvador Argentina you can't afford to live in a gated guarded community on a regular base salary down here You live in one of those communities. You're considered upper-middle even a member of the wealthy class So it's simple for the narcos. They just ride the bus and tell the cleaning ladies They have to fork up or else the gringo Emailer says that kind of extortion is so common in Mexico now most every cleaning lady has heard of it Or is being extorted on a regular basis So what does that mean for gringos and expats you might be living in Mexico right now living the high life in a nice Beautiful gated guarded community thinking you're insulated from all that narco bullshit and rumors you've been hearing

[11:10] You're thinking not in my town not my Beautiful gated guarded community that's happening elsewhere where there are no gringos and expats in the boonies were the locals Well far far away from me Well, here's the thing lowlife narcos live and operate in the body Oh, you know the low-class neighborhoods and that's exactly where your cleaning lady live and of course your maintenance guy if you have one So it's true your gated guarded community might be as secure as a bank vault But don't think the narcos haven't got their tentacles around your neighborhood via your maintenance guy and cleaning lid So bottom line, I hate to give you another piece of bad news about Mexico But remember this show is called the expat files living in Latin America Oh, and by the way, if my cleaning lady or ever told me a story like that, I'd be shit-scared, especially if I had a wife and kids

[12:00] I mean look if you're a single guy, it's pretty easy to just pick up and leave sell your place rent it Whatever, you know, the greater fool theory prevails, especially with green gringos and expats But when you've got a wife and kids man, it's complicated Speaking of Mexico, here's more good news. According to Reuters federal congressman to Mexico was assassinated late on Monday on Mexico's Gulf Coast's state of Veracruz By the way, the guy was a high-ranking member of Mexico's green party, man I don't care if you're a member of Mexico's green blue or polka dot party Being a politician in Mexico is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world So then why do thousands of Mexicans run for political office? Because it's a way for any shit for brain ass to become ridiculously wealthy. It's the corruption man the graph

[12:47] By the way, if you haven't been keeping up dozens of politicians have been killed ahead of last June's general election in Mexico You know watching this play out. It's very easy to see which politicians in Mexico are not working with the cartels They're the ones that end up in a slab at the funeral home By the way, this guy died the usual way in Mexico a couple of gunshots to the head. Wait a minute. Wait a minute There's an answer here somewhere. I got it. Let's ban guns in Mexico. Oh Yeah, right. They did that already about 20 some years ago Meanwhile back in the states according to Pew Research data on crime statistics in US cities turns out based on AI analysis of a variety of crime statistics The US banking and lending

[13:34] Associations have put out a list of the 10 most dangerous cities in the US where you should never buy a home No matter the price even if they give it to you for free. Have you seen this list? It just came out number 10 on that list Kansas City, Missouri By the way, the Pew researchers also calculated a per capita cost of crime throughout the major cities of the United States And in the case of Kansas City, Missouri number 10 on that list of where never to buy a house the per capita crime cost for every person living there is six thousand three hundred ninety eight dollars per year as Compared with per capita crime cost in a nation's safest large city of Irvine, California Which has a crime cost of only three hundred and sixty four dollars per person per year to put it another way

[14:23] If you live in Kansas City, Missouri You're 17 times more likely to be a victim of crime than you are in Irvine, California 17 times number nine the ninth city according to Pew research and the banking and finance people We should never buy a house at any cost even if you get a free one. It's Cleveland, Ohio average crime cost per capita if you live there 7397 bucks number seven Little Rock, Arkansas number six Baltimore number five Which is kind of a surprise Memphis Tennessee with a per capita crime cost if you're living there 9,056 bucks a year number five figured this would be up there Detroit formerly known as the Motor City even Motown got the hell out number four st. Louis, Missouri

[15:08] average crime cost per capita if you happen to be Unfortunate enough to be living there is eleven thousand fifty five dollars a year number two, New Orleans Number one according to crime and banking stats the worst city in the United States to buy a home You shouldn't even take it if you get it for free is Birmingham, Alabama With the average per capita crime cost of eleven thousand three hundred ninety two dollars if you happen to be living there Did you pick that city for number one? I didn't I thought maybe Chicago or Milwaukee? Oh well to put it another way if you're living in the safest city in the US Irvine You're thirty one times less likely to be a victim of crime than if you lived in Birmingham Now all they have to do is come up with an equivalent list for Latin American cities, huh?

[15:55] But since there isn't one You can use the simple method I use as to whether you should or shouldn't buy a house in a particular Latin American city Actually, my method narrows in on neighborhoods Which in a lot of ways is even better my rule of thumb is to always live in a gated gathered community or if you're out In the boonies home setting on your own first thing you do is load Google Maps man I hate Google and everything about it But they do have a Google Maps and it's practically the only tool you could use if you're pulling up Satellite or aerial shot of a neighborhood anywhere in the world Anyway, you locate the gated guarded community or any place you're considering living in Latin America pull up the aerial map the satellite shot zoom in and Check out the location of the nearest slum or barrio Those are your dense pockets of poverty where there's lots of trash and rats nests of wires hanging from power poles people

[16:46] Hawking things everywhere in the street push carts everywhere because you see if there's any bad guys are no good next living close by They'll be living in that neighborhood So my suggestion is you never want to live close by to one of those neighborhoods or let's put it this way You don't want to walk your dog outside your gated guarded community and have to pass through or walk nearby one of those beat-up low-end neighborhoods and definitely You don't want to have one of those neighborhoods budding up against the perimeter wall of your gated guided community I've seen a lot of those not recommended beautiful house is a stones throw away over a fence or a wall From a chicken bus terminal for example funny thing too wealthy Latinos don't seem to care about stuff like that But they really should now the thing is if you live nearby one of those barrios you might not have any trouble at all

[17:32] However, if you're like me Pessimist on the direction the world is going like you're thinking it's never gonna get better only worse what happens if the country you're living in does take an economic hit a Turn for the worst that'll just lengthen the gap between the halves and have knots And if they have nots are living right across the wall from your gated guarded community Well, who do you think they're gonna target when their electricity and water goes out 12 hours a day Like it's doing right now in Ecuador Ecuador, by the way is having the largest crime wave in its history But you knew that already right? Oh and speaking of Ecuador, you know You hear me talk all the time about people who moved down to a country like Ecuador because it's dirt cheap Most are gringos generally living on a fixed budget like a simple social security check

[18:18] Yes, they heard it's really cheap down there and they've heard the national health care system really works even for gringos They heard it's practically free Highly rated and they allowed gringos to get on it least according to rags like international living Well, you longtime listeners have heard me say how wrong that idea is in fact Here's a little excerpt from one of the biggest rags in South America El Mercudio this article in Spanish came out on the 9th of December just a week ago I'll hit the highlights for you. It says Why are representatives of kidney dialysis clinics in Ecuador meeting every day outside of the government's financial office in Quito It's the demand payment from the government which happens to be 18 months in arrears 18 months

[19:06] It goes on to point out the Ministadio de Salud publica. The Minister of Public Health owes a hundred Million dollars to the hundred-plus kidney dialysis clinics throughout Ecuador It says Christina Farrier spokesperson for the Association of dialysis in Ecuador Reports the non-payment situation is putting clinics in a critical situation with many centers ready to close She said they need to be paid for at least the last five months which could keep them running until the beginning of 2025 She said that nationally there are 120 such dialysis centers with eight of them having closed just last week due to lack of payment She reports 20 more will close by the end of December. All right meet Johnny here again

[19:53] So then what are kidney dialysis patients within the system supposed to do just die? What about gringo's on dialysis in Ecuador? The real question is she says where's the money? It was allocated in last year's budget. Mmm. So what do you think? I think knowing Latin American politicians All the money's been stolen So then all you gringo and gringo retirees and soon to be retired up in the states Are you still thinking about having that plan be in Latin America based on the fact that their national health care systems are so good Yeah, that's what you've heard, right? I hear those rumors all the time, too Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador their national health care systems are according to many expat rags and blogs Quite stellar. Yeah, right until you actually come down and enroll in those things

[20:41] Anyway, just another heads up another warning news You'll never hear about if you're living up in the states if you're talking about private health care and insurance programs That's another thing all together. They're generally quite good Then again always remember anything the government does starts out with good intentions, but eventually turns to shit But you knew that already, right? Well, I hope so By the way, it's kind of a coincidence that the voting season that just got over up in the states Also coincided with voting here in latin america too in most countries that is though down here in latin america There are two big differences. Number one in most latin countries. You have to vote or pay a fine How do you like that? Since we were talking about Ecuador Let's use that example if you're a citizen and don't vote in Ecuador you pay a fine of 10% of the salario

[21:31] Pasico that's you know The basic minimum wage and since the basic minimum salary in Ecuador is around 400 bucks a month That means you pay a fine of 40 bucks if you don't vote that of course means everyone turns out Because when you make that kind of dough 40 bucks is a big hit the other thing that's different about voting in latin America and I really love this is that on the ballot they have a vote called a no-low Which means you don't like anybody. It's a null boat and ull a new low It's called and sometimes, you know, just sometimes a new low wins, you know No one and they have to call the new election. I just love that Don't you that you can vote for none of the above man if they had that in the United States That would really shake things up, huh? But if they were to do that up in the states, I rather think it should not be none of the above

[22:20] It should be none of the above because they all suck Alright changing up here. You know the other day I was at an appliance store, you know It's Black Friday down here, even though they don't know what Black Friday is I see signs all over the place Black Friday Black Friday the big retail stores Especially always copy the US on those things. No one knows what the hell it is But it's always a day where they mark down stuff by the way Black Friday can last a month here And you know, I asked people what they think Black Friday is all about. They don't even know what it is But they do know all the tien does and stores mark their stuff down. So it's a day to buy or at least window shop Traffic jams and all and believe me when I walked into that appliance store the other day. I was horrified to see That the new upscale hot water heaters have Wi-Fi what?

[23:09] I mean look I thought it was crazy when I first saw refrigerators with Wi-Fi Now they've even got microwaves toasters wash your dryers with Wi-Fi. What the hell's going on So anyway, when I was checking out hot water heaters, I was both fascinated and horrified at the same time When I mentioned it to one of my nerd buddies, he said Johnny, it's worse than you think They've even got showerheads shower stalls and jacuzzis with Wi-Fi I mean really how else are hackers gonna steal your best ideas my best ones come when I'm in the shower How about you talk about gimmicks talk about techno overload? Now you might be wondering what am I doing looking at water heaters in the hardware store? People who know me well enough to have visited any one of my houses will tell you There's something odd up on the roof turns out to be a solar hot water heater

[23:59] I've used those things in the last three houses I've owned and they work very well sometimes way too well now, of course you can't use those things in the US at least not in the northern US because they can't stand a freeze because you see the Solar collectors are glass tubes with water flowing in them. Actually, it's water with an anti-freeze in it, but still The main tank connected to the things a water tank and it's exposed to the elements. So if you get a freeze No-go. Well today I have to say I've changed my mind about those things if you're gonna go solar off the grid You know with solar panels and inverter batteries and such up to now It would be a good deal to get one of those solar hot water heaters I'm not recommending that anymore. You know, I've gotten into this circular discussion with people They say Johnny if you're gonna go off the grid go completely solar

[24:46] Have electric power 24 7 at your house and not be dependent on the grid Why would you have to spend an extra? 1,500 to 2,000 bucks on a solar hot water heater and stick that on your roof Why not just buy a cheap electric water heater for three or four hundred bucks or one of those whole house tankless water heaters? Let your solar power system run the thing great idea, but impractical until now it seems so logical doesn't it? But what people don't know is that an electric tankless water heater for your whole house is a huge energy hog When it kicks in that is when you open a hot water faucet in your house It draws a huge amount of electric current and up to now most solar power Inverters can't handle it and even if you have a big oversized powerful inverter that can handle that power momentarily

[25:34] What about the other stuff in the house? That's drawing current like your computers and lights and maybe even an air conditioner or two Most medium-sized solar power systems can't handle the whole load So anyway in my past solar setups, I would never have an electric or gas water heater instead I'd have one of those on the roof solar water heaters doesn't use any electricity at all Just runs strictly off the Sun, but a good one will cost from 1,500 to 2,000 bucks What's changed now this year is that a whole new class of high-powered solar inverters have come out the brand? I recommend is eg4. They've got one out now. That'll push 21,000 watts continuously. That's 21 kilowatts man. You could power a 10-room mansion with that thing now before these new inverters came out

[26:20] The maximum continuous output was 12 or 18,000 watts. That's 12 to 18 kilowatts Now a lot of these whole house electric tankless water heaters Will draw 14 kilowatts when they kick in so you remember those numbers. I said before the new inverters came out You could put out 12 or 18 kilowatts. Well, that about wipe out the power from one inverter, right? That's why till now an electric hot water heater would have been a bad choice But now that you can buy an inverter that will put out 21 kilowatts Well, what a 14 kilowatt electric hot water heater kicks in no big deal. You've got plenty of reserve You've still got an excess 7 kilowatts to spare to run everything else. You've got hooked up

[27:06] Of course, we're talking worst case here. You don't have to get a 14 kilowatt electric hot water heat That's a big one. You can get one that's 7 8 or 9 kilowatts But still you get the point right now you can get off the grid and go completely electric Not having to use a gas stove anymore or gas dryer gas hot water heater And now it's possible to skip that solar hot water heater on the roof. Oops. We're at the end of the show now Stay tuned next week for more 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 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

[27:55] Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com. No spamos