#1460 – The Expat Files: Expats in Latin America – Abuse, Polygamy, and Police Corruption

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 Alright, let's talk about one of the big unspoken problems here in Latin America sexual abuse of minors Well of adult women too, but let's talk about minor It's interesting to know it that everyone knows it's going on, but no one likes to talk about it

[00:46] They almost never talk about the fact show there is a sexual predator in every Latin American family Be it a brother stepfather uncle cousin now, you've heard me say a million times before There are lots of news articles and things that go viral down here in Latin America that never make it up by you Well something happened down here last week that really blew the lid off of social media But I'm sure you've never heard about it. Of course. It has to do with sexual predators. That's the topic Let me give you the highlights and after we talk a little bit about this. You'll see just how bad Sexual abuse against minors is down here in Latin America and how pervasive listen to this and as mentioned last week This went viral in this particular case It's coming out of Chiapas, Mexico

[01:31] But it could be coming from any Latin American city big or small throughout the region this particular incident that we're going to talk about Now was triggered by a high school Valedictorian speech and of course with all the students and the parents of a big high school attending It just shocked the hell out of everyone and that's why it went viral And of course, it was all caught on video isn't everything these days Let me highlight this for you title of the article and I'll do my best to translate this here Chiapas validictorian high school students speech goes viral Here's what she said in front of thousands quote. I'm deeply. Sorry. I haven't spoken up before But I'm doing it now better late than never Well on July 16th

[02:18] She sent shockwaves through the graduation ceremony in the town of Pijapan Chiapas When she took the microphone to publicly accuse male teachers at the school of molesting female students She says quote the problem is that the teachers feel at Liberty to make out of line comments Give us flirtatious looks put the blame on the skirts. We wear touch us inappropriately make inappropriate overtures And even think they can have sexual relations with us minor girl students Then this brave little high school girl asked the students for a show of hands Telling her other classmates to raise their hands if they'd been molested and many girls reluctantly raise their hands

[03:04] Turns out by the end of her little speech her voice was broken with emotion She said quote you should at least have sensitivity manners and respect for your students here She was talking to the teachers on top of that you all have daughters at that moment the whole crowd erupted into applause Well, probably not the whole crowd not the male teachers Anyway, her speech was four minutes long and the four-minute video. Yeah, of course. It was taped went viral and The Mexican State Prosecutor's Office Reportedly an investigation will begin hmm. Yeah, right the Mexican justice system That's a laugh and an oxymoron Anyway, get this right after her little four-minute speech and video went viral the school's director

[03:52] That's the principal resigned and one particular teacher who they call a repeat offender Jose Moreno Solis was arrested before attempting to flee across the border to Guatemala Because you see as it turned out the girl did not only make that four-minute video in front of a big crowd She had gone to police and reported that particular teacher as a serial sexual abuser She did it some months earlier and in her statement to the police She said he'd been sexually abusing her for more than two years By the way her attorney Lourdes Orvando Said when interviewed by the media service El Pais her attorney is female by the way Anyway, her attorney said what her client describes is very normalized behavior in primary secondary and high schools

[04:41] across Mexico Actually, she should have said across Latin America because that's the truth man I've heard so many stories in fact, and I don't know if I've mentioned this before but Everyone every one of my Latin American girlfriends over the past 30 something years has been sexually molested abused or inappropriately touched By not only a family member and or a teacher But while on the job to their male bosses nearly all tried to do the same In fact nearly all of my Latin American girlfriends have come right out and told me it's very common for a male boss to spell out as one of the conditions for a promotion is to schedule a meetup at one of the auto hotels You see them down here everywhere They're drive-in hotels that you pay for by the hour and of course a good number of young women don't agree to those conditions

[05:31] So they never get promoted That is life down here in Latin America And it's not just restricted to the middle and lower middle classes either upscale educated ladies get those same kinds of on the job proposition suit In fact over the years three different Latinas have told me when they went for a job interview This is a professional job interview as a secretary translator call center job they told me that during the actual interview the guy tried to put his hand on her leg and One Latino told me I'll never forget this That she was hired by the wife of a lawyer to be his legal assistant, but that was only part of her job description She was also supposed to report back to her on the sly of course which of her husband's female clients and office workers He was having affairs with by the way Have you seen the story about the big amist up in the states? That's going viral online

[06:19] It's the story of an American guy who was married to three different women None of them knew about each other of course until it all came crashing down Well, I didn't know about that story either never came across my internet feed It was brought to my attention by a Latin American friend of mine who said Johnny have a look at this story It just goes to show it just doesn't happen down here in Latin America You got the same problem up in the States in fact He was trying to rub it in a bit since that conversation has come up before at parties and get-togethers with some of my Latino buddies The fact that it's so common for Latino guys to have two completely different families Neither having a clue about the other if I said it once I said it a million times I don't know how you guys pull it off You got two different women in two different counties or in two different countries

[07:05] You got two different families two different houses kids with two different sets of women kids that don't even know they've got half Brothers and sisters walking around. How do you keep that up? How do you keep it going? How do you keep it secret? How do you maintain your sanity? Well as one of my Latino buddies pointed out before the Internet specifically Before what's up and fake book made their appearances about ten years ago or so It was just so easy to have two completely different families in two different towns in Latin America because people just didn't get around that much They stayed within their own town and neighborhood. They weren't that mobile They didn't have the time or the money to do much traveling It's even more difficult to track people in Latin America because there are so many thousands and thousands of people with the exact same name On top of that public mail service is almost non-existent

[07:53] Exact addresses are spotty or just plain wrong. Of course now with Google Maps and ways It's much easier to find anyone, but that's just come about recently But back to this multiple name thing every town big and small has dozens upon dozens of Juan Miguel tons of Ricardo Soto's hundreds of guys named Pedro Gonzalez Countless Ana Maria's the way people are named here in Latin America always throws a wrench into the works and makes things chaotic But these days in fact just in the last five years Now that everyone's pretty much internet savvy and the fact that Latinos just love posting pictures of themselves If you want to check up on someone's life his connections his moves his favorite hangouts, man It's all there on the internet the average guy can build a profile on someone in a hurry So anyway this news story of this American guy Henry Bessette jr

[08:42] Who married three women in a span of two years in different counties across, Florida? Well, it somehow hit the news feeds down here in Latin America So Latinos and Latinas are seeing this and they're believing American guys are playing the same games, too And of course, they're right it does happen, but it's so so rare and when a guy gets caught man It's huge news as opposed to a guy here in Latin America who gets caught with two or three wives It's not news at all When I lived back in the States in my whole life I only heard of one case where a guy had two different families in two different towns The two families completely in the dark about each other you could understand why and in the States It would be very hard to pull off It would be an almost impossible juggling it and the consequences severe if you got caught but down here in Latin America, man

[09:31] I'm not exaggerating at all when I say it's so damn common I hear people talking about it all the time and it most especially have with Latinos who've made it up to the states whether Legally or illegal practically all of them end up with a family down here and one up in the States Of course, the guy would never let on to his American wife that he's got a family back home Nor will he let on to his Latina wife back home that he's got a wife and a kid or two up in the States Which by the way is the quick and dirty way to get legal marry an American citizen or a Latina? Living in the States who is a legal resident with a valid greeting card turns out that's big business lots of money changing hands in those Transactions if you recall we went into some detail on that in a previous show

[10:17] So when you talk about big amiss man Latin America's just loaded with them and again I just don't know how these guys do it except I do know they're very bad or pretty lax about Supporting either of the family all I can think is that it's got to be a terribly stressful way to live though I've seen the macho thing play into it, too I've heard guys brag about the fact that they've got a wife and kids in this town or that town and up in the state Like it's something to be proud of a big accomplishment But like I said, I don't get it gringles and expats as a rule Just don't get it when you hear things like that. It kind of repulses you well, it repulses gringles and expats Anyway, it just doesn't sit well in your mind for a lot of reasons But as mentioned down here it happens in all social economic levels It will surprise you maybe even sicken you a bit when you come face to face with one of these guys and you will the

[11:06] Odd thing is they don't seem to feel any guilt They're not embarrassed about it when you hear a story like that sometimes from the horse's mouth chances Are you'll be the one that gets embarrassed? You know how sometimes you get embarrassed for other people? That's always a strange sensation, huh? That's happened to me. How about you? Now as far as running into guys down here in Latin America that have two different families after a while like anything else You hear it enough times where you see it for yourself You realize it's fairly common and par for the course for a third world country You might say that's one of the prime reasons why the third world remains. Well the third world How do you straighten out a society where that's common and normal? How do you pull them up by their bootstraps? You know get a whole society to straighten up and fly, right? I don't know. Like I said, I don't get it

[11:54] Bottom line don't be too shocked when you're sitting around with a bunch of Latinos and the subject of kids comes up And they start listing the numbers of kids they have then you realize there are lots of different baby mamas It's not uncommon for two or three or even four kids all from different baby mamas. I know people like that I don't make a point of hanging with them. But if you've got a girlfriend or boyfriend down here There's a good chance you'll meet a family member or two in that spot and for them There's no shame in talking about it. In fact for some of them. It's a point of macho pride Of course, they won't bring it up around the women folk. It's a sensitive subject with them. But amongst the guys I've witnessed it a few times. The question is what are you gonna do? What are you gonna think when you're caught in that kind of conversation again in the long run?

[12:42] It's just the third world being the third world The problem is like they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree like father like son Oh and about that American guy who was married to three different women at the same time the guy that got this whole conversation Started well, here's how it went down when he attended his Florida court hearing in May with his new girlfriend at his side He was confronted with all three women. He'd married by the way. He met them all on different dating website He met Tanya on tinder Betsy on stir and then Michelle on Match.com by the way All three women told the judge in court that he married them to gain access to their finances You think well, guess what? He was sentenced to two years probation and time served

[13:29] Hmm. Does that mean time served in those previous three marriages? I wonder Right moving on, you know It's pretty much acknowledged throughout all the oil producing world that the most Mismanaged oil fields in all the world are owned operated and maintained if you could call it that in Venezuela You've heard the stories the refineries the infrastructures have deteriorated to the point of no return That said can you guess which oil fields are the second most mismanaged in the entire world? Well, would it surprise you to know it's Mexico's national oil company Pemex Well, that's exactly what happens when you allow the government to nationalize your oil field So why am I bringing this up because it's worth pointing out to all you idiot

[14:16] Classic socialists out there why it's stupid as hell to let the government own and operate Anything anyway in June just last month the International Energy Agency released this oil 2025 report Reporting that Mexico has the second most mismanaged oil fields in the world In fact, they report that if Mexico had three times as many people they would still be self-sufficient in oil and then some Yet for some reason and that reason is massive corruption Mexico is on the edge of becoming a net oil importer You wonder how is that possible? Let me read you just some of the highlights of this report It says the issue lies not in having so much oil itself But the failure of those in charge of oil rich countries as for example

[15:05] Venezuela experience shows oil money tends to promote a vicious cycle that weakens public institutions Eroes the rule of law and blacks economic and fiscal transparency It goes on to say Mexico's Pemex government oil company is on exactly the same path as Mexico and thus risks the same fate It says the key issue dragging Pemex down is its 101 billion dollar debt pile Making it the world's most indebted oil company It says they are months behind on their debts owed to Pemex suppliers With unpaid balances continuing to pile up after using Pemex as a cash cow for so long the cow is about to expire Finally it says Pemex financial troubles are so bad the Fitch

[15:54] Solvent country rating system is affecting the entire country's credit rating Meanwhile cartels take their percentage at many points along the way hmm wonderful news That's good to know. So how's that Mexican plan B of yours working out? Alright moving on but still talking about Mexico just a bit Remember back in the day a few years ago when BLM was marching in the streets looting pillaging Of course, we're talking about up in the states now initially in Minnesota when the whole world It seemed turned that convicted five-time felon genius George Floyd into a hero and then a saint Remember how so many sanctuary cities in the United States Defunded the police. Hmm. You don't hear too much about that these days. Do you I mean the after effects?

[16:39] The secondary fix well, guess who tried that first Mexico way before the US ever started defunding the police So you might wonder how'd that work out remember when previous idiot president Lopez Obrador had as his political platform Hugs not bullets. Well, guess what along with that many many Mexican cities defunded their police Not because the police were abusive or just way too strict Because they were way too corrupt most working for the narco So then you might wonder how did that turn out? Well, let me just read parts of a little story that just came out the title is Mexico has one of the highest homicide rates. So they started firing Policemen, let me hit on some of the bullet points so you can see how that turned out

[17:25] It starts out on a sunny spring day last year a young attorney named Gisla Gayathan kicked off her campaign for mayor in a gritty Mexican city Under her blouse. She wore a ballistic vest as She shook her hands at an event on the outskirts of town. A man approached raise a gun and shot her in the head Undeterred the party leaders picked a new candidate Juan Miguel Ramirez a former university professor who'd worked on Gayathan's campaign Who had skin in the game himself because his son-in-law had recently been killed in a case that was still unsolved and police officers demanded bribes and Destructed the investigation when he inquired eventually a couple of local cops were prosecuted for Participating in kidnappings and even homicides in the end Ramirez won the election and his first act as mayor. He fired

[18:16] 340 of the 600 officers on the force Accordingly all polls show that Mexicans have lost faith in local law enforcement The city we are highlighting here is called Celia Mexico used to be a tranquil city located along a highway and railroad that stretched 600 miles from the United States and Once drew Honda and other automakers to build plants there then it says for years everyone knew there was a local criminal group called Santa Rosa de Lima a Cartel that quietly stole fuel daily from major oil pipelines across the region Everyone knew including the authorities. No one said or did a thing about it Anyway with half of the police fired the cartel groups battled for control of pipelines But also drug trafficking extortion rackets and the theft of cargo trucks

[19:05] The city of say a lot of Mexico along with many other cities dotted throughout the country Became synonymous with violence as criminals gunned down shopkeepers who refused to pay extortion fees They even carried out massacres in hotel lobbies bars and even at funeral homes by the summer of 2024 Just last year the city of a sea laya had a homicide rate 17 times the average homicide rate in the USA The article says cops in Mexico are easy targets for criminals because they only make around $900 a month they easily accept cash in exchange for intelligence muscle or simply looking the other way when crimes are committed By the way a cop in Mexico is 400 times more likely to get shot than a cop in the United States

[19:53] But wait, you say guns are illegal in Mexico lindo. Yep. You know that saying when guns are criminalized only criminals have guns But you knew that already anyway It says even cops warn their own family members to stay clear of other cops And if questioned because you're in the vicinity of a crime Just go back inside your house and say you didn't see anything or you don't know anything. Yes That's what cops tell their own family members So then what about fired cops turns out most times in Mexico when police are fired in large numbers for corruption The National Guard is brought in They're former soldiers and have not been trained like police to carry out investigations They're just bodies on the street in uniforms carrying guns

[20:38] By the way, this guy Ramirez that was elected mayor in June 2024 said immediately He was approached by cartel members who asked him to fill government positions with their men He avoided the issue and now he's afraid like everyone else he says So that's what happens in Mexico when the police are considered to corrupt they fire him and they bring in the army or the National Guard But the army are soldiers police officers investigate Soldiers obey orders and are trained to kill so in the end none of the crime statistics have gone down In fact, they're up. However Soldiers in Mexico are seen as less corruptible than police because they typically come from other parts of the country that means they know little about the new region they've been placed in and have no family friends or

[21:25] Relatives that can be coerced or threatened if the soldier doesn't play ball with the cartels By the way, just two months ago one of mayor Ramirez's bodyguards was shot to death outside his own home The mayor said it was obviously a message directed at him and the topper It came last month when 11 members of the National Guard Were charged with theft after where they were caught stealing fuel from an illegal Pemex oil tap Hmm. Where have I heard that before? By the way recent Mexican Police Academy graduate Jose Francisco Hernandez Herrera Says that during his stay at the police Academy His instructors never once discussed how police should handle bribery offers from organized crime Even though it was pointed out that you will be approached. It's only a matter of time

[22:14] All right So you get the point now I don't like going on and on about Mexico if you still think it's your idea of a plan be paradise be my guest I just wonder sometimes about expat gonna bees and wannabes have their brains frozen up same with people who build houses in known fire zones like in California and Gringos who build their houses on sheer cliffs or bluffs overlooking a lake or a river our parts of their brains just frozen up her Oxidized man, I've done some stupid things in my life, but I haven't been that dumb not yet Of course, you can't predict the future right by the way I've got an uncle in Chicago who's a retired sheriff and my sister's boyfriend's a retired deputy sheriff through that grapevine I've been told that cops in big cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit

[23:01] Start at a little less than a hundred grand a year and many are making over 150 K with overtime and sergeants of lieutenants can make 200,000 with some overtime and commanders the captains make a base of around 250,000 bucks a year, which is certainly an incentive for a cop to stay clean Not that all or even most of us cops are clean. No way I mean if they were we wouldn't have so many cop shows would we every other episodes about a corrupt cop or two or three Or ten just saying though if the average Mexican cop makes 900 bucks a month. That's a month. Not a week That's just slightly over ten grand a year Who wouldn't look the other way if a crime's in progress and someone gives you a handful of cash? Just saying there ain't no cure for what's happening in Mexico Why in the world would you ever consider Mexico as a great place for your plan B?

[23:52] People still write and tell me that's their future plan B destination. I repeat. I don't get it All right moving on. Here's an article that sort of shocked me. It's from travel and leisure magazine You've heard it. It's like Conde Nast Traveler Kind of an upscale glossy rag for people who like hanging out at international tourist traps anyway, every year they come out with a list of the most expensive countries for Americans to visit and of course the least expensive country now, of course when Americans go overseas They stay at the usual suspect places, you know visit the customary tourist spots You know the Eiffel Tower in Paris Colosseum and Rome the heart of London Cancun Mexico Rio Brazil So anyway for 2025 number one most expensive destination on the list for US tourists is Iceland

[24:39] Which I guess is understandable and believable. I've never been there number two second most expensive destination for US tourists in 2025 Australia the real shocker though is number three Mexico rounded out the top three most expensive tourist destination for America. Yep, Mexico And right now you're wondering how's that possible when so many people relocate to Mexico and go on Mexican vacations because it's so damn cheap Well, that's again because this survey is based on Americans going to tourist traps in Mexico According to this article Mexico came in third on the list partly due to a strong 6.4% increase in the currency than Mexican peso against the dollar Of course, we all want to know the least expensive destination, right? Well, it's Thailand average per day expenditure of an American citizen in Thailand is eighty one dollars in

[25:30] Iceland it's 400 bucks a day in Australia 280 bucks a day and Mexico 260 bucks a day Remember they're talking about vacationing at known tourist traps the usual suspects. All right moving on the other day I got into a little conversation with a Latino guy this subject of which I thought might amuse you now This guy's a 28 year old business school graduate who ended up working at a call center a manager at a call center cuz he's bilingual Makes around seven to eight hundred a month with bonuses. Don't laugh. That's almost three times minimum wage Anyway, he says Gianni remember he's bilingual now not a hundred percent but pretty close He says why do gringos use the word bananas to refer to some kind of craziness? Something outrageous for example, the place went bananas or the stock market just went bananas

[26:19] He said I don't get it. No one taught us a double meaning in English class for bananas He says here in Latin America banana is a noun It's a fruit. No one uses it as a verb or adjective He says wouldn't let Tino see the word bananas translated from a US movie or podcast. They don't get it. They're confused Why do gringos use bananas as a verb or adjective when everyone knows it's a noun? Well, good question. And actually he got me thinking why do we use the word bananas for something crazy or unexpected? How'd that happen? What's crazy about a banana? Nothing Sure, you can slip on a banana peel and get a laugh out of it That was what humor was like in the old days But in the 21st century when humor is much more sophisticated The other strange thing is to use it as a term for crazy or unexpected. It can't be banana

[27:10] It's gotta be bananas with an S. It's gotta be plural. You can't say Juan had too many drinks and went banana He had to go bananas bananas plural. So anyway, I found out that's not the kind of stuff They teach in bilingual schools down here You have to pick that stuff up on the street or from Hollywood movies or lazy ass blowhard Podcasters who really have gone bananas So 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