Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller explores the unique cultural and superstitious practices of Latin America, particularly focusing on the role of domestic workers and the impact of tourism on local customs. He discusses how indigenous tribes in Central America have their own superstitions, which expats may find confusing or strange. Johnny highlights the versatility of cleaning ladies, who often take on multiple roles such as cooks, seamstresses, and gardeners. However, he notes that in tourist-heavy areas like Costa Rica, these workers may adopt more formal or demanding attitudes, unlike in off-tourist-trail regions where they are more flexible and willing to help. He shares a personal anecdote about a gardener who climbed a tall tree to trim branches, illustrating the cultural norms and the respect given to workers in Latin America.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the cultural practices and superstitions he has encountered while living in Latin America. He begins by talking about his cleaning lady in Mexico, who cuts lemons and limes in sections of eight, a practice he later learns is a Mayan indigenous good luck custom. He then shares a story about a chicken bus in Honduras where he witnessed indigenous people throwing paper into a river, believing it would bring them good luck. He contrasts this with the common practice of throwing coins into fountains for good luck in other parts of the world. Johnny also touches on the issue of cell phone theft in Latin America, citing statistics from 2013 and explaining that the reported numbers are likely much lower than the actual figures due to underreporting.
Johnny Mueller discusses the high rate of cell phone theft in Latin America, citing statistics from various countries like Guatemala, San Salvador, Honduras, and Brazil. He notes that the theft rate is about one in 20 to 25 people annually, with women being four times more likely to have their phones stolen than men. He attributes this to the lack of resistance and the absence of guns among women. Johnny also addresses the lack of action from authorities and cell phone companies, highlighting that over 90% of stolen phones occur in public transportation hubs and middle or lower middle-class areas. He further discusses the self-policing nature of small towns in Latin America, where locals take justice into their own hands, using an example of a mob lynching three men accused of rape and kidnapping in Guatemala. The article is cited as an example of the vigilante justice common in small towns, which, while controversial, contributes to a sense of safety in these areas.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the concept of 'lynching' in Latin America, clarifying that it encompasses more than just hanging. He argues that while such incidents are rare, they are often a response to the failure of the judicial system, which is described as corrupt and ineffective. Johnny emphasizes that small towns are generally calm and patient, and only resort to self-help when the legal system fails. He also mentions that expats and gringos are rarely involved in such incidents, and those who survive are often sent to the United States, where they face a different kind of danger. Johnny concludes by suggesting that the situation in Latin America is a reflection of a broader systemic issue, and that expats in the U.S. may one day face similar choices.
Johnny Mueller discusses a movie called 'Frontera' that portrays the reality of illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border. He describes a retired border cop who owns a ranch on the border and deals with the daily influx of illegal aliens, who leave behind a trail of garbage. He criticizes Hollywood for adding a liberal spin to the movie but acknowledges it as a stark portrayal of the situation. Johnny then references a Business Week article that outlines the cost of the American dream for an average American family, which he contrasts with the income of illegal aliens, who earn significantly less. He highlights the economic disparity and questions how illegal immigrants still believe in the American dream, despite their low earnings. Johnny also mentions statistics about the number of illegal Salvadorians in the U.S., noting that about half of El Salvador's population has moved there illegally. He criticizes American voters for electing politicians who contribute to the issue and suggests that expats are increasingly disillusioned with the political system, leading them to 'vote with their feet' by leaving the country.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the dangerous migration routes used by migrants from Central America, particularly focusing on the situation in Phoenix and the infamous train known as La Bestia from Nicaragua. He explains how migrants are transported via buses to public transit sites, where they are vulnerable to recruitment by Mexican cartels for drug running, money laundering, and sex trafficking. He also highlights the perilous journey on La Bestia, where many migrants perish or disappear, and notes that the train alone transports over half a million illegal aliens annually. The segment ends with a reminder to continue the discussion in the next episode.
Topics
Superstitions in Latin America, Cultural practices of domestic workers, Impact of tourism on local customs, Personal anecdotes and experiences of expats, Cultural practices and superstitions in Latin America, Indigenous traditions and beliefs, Cell phone theft statistics in Latin America, Cell phone theft in Latin America, Gender disparities in crime statistics, Vigilante justice in small towns, Self-policing in Latin American communities, Lynching in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:32 Superstitions in Latin America and the Role of Indigenous Tribes 00:01:18 Versatility of Cleaning Ladies and Their Multiple Roles 00:01:26 Impact of Tourism on Domestic Workers in Costa Rica 00:02:38 Personal Anecdote About a Gardener and Cultural Norms 00:05:28 The Mayan Good Luck Custom of Cutting Lemons and Limes in Sections of Eight 00:06:17 Understanding the Superstition Behind Indigenous People Throwing Paper into a River 00:08:47 Cell Phone Theft Statistics in Latin America: A Growing Concern 00:10:22 Cell Phone Theft Statistics in Latin America 00:10:56 Gender Disparities in Phone Theft 00:11:29 Theft Patterns and Locations 00:12:11 Self-Policing in Small Towns 00:13:24 Safety in Small Towns Despite Crime 00:16:18 The Nature of Lynching in Latin America 00:16:42 The Failure of the Judicial System 00:17:07 Clarifying the Definition of Lynching 00:20:04 The Media's Avoidance of the Term 'Illegal Aliens' 00:20:45 Introduction to the Border Cop and the Movie 'Frontera' 00:21:16 Encouragement to Watch the Movie and Its Portrayal of the Issue 00:21:50 The Cost of the American Dream and the Income of Illegal Aliens 00:24:04 Statistics on the Number of Illegal Salvadorians in the U.S. 00:24:48 Criticism of American Voters and the Political System 00:25:57 Migrants in Phoenix and Public Transit Sites 00:26:37 The Perilous Journey on La Bestia 00:27:16 The Scale of Migration via La Bestia
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:14] 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. You know, I've mentioned many times that Latin America is a land of superstitions, especially when you've got close to a hundred indigenous tribes in Central America alone. Each one of them having their own brand of superstitions that we'll never totally figure out and we'll never get used to the ones that we find out about. Now I tell you, if you have a cleaning lady long enough, you will see her do some strange things on occasion. I mean, the occasional funny body or hand movement, or perhaps just the way she puts
[01:01] the forks and knives back into the drawer. Not always logical or efficient to us, but to her, well, some of it necessarily to her has to do with certain superstitions. And by the way, a cleaning lady will become your cook if you ask her to, as well as your seamstress and she'll do ironing. In fact, she'll become your gardener and she'll sweep your gutters out too if you have them. Believe me, there's none of that I don't do windows or toilet bit down here. Except, wouldn't you know it, on the Grengo tourist trail like Costa Rica and Panama. I've heard some of my friends in Costa Rica are now complaining their cleaning ladies and gardeners and such are copying an attitude about certain things they used to do and won't do anymore, as if they were in the Teamsters Union or something, you know, stating their demands before they even start the work or get
[01:48] the job. And I'm talking about Costa Rican help now. If you're in Costa Rica and you happen to get Nicaraguan help, they'll never pull that on you. They just don't have that kind of attitude. Yep, Costa Rica is a confusing mess, I don't recommend it. But thankfully, in most of the other Latin countries, you'll not find that, especially when you're off the Grengo tourist trail. And you know, some people have asked me, what about settling in places in Costa Rica off the Grengo tourist trail? Well, I'll tell you right now, there are no places in Costa Rica off the Grengo tourist trail. It's just saturated with gringos and first-world people. You just can't go anywhere and not find them. But anyway, when you're off the Grengo tourist trail, your cleaning lady and gardener, etc., will be glad to get the work and they'll do just about
[02:35] anything, within reason, of course. And to prove the point, here's a true case when my gardener said just last week, you know Don Johnny? Yep, he called me Don Johnny because remember, down here, they always use the Don thing before your name, like Don Juan, Don Coyote, or Don Carleoni. It's a term of respect the boss always gets, especially if he's a Grengo. And if you're the boss lady or the woman of the house, they'll call you Donia. That's Don with an A at the end of it. We talked about that in a past show. Anyway, he said, Don Johnny, one of your avocado trees just isn't putting out and that's because it needs direct sunlight. And we can fix that. I can climb up that tree over there and trim a few branches and it'll make all the difference in the world. And he did, even though, get this, the branches were three stories up and he
[03:25] just scaled that thing like a monkey, machete, leaf clippers and all. No ropes, no protection, no support. And was he worried? Nope, because Latin workers do it all the time. So not only was he glad to do it, he actually suggested it. So with a guy like that, you get a lot of things rolled into one, a gardener, of course, plus a painter and a bricklayer and a concrete worker for 12 to 15 bucks a day, but don't expect to get them for that on the Grengo tourist trail. In fact, I think you'll pay about twice that. Places like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Panama, and of course Costa Rica. But where was I? Oh yeah, superstitions. Well, if you have a cleaning lady slash maid slash cook, you'll see them do some strange things on occasion.
[04:11] They'll honor odd superstitions that have been handed down through many, many generations, not that our superstitions like breaking a mirror or walking under a ladder or a pinch of salt over the shoulder, et cetera, aren't a bit nutty to them, but Latins, especially the indigenous ones, take the prize. Now here's a mild example for you. I noticed that my cleaning lady always cuts citrus fruits like lemons into eight equal pieces. Don't ask me why, but to her and her people, you do it any other way and it's bad luck. Every tribe has its own quirks and superstitions, and there is a lot of overlap. And when a gringo or expat points it out to me, and I've heard it a hundred times, I always say, you know us gringos, we're kind of a tribe too,
[04:57] and we have tons of our own peculiarities. So just have a look in the mirror sometime, won't you? And sometimes I fill in non-Spanish speaking gringos by saying, why do you think behind our backs the indigenous folks are always saying to themselves, those crazy gringos, what nutty things are they going to do next? Now, when you're off the tourist trail anyway, don't think they're mocking us in a bad way. To them, we're rather amusing, I guess. So that brings us back to my cleaning lady and why she cuts lemons and limes up in sections of eight. Later I found out that's a Mayan indigenous good luck custom. And who told me that? Ex-pat Eddie, because his cleaning lady does the same thing. Not to mention you'll often see him cut vegetables like potatoes that way too. And speaking about superstitions, get this, about a half year ago,
[05:45] I was way out in the boonies in Honduras when suddenly one of those belching chicken buses came up from behind. And you know, I was doing about 70 miles an hour. So this guy was really steaming along. Anyway, he passed me on a curve as usual, laying down a big black cloud of smoke as chicken buses will do. Anyway, about 20 minutes later, down that same kind of deserted stretch of highway, I saw up ahead that very same chicken bus pulled over at a bridge. It was stopped and all the people had gotten out. And when that happens and you see it quite a bit down here in Latin America, that means the chicken bus broke down and everyone has to get off and wait for the next one to come if it does come. However, by odd coincidence, that wasn't the case this time. The chicken bus did not break down.
[06:33] There was some kind of happening going on. Turns out everyone off the bus was an indigenous person in their uniquely colored getups. And you know, as I mentioned in a previous show, the Mayan tribes of which there are over a hundred have a distinct different kind of color weave in their clothes that distinguishes one tribe from the other, evidently because in the past there was a lot of fighting and warring going on. Then they could tell each other apart from a healthy distance and prepare to either attack or run. But back to the story. So they disembarked the chicken bus and were leaning over the edge of the bridge, looking at something. Being that I was in no hurry and a natural gape or two, I pulled over next to him to have a look at what was down in the ravine. There was a river about 50 feet below.
[07:19] And what they had been doing was throwing little wads of paper into the river. So there was about 30 or 35 indigenous folks throwing junk into the river. And I couldn't understand them. They weren't speaking Spanish. They were speaking in tribal languages, which they often do when they're together. Or I guess when they don't want Spanish folks or gringos to hear what they're saying. And what I found out by asking the bus driver, this was considered a sacred or magic spot, a magic river. And what they were doing was writing their names on little wads of paper and throwing them in because as the superstition goes, if the river spirit is having a good day, the person who's wad of paper gets carried downstream the farthest, that person will have good luck or come into some money.
[08:06] So what I'm saying is that there are a lot of lakes and valleys and streams and what they call barrancos, which are ravines that are considered sacred or have a spirit guide over them. So anyway, just as the indigenous people in Latin America think that us gringos are nuts for throwing coins into a fountain and making a wish. We feel the same way when they toss wads of paper over a bridge. In the end, I guess everyone's nuts. Go figure, huh? So then you might ask, did I toss a piece of paper in with my name on it? Well, I'm not telling. OK, let's push on now. Here's something that might interest you. You recall, I said a few shows ago that the number one reported crime in Latin America, remember, cell phone robberies. And just recently, regarding that, some statistics were published
[08:54] in the big Latin America rags, backing that up with actual numbers. So this is how it plays out. In the year 2013, it was reported in Honduras that 95,000 cell phones were stolen. That is, reported to the cops or the cell phone companies themselves. In San Salvador, 92,000 people reported their phones stolen to the cops. And in Guatemala, 190,000 reports of stolen cell phones that year. You heard me, 190,000. Now, in Brazil, get this, two and a half million cell phones stolen in 2013. But according to a spokesperson from Clado, Carlos Slim's company from Mexico,
[09:40] which is the largest cell phone service provider in Latin America, a spokesman for that company says you really have to quadruple those numbers to get the true figures because only about one in four people ever report their phone stolen. Turns out, as you might have figured, people who do report the theft always are the ones with smartphones or iPhones. Not that they're ever going to get them back. They almost never do. But down here in Latin America, like I suppose they do up in the States, for a couple extra bucks a month on a service plan, a contract plan, that is, you can get theft coverage on your phone from your provider. So if you want the real cell phone theft numbers, we're talking about more than a half million cell phones a year stolen in Guatemala,
[10:27] 400,000 in San Salvador, and about 400,000 in Honduras, too. And Brazil, well, you're looking at about 10 million phones stolen a year. Now, I'm not going to go through all the Latin countries, but you get the idea. Oddly enough, the ratio seems to be about one in 20 to 25 people a year. Get a cell phone nicked. And that's true throughout nearly all Latin countries. However, there's something else they're not telling you. The fact is, about four times as many women in Latin America get their phones stolen as men. Why? Because it's a no brainer. In Latin America, as it is up in the States, women rarely resist a robbery and they don't carry guns. So you might ask, then, if it's such a big deal,
[11:12] are the authorities or the cell phone companies doing anything about it? You know, we're at no, but they debate about it all the time. And there's a lot of op-ed newspaper articles, even the occasional TV news report about it. And again, this might interest you. Authorities claim that would be the cops, that over 90 percent of all the cell phones are stolen. Either when a person's on a chicken bus or waiting on a busy corner for a chicken bus or waiting for or taking other forms of public transportation, like a subway. Notice the emphasis here is on public transportation. And secondly, cell phones are most stolen in middle or lower middle class areas of Latin cities where there's a lot of congestion and foot traffic, which means the vast majority are stolen in medium and large sized cities and not
[12:00] much of a problem at all in the smaller towns, especially the ones out in the Boonies. Now, speaking of crime and punishment out in the Boonies, I've mentioned in past shows that smaller towns in Latin America with populations of 20,000 or less have over the years become very self policing. The cops are useless, fat, lazy government slugs whose response time is hours, not minutes. Hours, if you're lucky, by the way. So the locals have taken to policing their own communities the way they see fit. Now, if you scan the Latin papers anytime, you'll read practically every day or so an article explaining the kind of justice that gets meted out in a lot of these small towns. In fact, it's so common to read about that kind of stuff down here.
[12:46] People aren't surprised and they rarely talk about it. So you do see vigilante justice in small towns hit the papers down here all the time. But for some reason, it never seems to break into the first world press. Not much anyway. But just to give you a little taste of the kind of justice that goes on down here in small towns where the cops are basically no better than window dressing, a gringo expat friend of mine named Keith just sent me this article that was published just August 25th on Fox News Latino. So for all of you non-believers out there who think that Latin America is dangerous, even the small towns. Well, it is dangerous to be in a small town if you're a crook or a bad boy. But if you're a nice, hardworking normal
[13:31] citizen, or even if you're a lazy slug, as long as you obey the law and mind your own business, you've got absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact, as a gringo in a smaller town like that, you'll be somewhat of a minor celebrity. I know, I know you've been hearing me say that for a long time. Anyway, let me just read some of this article that came from Keith. His subject title is here's some of that Latin American small town justice you've mentioned on the show, and it starts out by saying three suspected rapists were killed by an enraged mob in a community in the northwestern province of Wayway to Nango Guatemala. Hmm. Did you ever hear of such a place? Wayway to Nango. You ought to try saying it sometime. Wayway to Nango. Anyway, the incident occurred in a village near the town of San Mateo
[14:21] where residents burned alive three men who they had accused of rape and kidnapping. The trio identified as brothers Enrique, 26, Rigoberto Martinez, Ramos, 18, and their nephew, 18-year-old Leonardo Herrera, were tied to a tree and burned alive. Hmm. The deputy provincial police chief Henry Delgado told the media that while the incident took place, national police officers tried to intervene and prevent the lynching, but without success, authorities said. Delgado said the three men were captured last Saturday by a local mob. A representative from the National Ombudsman Office in Wayway to Nango, Eric Villethorio, said the lynching was regrettable and added that it's an incorrect way of applying justice. And the article finishes by saying
[15:10] the toll from lynchings in Guatemala in 2013 was 36 dead and 173 injured. That, according to the figures compiled by the mutual support group, a human rights watchdog. So there it is in the mainstream news. And no matter how you might feel about it, when the cops are nothing but big, fat, lazy ass pieces of lard in the small towns, anyway, the townspeople organized into something a bit more than a neighborhood watch group. That's why those small towns are so damn safe. So they hate crime and they rid it out and they love gringos. It's that gringo advantage. And, you know, I've been down here in Latin America over 20 years now with only about three years on the gringo tourist trail.
[15:56] That's 20 years off the gringo tourist trail. And I've never actually seen a lynching like that myself, but I've read about hundreds of them and never once was a gringo or expat involved in any of those and never have I ever read a follow up article saying that they got the wrong guy because, you see, small town folks are generally calm and patient and they do contact the police first. They just don't hear a rumor and run out and lynch a guy. They don't go after a bad boy until he's committed a number of crimes. Then when the file builds up on him and the cops and the authorities haven't done a thing for a year or even more, even with multiple witnesses, the court system often fails,
[16:42] usually because the judges too are lazy ass corrupt cowards. Only then do the townspeople take the law in their own hands. And, you know, green gringos and expats ask me all the time, what do I think about that? Do I think local people taking the law into their own hands is dangerous in itself? I say it's a proper response, maybe the only response. That, in a way, makes those small towns so damn safe. And do remember now the word lynching down here covers not just lynching by the neck as you would have it in a cowboy movie. It includes public stonings and beatings in the town square and torching people, etc. And that's why when you see these numbers on lynchings, only 75 died and 175 were injured, for example. The ones that survived were usually beaten or stoned and ran out on a rail.
[17:29] And where do they go, do you think? They go to the states. Why not? No justice or lynching up there now, is there? Only a nice, slick introduction to gangland life up in the big city. So, as one long term expat recently said to me, he said, you know what, Johnny? I don't understand. Gringos up north should be rooting for more fatal lynchings down here. So the ones that survived don't end up on the south side of Chicago. But I digress as usual anyway. Now, that article, of course, came out of Guatemala. But that sort of thing happens in every Latin country. Just go on the Internet and look up any big city Latin newspaper. They're free and they're online. Then flip to the local news section and read all about it. That is, if you can read Spanish.
[18:15] Now, of course, even in the newspapers down here, you don't read about lynchings every day, maybe a couple of times a month. And none of the readers really get upset. No protests or human rights marchers picketing in the streets. Well, I take that back. There are some of those first world do-gooder organizations that try to make the occasional stink about it, but no one down here ever listens to them. In fact, most people down here just simply laugh behind the backs of these do-gooder NGOs, whatever their mission is. As long as they keep giving free handouts, people down here will take them. Now, about those lynchings. The truth is nearly every Latin you talk to on the street agrees. Even the very educated Latins say, hell, what's wrong with that? When the cops in the courts are useless, someone's got to do it.
[19:01] And for all you folks in Milwaukee and Cleveland and Boston who might be gasping in horror right now, what are you going to do when the next first world crisis comes and it's going to come and you call the cops and they don't answer the phone or they never come? So in that case, it's let the bad guys take over or burn, baby, burn. So, unfortunately, for you guys and gals up north, the clock is ticking and sooner or later you're going to have to make that choice, too. OK, let's move on. Now, I've been getting a lot of emails lately about this immigration problem on the border of Texas and Mexico. And by talking to expats down here who come from those southern border states, a lot of them and their families are directly affected by all those illegals flooding in across the border.
[19:47] And by the way, don't you hate it when they call them undocumented persons? That's so PC. They've got documents. They've got documents from Mexico and Honduras and Guatemala and Salvador and Costa Rica. Why is the media so afraid to label it what it is? They're illegal aliens. I repeat, they're not undocumented persons. They've all got wallets and in those wallets are Mexican and Guatemalan and Honduran and Salvadoran ID papers. So please don't lay that undocumented crap on me. I'm not buying the PC version and you should neither. So anyway, lately I've been talking to quite a few expats about this expats, like I said, who are or their families are directly affected.
[20:33] Oh, and by the way, there's a movie that just came out. It's called Frontera Frontera. It stars Ed Harris, you know, the guy that won the Academy Award for playing Jackson Pollock. Anyway, you really have to see that movie. He plays a retired immigration border cop who owns a big ranch right on the Mexican Texas border. And every single day, hundreds of illegal aliens, you heard me, illegal aliens, pass from Mexico through his barbed wire fence and trespass on his property, leaving all their junk behind to, you know, wrappers and refuse and old shoes and jugs, a trail of garbage miles and miles long that he's got to look at every day. Of course, there's a lot more to it than that, and that's why you just have to see this movie.
[21:19] I guarantee you're not going to sit through it passively. And true, Hollywood did manage to put a touch of a liberal spin on it, but all in all, it's a pretty stark portrait of what's really happening down there. So get it. It's called Frontera Frontera. And by the way, Frontera means border in Spanish. So when someone's crossing a border or traveling near a border, they call it the Frontera. When, by the way, since illegals cross over to the United States to get what they always call the American dream, that's sueño Americano in Spanish. Man, I must have heard that phrase 10,000 times already down here. Talk about brainwashed fantasies. Anyway, I just came across a little article in Business Week that says the cost
[22:05] for an average American family of four, husband and wife and two kids, to achieve this so-called American dream. And they've calculated all the expenses and all the luxuries that make up the so-called American dream, too. The list includes two cars, two big vacations a year, summer cottage and all that pool, country club membership, the whole works, $125,000 a year. In other words, a family of four, bringing down $125,000 a year, can just manage to live the so-called American dream. And that's in middle America. We're not talking about San Francisco or Manhattan Island. We're talking about Cleveland, Milwaukee, Dubuque, St. Louis, Dearborn and Cucamonga. You know, your average small to medium size, middle American city.
[22:53] So then what do you think the average illegal alien who's been living in the U.S. more than five years is earning a year to support his American dream? Well, according to Panama's biggest newspaper, the average illegal alien who's been well-established in the United States brings home about $25,000 to $30,000 a year, tax free, of course, because they're getting paid in cash. So if they were on the tax rolls, they'd have to make about $50,000 a year to bring home that kind of money. So you figure it out. How is it possible that Latins still believe in the American dream? And yet every illegal immigrant still manages to send back about $100 a month, sometimes $200 in remissas, which they send back home to the family in Latin America.
[23:40] Oh, and here's another good statistic that just might blow your mind or even make you cry. Did you know that El Salvador, that little country where all those gang members seem to be coming from, you know, the famous Salvatrucha gang and such? Did you know that little El Salvador has a population of about six million? Well, according to the largest daily newspaper in San Salvador, the capital, I want you to guess how many illegal Salvadorians are living in the United States right now. It's an estimate, of course, but based on those remissa numbers, try 3 million. That means about half of the entire country of El Salvador has moved to the States. Illegally, of course. So what's that doing to your American dream?
[24:27] Are you all right with that? You know whose fault that is, you know? Yours, because you elected your lying shithead scumbag politicians and you keep electing them. And every time another election comes around, you believe the next guy's promises and you vote that jerk in too. So you got no one to blame but yourself. Like Jefferson said, you deserve the government that you get. And that's why most all long term expats believe that voting doesn't work. So you do the next best thing and you vote with your feet if you've got the nerve. Otherwise, you just go down with the ship. So what about all those illegal Salvadorians in your country? Of course, they're just Salvador's best and brightest, right? No, they're the poor, the desperate and the criminals.
[25:14] So you're all right with that, correct? Anyway, let me tell you what I've heard from some expats living in those border states. I'm talking about part time expats now who still have a house and land back up in Texas or Nevada or Arizona, who eventually plan on getting the hell out of the states completely when they can sell their property. If they can sell their property. What I've been hearing from the horse's mouth, people living there, is that US immigrations and customs service called ICE allows tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to cross the Texas border, then they're picked up and rounded up and brought to Phoenix. Then they're put on planes at your expense at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Then they're put on buses at your expense and deposited at various
[26:03] public transit sites, including Greyhound bus stations, believe it or not. Then local Phoenix law enforcement people will tell you that Mexican cartels who have a huge presence in that state show up at those bus stations and transportation centers. Then they recruit as many kids as they can, underage males and females. And you know, they're not very nice about it either for drug running, money laundering and sex trafficking. Now, something else that most people don't know and they don't want to know is that there's actually a train coming out of Nicaragua. It's called the Beast, by the way, La Bestia, the Beast. And Nicaraguans are just piled on this train, hanging on to each other on the top
[26:49] of the train, not just in it. And it's estimated that about 15 percent of the people who ride that train never make it to the states. They either die of dehydration or just disappear and no one hears from them again. Now, the fact is, five Latin journalists who heard about that stowed away on that train to see what it was like, one of them working for a paper in Miami, no less. And what they found out is that this train brings more than a half a million illegal aliens a year all by itself, just on that one train coming from Nicaragua. Anyway, this train meets up with other trains and network of trains in Mexico. Oops, we're pushing the end again, so we'll have to continue that next time. So stay tuned. You've been listening to The Expat Files,
[27:38] living in Latin America, coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border. Email me, theexpatfiles 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.