Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller explores a range of topics that are crucial for expats living in Latin America. The discussion begins with financial privacy and the use of credit and debit cards, focusing on how expats can protect their financial information from potential tracking by US authorities. Johnny highlights the growing popularity of UnionPay cards, noting their global acceptance, financial stability, and potential for anonymity. He also outlines how to apply for a UnionPay card and explains the IRS's awareness of foreign bank accounts without tracking specific transactions.
The episode then shifts to cultural norms in Latin America, particularly the traditional roles of men and women, the concept of machismo, and the societal acceptance of polygamous or polyamorous relationships among the upper middle class. Johnny references a personal anecdote from a famous Latin American emigre, highlighting the existence of secret mistresses and the societal norms that allowed such practices. He also touches on the differences between Latin and Western cultures, emphasizing that these customs are deeply rooted and not easily transferable to the US.
Johnny continues with a discussion on the cultural and societal norms of Latin men, particularly in the upper and middle classes, who often have multiple relationships and second families but do not support them financially. He shares a story about a Latin author who created a successful rum brand with the help of a French businessman, leading to his family's rise in the rum industry. Johnny also touches on the tragic murder of a Honduran beauty queen and her sister, attributing the crime to machismo and the presence of narco culture in Honduras. He emphasizes the dangers faced by young Latin women and the allure of dangerous men, even for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
The episode then delves into the challenges faced by young Latin women in lower and middle-class neighborhoods, particularly in relation to beauty pageants and the societal dynamics that influence their opportunities. Johnny highlights the economic barriers to participating in these pageants, the role of modeling schools and local support networks, and the contrast between the lives of girls from affluent backgrounds and those from poorer communities. He notes that most beauty pageant participants come from upper-middle-class families who can afford the costs associated with competing, while girls from lower classes often have to rely on community support to achieve success.
Finally, Johnny discusses the cultural and social dynamics in Latin America, focusing on the consequences of associating with 'bad boy' types and the dangers of misjudging local neighborhoods. He uses examples of individuals who tried to fit into upper-middle-class environments with low-class gangster behavior, resulting in social rejection and danger. Johnny references a tragic incident involving two girls and a violent man, suggesting that the tragedy was not random but a result of poor judgment and attraction to dangerous individuals. He concludes by promoting his expat wisdom seminar as a resource for expats to understand the complexities of living in Latin America.
Topics
Privacy and anonymity for expats, Use of UnionPay cards in Latin America, Financial tracking and the IRS, Setting up an anonymous corporation for banking, Global acceptance of UnionPay cards, Cultural norms in Latin America, Machismo and societal expectations, Polygamous or polyamorous relationships in Latin society, Differences between Latin and Western cultures, Cultural and societal norms of Latin men, Rum industry and entrepreneurship, Crime and machismo in Honduras
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:52 Privacy Concerns with Visa and MasterCard in Latin America 00:01:02 Using an Anonymous Corporation for Banking in Latin America 00:02:13 Introducing the UnionPay Card as an Alternative 00:02:39 UnionPay Card Acceptance and Usage in Latin America 00:03:33 UnionPay Card and Anonymity from US Tracking Systems 00:06:18 Introduction to the topic of international card usage and currency conversion rates 00:06:50 Transition to discussing cultural norms in Latin America 00:07:50 Discussion on the societal acceptance of machismo and polygamous relationships 00:09:38 Explanation of the prevalence of dual households and mistresses among Latin men 00:11:08 Johnny's commentary on the difficulty of transferring Latin customs to the US 00:12:44 Cultural Norms of Latin Men 00:13:15 The Rum Industry and Entrepreneurship 00:15:16 Crime and Machismo in Honduras 00:18:28 Safety and Allure of Dangerous Men in Latin America 00:18:49 The Pressure on Latin Women to Accept Attention from Wealthy Men 00:20:32 The Unusual Case of Miss Honduras from a Poor Family 00:23:47 The Financial Support Behind Beauty Pageant Success 00:24:39 The Social Rejection of Gangster Behavior in Upper-Middle-Class Environments 00:25:51 The Tragedy of Poor Judgment and Attraction to Dangerous Individuals 00:27:01 Promoting Expat Wisdom Seminars for Understanding Latin America
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border, down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now I wonder Hello there all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here So let's get started now just lately I've been getting a lot of emails from people asking me about using visa and MasterCard etc down here in Latin America and I know I spoke a lot about that on a Previous show however now some of these emails are asking me if there's a way to be
[00:48] Anonymous in using a visa or MasterCard bottom line Is there a way to use a debit or a credit card so that the US government in the IRS and the NSA? Doesn't know every little move you've made by tracking your purchases Well, as I said before if you come down here to Latin America and you open up a society anonymous Which is a local corporation that corporation can open a bank account and your bank account will get you a debit or credit card And you can be the signatory on that card and guess what unless there's a court order from the Latin country Your bank is located in no one's gonna get a hold of that information. And by the way court orders like that aren't Notoriously difficult to get down here in civil cases. So that's one of the cool things about having an essay corporation
[01:34] However, you know, it does take some money to open an essay corporation Maybe fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars one-time startup fee Then there's a yearly maintenance fee to keep up the tax records and the legal work in the country where you select to have your essay Corporation and that'll cost maybe five hundred to fifteen hundred a year depending on the country So you're looking at a fifty to a hundred dollar a month maintenance fee Forever or until you close the corporation and besides that it could take some weeks or a month or two to set up that Corporation and what if you're in a hurry? What if you're traveling down to Latin America for whatever reason and you want to kind of stay off the radar Well, here's option two and it's a very very good option You get yourself. What's called a union pay card either a debit or a credit card
[02:22] They've got a gold card and platinum card and all that. So have you heard of that yet? Well, if you haven't that's because it's a credit card that came out of China and is only in the last few years become worldwide And in fact, this union pay card business is bigger than visa and MasterCard so if you were traveling in Latin America or elsewhere in the world and you go up to an ATM machine and you see a Little union pay logo that means you can use that card in an ATM machine to draw out the local funny money from whatever country You're in or US dollar funny money And if you think this union pay card is just kind of a weak also run forget about it. They're accepted now in a 135 different countries and all over the place down here in Latin America So in effect if you're in Latin America or anywhere else and you walk into a restaurant
[03:12] Let's say and you see the usual suspects the Visa MasterCard American Express on the window or the door and you see that Union pay logo to you'll know what that's all about now. You'll see no Chinese or Mandarin writing on that logo It'll look like a typical American English kind of slogan So that's probably why you didn't realize it's come out of China But here's the real cool thing about it if you get one of these cards debit or credit or otherwise you are in effect Completely out of the US first world banking and customer tracking system So you're not tied in with big brother like you are with Visa and MasterCard bottom line if you have one of these cards You're pretty damn anonymous So then you might ask how secure are these union pay cards and once you set up one of these union pay accounts
[03:59] How safe is your money once deposited there to use for example as a source of funds for your debit card? Well, let me give you some facts here that show just how stable this card system is now recently from Bloomberg business week It says the union pay card system is so strong financially that there are over two point nine billion cards in circulation equal to over 45% of all the world's issued credit cards And then it says now accepted in over a hundred and thirty-five countries Union pay is now the number one credit card by volume and numbers in the world Surpassing formerly number one Visa card in 2013 So then you might ask how do I go about getting one of these cards?
[04:46] you just go to their website union pay international and you'll see you can apply right there online to any one of a hundred banks and Hallelujah, none of them first world US or European banks all of them located in Asian countries And you'll see four of them are in the Philippines seven in South Korea two in Cambodia five in Japan four in Thailand 15 in Hong Kong three in Singapore, etc, etc. They've even got four banks you can apply to in Vietnam So then according to the fat guns Finn Sen laws are they gonna report back to the US IRS? That you got a bank account in a foreign country why sure they will but there'll be absolutely no tracking of Where and when and how much you're using that card?
[05:32] I'm sure all you expat wannabes gonna bees and regular old expats can see the possibilities of using this card So again, look it up go to the website union pay international. It's all in English I know some expats that are using it already. They love it and believe me Practically every place that takes visa and master card down here in Latin America is now taking this credit card And of course ATMs to so as expat Eddie says why not give the flying middle finger award to visa and master card? They deserve it. Well, and one more thing if you go to their website and you click on the bottom of the page where it says Instructions for using your card overseas Well at first glance, you gotta wonder what they mean by overseas because all of these cards are issued in Asia
[06:18] So for us everything's overseas, right? Anyway, that's where you can get a list of countries and regions that accept that card And there's a massive list of all the ATM machine locations, too and also note on this page you'll see the currency conversion rates are between 1 and 2 percent and that Info is for if you're switching between currencies or you're buying things that are not in the original currency that you loaded your account with Anyway, check it out. It's a backdoor credit card play and you'll be impressed. Okay Now let's change gears a bit. If you recall in many shows I've mentioned how macho the Latin society really is and you won't really know how macho it is until you actually End up meeting and getting to know some of your neighbors now with my first world gringo style viewpoint on things including macho ism
[07:09] I've often wondered how Latin men and women really feel about that subject because although you do see and hear people hit on that Subject occasionally an op-ed pieces in the paper and stuff It's a very tiny contingent of so-called radical feminists who are journalists that bother to talk about it But since it's so entrenched no one really pays attention And by the way, it's not us gringos calling these ladies radical feminists It's Latin men that call them that because you see compared to radical feminists up in the first world These ladies are nothing but powder puffs So it's a subject that you hear almost no one ever talking about at home or in casual conversation Anywhere with any of the classes except occasionally you'll hear some woman mentioned that a guy's machista
[07:56] But that's about as far as it goes and believe me when a Latin woman says that about a man The guy has to have been extreme and way over the top. Anyway staying with that subject Here's a little brainteaser for you Allow me to read for you right now excerpt out of the autobiography of one of the most famous Latin American emigres to the US and After I read this I want you to try to guess who this guy is and here's something he had to say about his Grandfather who in the old country a Latin country was an upper middle class doctor And here's what this very famous Latin guy had to say about his grandpa He says quote my grandfather Don Desitario and Grandma Rosita had seven children when grandpa died
[08:43] He'd been retired for quite a while from being a doctor and had just spent most of his time at a little farm in Elcanay just outside San Diego what he called his Casa Chica Meaning little house in English. This is where his Mistress lived with his other seven or eight children and Whenever he heard that Grandma Rosita was coming down the road He said everybody out and they'd hide in the barn until my legitimate grandma left Then he goes on to say I'm sure grandma must have known but she never said a word and the mistress Never got upset about having to get out and hide
[09:29] Occasionally as long as my grandpa continued to love each of them and had cared for all his children equally Everyone was satisfied now the fact is having two houses and two sets of children was very very common among Latin men of means and Latin women understood this and didn't make a fuss about it Then he cites an article in the Los Angeles Times by David F. Belknap Date-lined San Diego, Chile October 1973 Back in the battle days when there was a military junta and there was a curfew set because a lot of people were Disappearing and he starts this Los Angeles Times article by quoting Chile's new curfew is
[10:16] Actually a boon for family life It's done more for marital fidelity in Chile in one month Then six months of hardcore Evangelism ever could that curfew by the way Inadvertently cut way way down on the time a man could spend at his little Casa Chica The house with the secret or not so secret mistress and the other kids So that little house with the mistress that a man would visit three or four times a week the curfew Mostly put an end to that So then our mystery writer comments about this LA Times article by saying quote Curfew aside frankly the custom of my grandfather's day is still going hard and strong in Latin America
[11:03] It's not however a way of life that you can easily or safely Carry into this country the USA too bad American girls do not seem to understand it boy And it's me again. Is that an understatement or what? Okay, now let's listen to what he says about Latin teenage boys He goes on by saying my uncle Salvador. I'm sure under the instructions from my father Took me to Casa Marina I was then 15 years old the dangerous age when you're no longer a child But still have quite a way to go before being considered a man now the Casa Marina was the finest whorehouse in San Diego And there I learned the whole deal Ladies of that house were all young and clean and treated me very kindly very nicely very tenderly and very expertly
[11:56] Sometimes I wonder perhaps if it's not better to educate a young boy Just like that instead of letting him get into a lot of trouble trying to find this stuff out for himself Then he says if your father a mother or a close relative as it was in my case was willing to guide you and help You with this first inevitable and major problem of your teens You would not be afraid or ashamed to go to him or her later for advice or with other problems Okay, so there you have it a real slice of Latin life from the upper middle class and again I'm not gonna tell you who wrote that you're gonna have to guess for yourself so if you think you've got the answer send me an email to the expat files at gmail.com and You know my comment on that passage as always is ladies gringas when you come down here
[12:44] Don't ever think you're gonna change these guys. It's a way of life firmly embedded in society So there you have it from the horse's mouth a snapshot of Latin men in the upper middle and wealthy classes now as for the middle And lower classes the difference there is that these men have their mistresses and second families and such But they don't support that second home. They could never afford to Anyway, I'll tell you who that Latin author is on the next show But first here's another hint I'll read another passage from this book that's gonna blow your mind this time in a completely different way He starts out this section of the book by saying my grandfather on my mother's side of the family Alberto was best friends and partners with a guy named Emilio now Emilio
[13:34] My grandfather's best friend was a lover of good wine He did not like the dark and heavy rum of Jamaica So with a small still and equipment in a little back shed that he built he began Experimenting with different mixtures of rum until he came up with an excellent and light very fine blend Actually, he was looking for a scotch type of drink a sipping kind of after dinner booze Which he tested out on friends that came over to the house after dinner He always offered them a small glass of his new concoction now soon Everybody was raving about it and guests started bringing empty coca-cola and beer bottles and filling up one day a French Salesman Enrique shoe was at the house and he sampled the rum, of course
[14:22] He immediately became enthusiastic and told Emilio to stop giving it away He said your drink is unique why not bottle it and it was done as it turned out the Frenchman became the business manager of the new rum company and financier Emilio made the rum and my grandfather Alberto who owned the two delivery mules Became the delivery and sales department at first He would load the mules with as many bottles of rum as he could fit in the cardboard boxes and sell them in Santiago and the nearby countryside when he died my grandfather was vice president of the Bacardi rum Corporation, okay, so there's your hint but note this Latin guy who wrote his autobiography His name was not Bacardi. That was just his grandfather's partner
[15:12] So while we're on the topic of macho Latin men This is a good time to talk about that tragic incident that happened with that Honduran beauty queen I'm sure you heard the sound bites up in the first world You heard of course that the new miss Honduras was brutally murdered along with her sister After a night at the disco in Tagusi gapa now all that stuff surely scares the crap out of any gringo Thinking that they might come down to Latin America and hang out in Honduras or perhaps anywhere in Latin America So what about it? You're thinking a girl like that miss Honduras who should be the pride of her country Gets blown away by some jealous boyfriend or whatever not to mention What was it six months ago now a former miss Venezuela who should also be the pride of her country and her husband were blown away
[16:02] In another senseless robbery turned bad. You remember I spoke about that on a past show anyway I'd like to mention a few things now that I'm sure you didn't know about this miss Honduran case The fact is you see I'm in out of Honduras all the time and I know intimately what it's like there So what you'll hear from me are not gruesome little sound bites But the real story that few people up north know and here it is Actually, what you probably heard was the two girls were found shot dead on a remote riverbank And the police said the sister's boyfriend confessed to the killing because he was in a jealous rage over his girlfriend Miss Honduras's older sister. She was 22 Anyway, she was caught red-handed dancing with oh my god another man So to write an embarrassing macho wrong and to save his pride her boyfriend
[16:52] Just had to kill her now that much of the story you might have heard that said first of all people in Honduras are saying This is not a crime of passion. It's a crime of machismo Now here's the thing the guy that killed these two girls his name was blue Tarko Ruiz Like I said, he was miss Honduras's older sister's boyfriend Now what the first world is not talking about is that this Ruiz guy was a very very bad guy And he always was in fact his brother was shot and killed this year, too Gun down in a restaurant in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It's a city I know quite well and sure it has some very bad areas But it has some very nice areas too, and if you're a smart gringo you just stay in those nice areas anyway
[17:40] Blue Tarko Ruiz's brother was gunned down with a bunch of guys carrying Ak-47s and what do you think that means? Narcos, of course So then you should ask yourself. What's this nice? 22 year old girl the older sister of Honduran beauty queen a grade school teacher No, less doing hanging around with narco guys in fact what you see down here occasionally are these big SUVs driving by filled with Uneducated armed tough-looking tattooed guys who are obviously narco's they're easy to spot They stick out like sore thumbs however. They'll never bother you and me. Why would they they're in their own little world And we're not in it. We don't want to be but the sad fact is the girls here in Latin America
[18:28] Especially the ones from the lower middle classes the poor girls find these guys dangerously attractive in fact I can't tell you the number of times I've spoken to a beautiful young latin girl who's told me that while occasionally Walking down the street every once in a while one of these big bad SUVs will pull up the guy will roll down the window ask for her name and number Try to make a date in if she refuses he'll hand her a business card and keep pushing until she gives in or just keeps Walking on that's just the way it goes down here when beautiful young Latin women have to take the chicken bus and walk around On their own ones that can't afford a taxi or don't have their own car Which is like 95% of them so think of it with all these attractive young Latin girls walking around and guys
[19:15] Pulling over and trying to hit on them some of these beautiful young girls who are living in tin shacks on the edge of poverty Give in to the temptation They rationalize it thinking these pompous jerks are an answer to get them out of the ghetto When by the way one beautiful latin girl told me that there are two types of guys that'll pull up in their big SUVs Narcos and you guessed it scumbag politicians on the make naturally now You have to know that no young latin woman wants to take the chicken bus or walk down the street in a middle or lower middle class neighborhood and Remember this is a society where you are what you drive and what you wear So enough of these women think that they could handle these guys when they go on dates with them and such that they never
[20:01] Realize that once they step into that car They're entering a whole new dangerous world and remember these guys have the money to wine them and dine them like they've never seen Before because hell they're living in tin shacks And if they're lucky working at McDonald's or clerking at a shoe store for 300 bucks a month a lot of especially lower Middle-class latin girls look at these guys as a way to get some status and get the hell out of their neighborhood Big mistake because once you're in that group, they won't let you out now The thing is this particular Miss Honduras is a strange case because she comes from the lower middle classes Which is highly unusual and what do I mean by that? Well, you should know that all the big beauty pageants the Miss universe the Miss world the Miss whatever country
[20:47] They just don't put ads in the paper saying if you're beautiful, come on down. We're having a casting. Nope It's not like that at all This is how it really works every big Latin American city has three or four or even ten modeling agencies or Modeling schools and those 20 or 30 girls you see up on the stage in that Miss Colombia, Venezuela or Paraguay pageant They've all gone to one of those modeling schools for six months or so and it cost real money for them They had to buy particular outfits that were necessary for the pageant and swimsuits and pay for professional makeup jobs Etc and lower middle-class girls even middle-class girls can't afford even the tuition for one of those modeling schools Which could be two or three thousand bucks plus all the dresses and accessories in the hairdos along the way
[21:38] In fact, one of these girls told me that just to win a local let's say Miss coffee Plantation pageant it sets a girl back at least 500 bucks Buying the proper colored dresses and swimsuits and the hairdos and the makeup and the transportation and such you have to pay for that So in effect the modeling schools submit the candidates. It's not open casting So for example a girl that wins the Miss Honduras title She's won eight or nine much smaller pageants in the area to kind of build up her resume and for every one of those She dished out maybe four or five hundred bucks middle-class and lower middle-class families could never afford that So then how did this particular Miss Honduras coming from a very poor family? And you could see that on television because when they went to the house to interview her mother man
[22:27] That house was really low class cold water flat. No windows tin roof You know the story a real low-class dump not the kind of neighborhood. I'd ever recommend a gringo walkthrough So then how did she beat those odds? How did she get in the big game coming from a poor family with no dough? Well, you see on a rare occasion a neighborhood or a tiny town that has a very beautiful girl in it We'll actually take up a collection within the local businesses and pitch in and pay for some of those expenses I was talking about in other words She'll have some grass roots local supporters who see that if she's a real special case as she starts winning those little school Pageants when she's very young. She'll pick up more local donations from hardware stores and 7-elevens and such
[23:13] That's how poor girls in rare cases make it to the big time Now remember a girl from a poor family like that is usually throwing her meager paycheck in with the family pot Along with the brothers and sisters and mom and dad so at least at first She's not gonna quit school or quit her job at McDonald's to take a frivolous six-month beauty course That might cost a half-year salary for her dad So like I said, this is the unusual case I only know of one other girl who that's ever happened to so anyway These beautiful Latin girls you see in the Miss world and the Miss universe pageants and such They've all got parents who've dished out that kind of money So they're almost always from the upper middle classes and believe me girls from the upper middle classes are not
[23:58] Hanging around with narcos guys with a k-47s and tattoos their parents owned businesses and convenience stores and Fire outlets, etc. And they're footing the bill for all those little extras It takes to win one of those beauty pageants So most of these young girls have been winning local contests like that since age 14 They don't have to work. They don't have to worry where the money's coming from cuz daddy and mommy are footing the bill However in low-class neighborhoods when a big black SUV drives through Everybody takes notice that that's the cool guy and that's the guy to emulate Whereas in upscale areas where the upper middle class folks hang out like high-end malls and health clubs, etc When a big-ass SUV rolls in and a rough-looking bodyguard jumps out
[24:45] There look down upon because they obviously don't fit in with the neighborhood or the class of people For example, if one of these show off low-class gangster types pulls in with his bulletproof SUV to a Gold's Gym parking lot Walks in and tries to sign up for a membership Well, guess what? He'll stick out like a sore thumb and won't get any of the respect He's used to getting in a poor neighborhood No one will be a strand and no one will even give him the time of day and upper middle-class Latin women want Nothing to do with a guy like that in a situation like that They're considered uncouth show-offs that no one will take seriously and believe me They feel that so they do not tend to hang around in those areas They stick to the poor areas where people suck up to him. You get what I mean?
[25:31] So to some poor girls, these guys are a way out, but really it's jumping from the frying pan into the fire Oh and just one more thing about miss hon Doris's older sister The one that got blown away first in that jealous rage before she was going out with the boyfriend that eventually killed her She had another boyfriend who he himself was a narco who was shot and killed in 2013 So come on. Don't believe this so-called tragedy is about random acts of violence. It's not it's about random acts of Stupidity on the part of these girls and to add to their exceedingly bad judgment There's more this blue taco guy that killed both these girls His brother David was another bad boy shot and killed last February again proving that certain idiot women love bad boys
[26:17] But there's more get this this Reese guy the guy that killed the girls He was known to be accompanied by six bodyguards bottom line This guy was the worst kind of macho dick you could imagine and miss hon Doris and her sister They were just stupid idiots who obviously were impressed by the bad boy image and culture Still feeling sorry for those girls You know that old saying no matter how clean you are if you play in the toilet You're gonna get some crap on you bottom line when you decide to come down to Latin America You have to know the good the bad and the ugly neighborhoods There are plenty of safe good neighborhoods by the way and one of the best ways to get smart about that subject is to come Down to my expat wisdom seminar in January 2015 go to expat wisdom comm click on the seminar link for full details
[27:09] You won't want to miss this one by the way on our boots on the ground portion We will be checking out the good the bad and the ugly neighborhoods and you'll get to see firsthand Exactly what I've been talking about all these years on this show So if you don't have a plan B and you want some unforgettable expat pointers and tips come on down I've still got a few spots left south of the border You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me the expat files at gmail.com and don't forget to check out expat wisdom comm to sign up for your free Reports on Latin America. See you next time. No sway most