Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into the complex and often controversial topic of spousal abuse and partner abuse in Latin American societies. He highlights the cultural norms and societal attitudes that shape these dynamics, including the preference for a young, unwed pregnant daughter in the family over a divorce. Johnny contrasts the cultural norms of Latin America with those of North America, emphasizing the differences in how men and women are treated and how emotional expressions, such as crying, are perceived. He further illustrates these points with personal anecdotes and observations, including the prevalence of religious imagery in Latin homes and the role of soap operas in reflecting and reinforcing these cultural attitudes.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller recounts a story about Eddie, an expat, and his experiences in Latin America. He describes how Eddie initially had a significant 'gringo advantage' due to his looks and not speaking Spanish, which made Latin women more reserved around him. Johnny also discusses the cultural perception of clear eyes (blue, green, or gray) as a desirable trait, often associated with Nordic genetics. He highlights the social dynamics, including the importance of eye color, the challenges of divorce for Latin women, and the prevalence of spousal abuse and 'crimes of passion' in the region. Johnny emphasizes the cultural differences and the need for expats to adjust their expectations and thought processes when engaging in relationships with Latin people.
Johnny Mueller discusses the dynamics of romantic relationships between gringos and Latin women, highlighting the cultural differences in jealousy and expectations. He references Ex-pat Eddie's relationship with Beyonce, a runway model from El Salvador, and how Eddie's non-confrontational nature and wealth have influenced their dynamic. Johnny also touches on the broader context of jealousy in Latin America, comparing it to first-world jealousy, and discusses the prevalence of spousal abuse, noting that while it's illegal, it's often not prosecuted or condemned by the public. He concludes by referencing historical context, such as Carole King's song 'He Hit Me and It Felt Like a Kiss,' to illustrate the social lag in feminist movements in Latin America.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the concept of 'social lag time' for first-world women, suggesting they are 30 to 40 years behind in feminist and equal rights activism. He then shifts to a news story about a large food stamp fraud bust in Florida, where over 500 fake IDs were used to defraud the US government of over $13 million in less than two years. Most of the individuals involved were illegal aliens from Latin America. Johnny uses this as a segue to encourage expats to consider voting with their feet and moving to a more stable location, such as the altiplano region, where he is hosting an expat seminar. He also highlights the issue of stolen passports, particularly in the context of ISIS and other groups using counterfeit European passports to infiltrate Europe and other regions. He notes the ease with which these fake passports can be used to cross borders and the potential devaluation of EU passports due to the high number of stolen documents.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the declining value of European passports due to increased restrictions and the rise in stolen or fake passports from the European Economic Community. He highlights that non-European passports, particularly from Latin American and Caribbean countries, are becoming more valuable. He warns about the U.S. State Department's new policy that could revoke passports for delinquent tax debts and emphasizes the importance of obtaining a second passport for expats. Johnny also outlines various options for acquiring a second passport, including cost-effective and time-based residency programs in Latin American countries.
Topics
Spousal Abuse and Partner Abuse in Latin America, Cultural Norms and Societal Attitudes, Religious Influence in Latin Homes, Contrast Between Latin and North American Cultures, Cultural perceptions of eye color in Latin America, Social dynamics between gringos and Latin people, Challenges of divorce for Latin women, Prevalence of spousal abuse and crimes of passion, Adjusting expectations for expats in Latin America, Cultural differences in jealousy and relationships, Spousal abuse and its legal status in Latin America, Social lag in feminist movements in Latin America
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:01:23 The Preference for a Pregnant Daughter Over Divorce 00:01:50 The Rise of Divorce Rates in Latin America 00:02:51 The Contradiction Between Religious Influence and Divorce Rates 00:06:43 The Macho Culture and Emotional Expression in Latin America 00:07:54 Eddie's Gringo Advantage and the Role of Eye Color 00:11:04 Crimes of Passion and the Prevalence of Spousal Abuse 00:11:40 Cultural Dynamics in Romantic Relationships Between Gringos and Latin Women 00:14:44 Normalization of Spousal Abuse and Domestic Violence in Latin America 00:17:19 Historical Context and Social Lag in Feminist Movements in Latin America 00:17:54 Food Stamp Fraud and Illegal Aliens 00:18:52 Expat Seminar and Relocation Advice 00:20:02 Stolen Passports and Security Concerns 00:23:30 Decline in Value of European Passports Due to Restrictions and Stolen Passports 00:24:17 Importance of Acquiring a Second Passport Amidst U.S. Passport Revocation Policies 00:26:06 Affordable Citizenship and Passport Options in the Caribbean and 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 Okay, let's talk about some Latin sociology How about the lively sometimes deadly subject of spousal abuse and or partner abuse? I guess that's the politically correct way to say it because then it covers both ladies and gentlemen and those who fall in between
[00:46] Alright now for some personal observations You'll never be able to verify unless you've been down here perhaps a decade or so and speak halfway decent Spanish All right riddle me this Batman. Why is it that every divorced Latin woman? I've spoken to when Mentioning her divorce that is if you can get her to level with you You'll find there's two main reasons and you'll only get her to level with you if you've known her a while and you speak Spanish Now the fact is as far as dirty little family secrets go in Latin American society turns out having a young unwed pregnant daughter in the family is Infinitely preferable to having a divorce in the family In fact when a young unwed daughter gets pregnant at first there's some outrage But after a few days it seems like everyone in the family's pleased as punch
[01:35] Even the macho father head of the household who when she spilled the beans was talking about loading up the shotgun Then suddenly later in the week. He's busting his buttons telling everybody he's gonna be a grandpa I don't get it most all of us gringos don't get it then again We don't get a lot of things including the fact that divorce rates are skyrocketing In fact when I got down here 20 some years ago the forces were almost unheard of and now it's as if there's one in Every family seems strange because it is such a very Christian society and divorces are well taboo You'd think right oh and it might surprise you to know that in most every middle-class Latin house There's a room or a corner table a kind of a shrine devoted to religious artifacts So be aware that when you're walking through a middle-class or even upper middle-class Latin's house
[02:22] And you're stumbling around looking for the bathroom and remember most Latin houses are woefully under lit So believe me you will be stumbling around look out because you just might bump into a statue of Jesus Mary and Joseph Look out for those candles at the shrine too They're often lit not to mention I've been in many middle and upper middle-class Latin houses where they've got tile mosaic religious scenes Strategically placed around the house which is an obvious testament as to how Christian the society is yet Divorces are starting to skyrocket So you're going to run into divorce people more and more and as for divorced women You know they don't like to talk about it, but once they get to know you a little bit They do open up at least they do to me I think I've got that kind of face people want to tell their problems to that said I found out
[03:09] They pretty much all have two things in common the obvious he cheated on her number two. He popped her I mean as in bruises and blood and it's not just a one-time fluke either usually It's multiple beatings, and did you know that a woman under those conditions down here will almost always forgive her guy You see unlike normal North American guys who generally will not hit a woman because they were brought up right or out of respect Or perhaps they just don't want to get thrown into the slammer The fact is down here it seems to be family business as usual You've of course heard of that fiery Latin temper people talk about all the time Latin guys will put on the most amazing show of remorse after the hangover They'll even get on their knees beg for forgiveness and actually cry big old crocodile tears, too
[03:58] And the ladies fall for it for a while anyway and to a point it is kind of a universal thing You know when a guy cries in front of a woman she really takes notice Now I may have mentioned a while back that in my old neighborhood back in Chicago mostly waspy neighborhood The average adult male would admit to crying maybe three or four times in his life one when his mother dies to when he's passing A rather large kidney stone and three if he's hit just right and just hard enough in the balls Which is so very different from the Latin male Population who can turn on those crocodile tears at a drop of a hat And if you don't believe it get your boots on the ground down here make friends with your cleaning lady or talk to an average Latin housewife and ask her how many times her man has cried in front of her or just flick on Latin TV
[04:50] To any of the soap opera channels and watch those perpetually unfaithful Antonio Banderas types get on their knees and cry to their wives and girlfriends After they've been caught sleeping with the cleaning lady or maintenance guy's daughter or both in fact many times I've been sitting in front of a television because they're on in all the Latin living rooms and some Repentant guy like that is crying in the soap opera and I'll turn to the ladies in the room and say you know what? That would never happen up in the States and I'd really mean it and they'd really not get it So I'd drop it with no further explanation wouldn't help now one time maybe 10 or 12 years ago when expat Eddie came down for the first time and was still sleeping on my couch That was a few years before he struck it rich in the franchise restaurant business down here now
[05:39] That was a much simpler time when his Latin runway model girlfriend was content to have a blue-eyed gringo boyfriend and a 10 year old Nissan Centra that got them from point a to be just fine. Oh For the good old days now a half a dozen years later She's got the blue-eyed gringo a bulletproof SUV a driver a cleaning lady and a bodyguard Anyway, one day after he first came down Remember we were sitting around and the TV was on the cleaning lady was glued to the TV watching her soap opera Then Eddie turned to me and said look that guy's a grown man and he's crying and there's no funeral He's got a wife and he's impregnated the next-door neighbor and he's screwing around with the cleaning lady. He can't be gay I said Eddie get used to it and these soap operas the men are always screwing around and then crying their way out of it
[06:28] Then Eddie said I'll bet it's an all-female writing staff and I said, maybe maybe not But it is a real reflection of Latin life Not the soap opera setup the part about everybody being filthy rich beautiful and no one's got a job But the part about the macho guys hitting on everybody and getting on their knees and crying when they get caught and still when I Told it to Eddie. He didn't believe it till he'd been down here a couple of years and saw enough of it for himself Oh, and by the way when expat Eddie first got down here He was like me didn't know a lick of Spanish and being well off the gringo tourist trail the Latin ladies and girls were always very reserved polite even timid around him and I and Why was that? well when you're off the gringo tourist trail only about one in 20 Latins have actually spoken a single word to a gringo and
[07:19] That's mostly because off the tourist trail gringos don't know Spanish and Latinos Don't speak English. Anyway at that time I knew my Spanish already Eddie didn't and we'd run into Latin ladies here and there and they'd asked me discreetly if Eddie was single By the way on the North American look ism scale. I'd rate Eddie at a solid 7.5 out of 10 and myself a 6 But back to the Latin ladies and their comments about Eddie In fact, one of them said that she thought Eddie was the perfect combination of patience Humility and blue eyes and you know, he'd get that kind of thing all the time Bottom line when Eddie first came down his gringo advantage was massive and he didn't even know it How could he he didn't know the culture and he didn't speak Spanish same thing happened to me
[08:04] Except of course the first two and a half years. I was down living in Costa Rica on the gringo tourist trail So anyway getting back to the story the young lady asked me discreetly if Eddie was single and then she said he was Just a perfect combination of something or another then she added blue eyes Yep, you'll find out the blue eyed thing down here is of huge importance to people Remember guys and gals if you have blue or what they call clear eyes that could be blue green or gray or sky colored Latinas automatically think you've got a Brad Pitt or a Chris Helmsworth gene stuck deep down in you somewhere and Latin guys Think you gringo ladies with clear eyes have Taylor Swift or a Kate Moss gene in there somewhere Therefore they think if they mate with you There's a good chance your children will be tall blonde blue eyed and Nordic looking
[08:53] I know I know sounds rather Hitler esque, but hey, I'm just doing some social reporting here So just remember this aside from everything else if you have clear eyes That's oh hos claro's in Spanish. You automatically get two points added to your score again I was a six on that scale back in the state So I'm an eight down here which puts Eddie up at a nine and a half. How about that? so anyway down here in Latin America you get two points for clear eyes and you get an extra point or two for just being a Gringo or gringa why fight it? Oh and just one last thing about divorce ladies Always telling the story about being slapped and knocked around by their exes for months even years It always begs the question. Why just stay around and the answers are always the same
[09:39] Well, where was I gonna go? What am I gonna do? Most Latin women don't have careers? So how are they gonna support themselves and their kids? Since when they split the guy almost never keeps up with a court-ordered child support and there's little enforcement down here, too In fact, it's a lot like the states back in the 50s and the 60s before women's lib and the equal rights movements Oh and about that physical one to ten point system that everyone around the world seems to be using Note that it's not always about adding points when a gringo or gringo comes down here to Latin America You do lose points occasionally, too For example, if you're on the gringo tourist trail like Costa Rica Panama parts of Mexico, etc You could subtract one or two points from the score at least the locals will anyway because they're viewing you as nothing But a dollar sign at least when they first meet you
[10:27] Oh and one final thing about this spousal and partner abuse thing Sometimes the lady in the relationship gives as good as she gets remember This is Latin America and there is such a thing as a hot Latin temper in both males and females that rings a bell I'm sure however in the newspaper when you see these crimes of passion will almost always be at least 95% of the time the guy offing his wife or a guy doing away with a romantic rival that's hitting on his wife or girlfriend or Possibly a guy doing away with his rival and his wife or his wife and himself or his girlfriend lots of combinations down here And you see it in the papers quite a bit. Yes, you could say crimes of passion are on steroids down here In fact one Latin friend of mine a married guy once told me there's nothing that pisses off
[11:15] Married guy more than another guy paying a little too much attention to his wife or girlfriend And that's coming from a married Latin guy. Who's a serial cheater, by the way Anyway for all you guys and gals up in Cleveland Just remember if you're voting with your feet and you come down here if you get involved in a love relationship with a Latin person You've got to rearrange your thought processes a little bit and by the way since we're on this kind of forbidden subject I've been told by a number of my Latin male friends that when a gringo guy hooks up with the Latin lady There's almost no chance that she'll ever want to date Latin guys again and vice versa Oh and speaking of Latin gringo love and romance situations for everyone who's sending me emails asking me more or less how Ex-pat Eddie's doing in that department with his runway model Beyonce if you've been paying attention to past shows
[12:05] You know that she came from the Latin middle classes in El Salvador and Eddie because he's really a nice guy and non Confrontational has a hard time saying no and a sucker for a pretty face. I might add well It took some years, but little by little she's now kind of morphed into what you might call high maintenance first world style Of course Eddie's gringo friends see that and it kind of rubs them the wrong way But I believe I'm the only one who really rubs it in his face in a joking kind of way But I still do it well You know Eddie has enough money he doesn't complain in fact He says when he first came down to Latin America with five thousand bucks of his mother's money in his pocket He just thought he'd start a little business and live an upscale backpacker's life forever That would have suited him fine, but since his business took off like a rocket. He says so what if I spoiler big deal
[12:55] That's what money's for now being that Eddie is humble and has infinite patience He almost never blows his top never gets mad in fact I remember his girlfriend once saying to me doesn't Eddie ever get pissed off Sometimes I just like to punch him in the face to get a reaction She said I've never known a guy like that. He doesn't even get jealous Remember she's a beautiful runway model and every guy in the Latin world is trying to hit on her and Eddie just kind of shrugs His shoulders and blows it off. He knows that's gonna happen It's like bees to honey and Latin girls You know they're used to getting all that extra attention from every guy in the world But still Eddie doesn't get jealous and she gets awful rattled about that now I know Eddie and he probably gets a little jealous, but he just doesn't show it remember. He's a low-key guy
[13:40] He says they've had a long-running argument about it turns out He said she keeps saying he doesn't really love her because he never gets mad when other guys hit on her because you see in Latin America the jealousy factor is very prominent in the love equation So if you come down here, and you end up in a relationship look out for that now of course I'm not saying that first-world guys and gals don't get jealous sure we do But we're scaled way down compared to Latin's it's jealousy on steroids versus jealousy on Prozac You know throughout Latin America people always say there are a lot worse things than infidelity and being beat up occasionally by your spouse There's that little dirty secret called incest I know we mentioned it in the past show and we'll talk more about it in the future, but not now
[14:26] But the fact is down here even though spousal abuse is illegal I mean you know you can take someone to court for that But it's rarely done meaning it's rarely prosecuted unless someone ends up in the hospital or is killed now those Spousal abuse is totally illegal. It's not necessarily condemned by the general public Oddly enough even a good percentage of women feel that way Jealousy passion and violence are part of that love and relationship thing down here in fact till just a few short years ago throughout Latin America Domestic violence did not even exist in the penal codes in fact if you talk to most Latin cops They'll say that when they show up at homes where domestic violence has been reported their attitude is well What else is new it happens in every family again?
[15:11] It's so taken for granted that when a man is a bit violent towards his woman here in Latin America It's almost always assumed to be slightly excessive or aggressive passion in fact even Educated Latin women who call themselves feminists have a hard time with the concept because generally they've seen their own fathers Slap around their mothers or their brothers rough up their own girlfriends or wives Like one young Latin woman told me her dad would often grab her mother by the wrists and squeeze so tightly that he'd leave bruises Then on the other hand she'd say but my mother is high-strung and excitable It was probably the only way he could calm her down Hmm, and that coming from a college-educated lady with a degree in get this Psychology don't get me wrong It's not like spousal abuse is a full-blown epidemic down here in Latin America a well-hidden sort of
[16:01] Pandemic maybe but you won't see women walking around with black guys and bruises all over in fact one of the emergency room Residents had a big first-world hospital down here told me that they see quite a few bruising battered young women come through Being brought in by the spouse or boyfriend who did it to them and he said unlike the US They're not required to report spousal abuse to the authorities and if they did he said no one would do anything about it Anyway, unless again the person was severely injured or killed besides He said after the patient's been taken care of and calmed down most often they're back to being lovey-dovey again He said he remembered one guy saying to him don't worry doc I'll just buy her a new pair of shoes and by the time she walks out of the store. She'll have forgotten about it Come on ladies. What do you think about that?
[16:47] Now before you go ballistic and say I'm never going down to Latin America think about this back in the 60s Famous singer-songwriter Carole King who had the biggest selling solo album in history up to that time called tapestry in the early 60s she actually wrote a hit song for the famous girl group the crystals now get this song title He hit me and it felt like a kiss go ahead look it up now Imagine someone like Beyonce or Taylor Swift writing a song like that today. Come on So again, all you first world ladies out there. Just remember what we're really talking about is social lag time here Probably around 30 to 40 years behind in the feminist slash equal rights women's social activism department
[17:33] Okay, moving on somebody just sent me this article the largest food stamp fraud bust in history It says in a small produce market in Florida 500 fake IDs were made up Therefore 500 phantom people were able to collect food stamps defrauding the US government out of over 13 million bucks in Less than two years. So what does this have to do with anything? Well get this More than half the people involved were illegal aliens from guess where Latin America and here are some of the names of the people That have been busted so far Carla Rodriguez Diaz redeemed over 2.4 million between 2014 and 2016 Pedro Sanchez Barreo racked up 2 million in food stamp theft
[18:20] Dociana Castro 1.5 million stolen Ronaldo Arteaga 1.2 million stolen Mikkel Manuel Revoa 1 million Jose Antonio Gonzalez another million do Selena Castro a million Lucy Don Hernandez Gonzales 600,000 Fernando Fernandez Garcia half a million and Non and on and on so I say don't get mad. Don't get even you don't even have to hate your government So as your way of life up north slowly gets trashed and goes down the toilet You've got one very cool option. You can vote with your feet. Come on How many more reasons do you need to get that plan B started? You know There is a way to get a two four even five year head start on that plan B by coming down to my July
[19:05] 2016 expat insider seminar Most of it will be held way off the gringo tours trail to right smack in the middle the altiplano region I'm always talking about where it's spring-like weather all year round. You really have to see it to believe it Just go to the new expat calm and click on Johnny's 2016 seminar link at the top of the page And don't forget if you're coming down do try to make extra time to go to one of the pre or post seminar tours Featuring the famous John Galt who will be hand-holding you through the whole adventure By the way, if you check out my youtube channel Just go to youtube and type the expat files in the search box Then click on the very first image which would be Santa in the Sun and funds sucking on a drink and a hammock then you'll see an ordered list of all my youtube shows up there as
[19:54] Well as a brand new short video by John Galt highlighting his pre and post seminar trip. So do check it out. You'll like it Okay, now I want to bring a crisis to your attention and I'm sure you haven't heard of before. Yeah, like we need another crisis Anyway, pay attention all you guys and gals getting that plan B together and who are eventually planning to vote with your feet Take heed because this reports called stolen passports It starts by saying in the wake of the attacks on Paris by Isis last November Reports have now surfaced that the attackers had entered the European Union using stolen or counterfeit Syrian passports, it's well known among the refugees that Syrian passports are particularly valuable because numerous European Union countries, especially Germany give precedence to asylum seekers who have Syrian passports
[20:46] What's less well known though, is that literally millions of European passports have gone missing in the recent years That's not a misprint Millions have gone missing indeed according to reports from Sweden's Interior Ministry in 2013 alone nearly 900,000 EU passports went missing from just four northern European countries 44,700 went missing from Germany 195,000 from Denmark 177,000 from Sweden and 44,000 from Finland and that's just for the year 2013 alone, then it says according to Interpol almost 40 million travel documents were reported
[21:34] Lost or stolen between 2002 and 2013 40 million of course not all of these were missing passports from the European Union and the vast majority of the individuals Purchasing these documents weren't terrorists But individuals fleeing conflict zones in Syria and other countries are simply seeking what they call a better life in another first world country Still the numbers are staggering New evidence suggests ISIS and other groups are using counterfeit European passports to infiltrate Europe and Central and South America Object being the United States through Mexico in December police in Kosovo arrested seven men and seized Thousands of fake EU passports and other EU identity documents in recent weeks
[22:23] Dozens of Syrians have been apprehended in Latin America and the Caribbean countries carrying fake Greek passports The asking price for a fake Greek passport in the back alleys of Athens is now a mere 3000 US dollars and Get this they're so good that they'll generally allow the carrier to pass through land border immigration checkpoints Keep in mind that a fraudulent passport doesn't simply convey a new name and identity for a person using it It also conveys the appearance of citizenship in the country supposedly issuing the passport in the case of European passports A person carrying a German Danish Swedish or other EU passport can cross every border in most of Europe without further screening or Document scanning furthermore with the EU passport that person also has the right to enter the US
[23:14] Canada and over a hundred other countries visa-free with only a cursory background check So as a result of all those millions of stolen first world passports It's certain that in the next few months that turn of events is likely to significantly Reduce the value of holding an EU passport. In fact many countries around the world are now discussing restrictions for people holding European passports For example with some countries no longer providing visa-free entry for people holding those European passports Conversely that will boost the intrinsic value of non-european passports Notably Latin American and certain Caribbean country passports So the fact is these hundreds of thousands even millions of fake and stolen
[24:02] Passports are coming mostly from the European economic community Whereas in Latin American and Caribbean countries only a very very small percent are stolen or counterfeited so it says bottom line if you're a US person seeking a Second citizenship and passport it's more important than ever that you make plans to acquire one Remember the US State Department just recently enacted a law that says they can revoke your passport if you have a seriously delinquent tax debt So what's seriously delinquent? Well right now They're saying $50,000 which of course the US government will change when they feel like it to fit their agenda And if that happens to you You won't be able to leave the US and if you're living or traveling outside the US at the time You won't be able to leave the country you're in at the time the US revokes your passport
[24:50] In fact if you're stuck in another country without a valid passport You might even be deported to the US the minute they discover for example If you're trying to buy an airline ticket or going over a land border that your passport is invalid Still there's another reason you should get a second passport Just in case the US president lacks the country down and puts heavy restrictions on travel Which by all accounts seems to be in our imminent future So finally understand with this massive stolen European passport crisis inevitably making these passports much less desirable That doesn't mean if you qualify for a fast-track European passport For example by virtue of Europe Irish or Italian ancestry by all means if you qualify try to get one after all
[25:36] It won't cost you much Maybe just a trip to the old country on the other hand purchasing for example a European Maltese Citizenship in return for a six hundred fifty thousand dollar investment or contribution by the way instant legal passport programs Like that are available with some EU passport programs exceeding a million dollars However now those kinds of expensive instant passport programs are no longer that desirable anymore by the way in the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Caribbean a single applicant can acquire citizenship and passport for a total outlay of about $140,000 Wow all I've got to say is who's got that kind of money sure You can fork out the big dough and buy yourself an instant passport legally
[26:23] However, if you have more time than money Why not come down to one of the other Latin American countries like for example Honduras Paraguay Peru Colombia Guatemala even Panama where you may have to make only a thirty to fifty thousand dollar investment or less or have a pension or Social Security to qualify for a permanent residency leading to citizenship and passport in about five years and Easier yet if you're still short you don't have that kind of dough or a pension or Social Security coming in you can go to a country Like Guatemala apply for temporary residency without any income requirements at all Then after a year and a half to two years as a temporary resident and by the way You only have to be in the country one day a year You won't have to prove any income source at all if you're moving from temporary to permanent residency
[27:11] However, if you go right to permanent residency You'll have to prove some sort of income like Social Security pension or make a minimum Investment in the country of thirty to fifty thousand bucks could be a house business property even a CD in a bank And of course, you'll find out all about that in great detail at my July 2016 expat insider seminar 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 if you want me to help you sort out your own Latin American plans schedule a one-on-one Consult with me just send an email and let me know at the expat files at gmail.com. No spamos