Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller explores the safety and crime landscape in Latin America, focusing on Central and South America. He discusses the higher crime rates in Central America, the impact of narco-trafficking, and the importance of maintaining a low profile for expats. Johnny also compares crime statistics between Central and South America, highlighting the relative safety of countries like Costa Rica and Uruguay. He shares personal anecdotes and real-life experiences to provide insight into the challenges expats face in the region.
Johnny highlights that Central America is statistically more dangerous than the United States, with expats facing a three to four times greater risk of being robbed, assaulted, or murdered. He explains that Central America is a major narco-trafficking corridor between South America and the U.S., contributing to high levels of gang violence and murders. He shares a personal experience of witnessing a violent attack on a bus in El Salvador, where two men in police uniforms opened fire, leaving behind bullet casings and broken glass. The local newspapers reported the incident inaccurately, omitting details about the armed attackers, suggesting that the event was likely a gang-related hit.
He also discusses the high levels of crime and violence in Central America, particularly highlighting the gang-on-gang violence and the dangers for expats. He warns about the importance of keeping a low profile and the risks associated with having children, as they are often targets for kidnapping. He shares a story about an expat friend who faced a dangerous situation due to road rage, emphasizing the need for expats to manage their temper. Additionally, he recounts a humorous anecdote about a neighbor in Venezuela whose cows frequently entered an expat's neighborhood, leading to ongoing maintenance issues and a confrontational relationship with the farmer.
Johnny recounts a series of incidents that highlight the dangers expats face in Central America, particularly due to local violence and the ineffectiveness of law enforcement. He describes a situation where he was shot at by a local farmer who resented the loss of grazing rights on land that had been sold to developers. He also shares a previous experience of being robbed at a Burger King in Nicaragua, emphasizing the lack of safety and the prevalence of crime in the region.
In another segment, Johnny recounts an incident where he was robbed by a young man with a gun. The thief pointed to his fanny pack and demanded his money, which Johnny had in a standard-issue fanny pack. Despite the thief's English being good, Johnny was too stunned to react properly and gave up his passport but kept his money. After the robbery, Johnny confronted the on-duty guard at the Burger King, who was unresponsive and claimed he wasn't supposed to leave the parking lot. Johnny made a scene in front of the Burger King workers, which eventually led to the manager and others joining him to search for the thief. Johnny found his fanny pack hanging from a branch in the bushes.
He also shares a personal experience of having his belongings stolen while traveling, highlighting the importance of vigilance and the unexpected benefits of standing up for oneself. He then transitions into a broader discussion about crime in Central America, comparing it to the United States and noting that Costa Rica stands out as a relatively safer option for expats and tourists, though it has its own unique set of challenges.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses the differences in crime and violence between Costa Rica and other Central American countries, attributing these differences to historical events such as coups, civil wars, and military dictatorships. He highlights that Costa Rica's decision to eliminate its army in 1945 led to a peaceful democratic path, resulting in a lower level of violence compared to its neighbors. He also contrasts the migration patterns of Central and South Americans, noting that South Americans tend to migrate to Europe, while Central Americans often end up as undocumented immigrants in the United States, contributing to high crime rates in those cities. Johnny concludes by noting that South America has lower crime rates overall, with exceptions in countries like Venezuela, Brazil, and rural Colombia.
Topics
Safety in Latin America, Crime and insecurity in Central America, Expatriate experiences in Latin America, Narco-trafficking and its impact on crime, Personal anecdotes and real-life experiences, Crime and violence in Central America, Safety for expats, Kidnapping risks, Road rage and expat behavior, Neighbor relations in Venezuela, Expats in Central America, Violence and crime in Central America and Latin America in general (including the U.S.) and the ineffectiveness of law enforcement in the region, land disputes, and the importance of maintaining a low profile for expats to avoid personal threats and dangers such as being robbed, shot at, or targeted for kidnapping, especially for expats with children, and the importance of vigilance and standing up for oneself in the face of theft and crime, the importance of not acting like a typical tourist and avoiding fast food places, the prevalence of theft on public buses, known as 'chicken buses', in Latin America, the comparison of crime rates between Central America and the United States, noting that while crime rates are high, they are not significantly worse than in some U.S. cities like Cleveland, Atlanta, and Detroit, the relative safety of Costa Rica for expats and tourists, though it has its own unique set of challenges, the differences in crime and violence between Costa Rica and other Central American countries, attributing these differences to historical events such as coups, civil wars, and military dictatorships, and the decision of Costa Rica to eliminate its army in 1945 leading to a peaceful democratic path, avoiding the use of military force to suppress dissent or trample human rights, which was common in other Central American countries, the migration patterns of Central and South Americans, noting that South Americans often migrate to Europe, while Central Americans tend to migrate to the United States, where they often become part of gangs and contribute to high crime rates in major cities, the safety of South America for expats, highlighting that while certain areas like Brazil, Venezuela, and rural Colombia are dangerous, most of the continent is relatively safe, the comparison of crime statistics between South America and Central America, noting that crime rates in countries like Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia are significantly lower than in the United States and even Canada, the risks in specific cities like Lima, Peru, and the higher crime rates faced by Central American businessmen compared to their South American counterparts
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:35 Safety Concerns for Expats in Latin America 00:01:20 Dividing Latin America into Central and South America 00:01:53 Crime and Insecurity in Central America 00:04:39 The Nature of Gang Violence in Central America 00:05:14 Safety Tips for Expats in Central America 00:05:48 Comparing Crime Levels in Central and South America 00:06:17 A Story of an Aggressive Expat Friend 00:07:27 The Universal Problem of Bad Neighbors 00:08:40 The Farmer's Responsibility for the Cows 00:08:54 Herding the Cows Out of the Subdivision 00:09:27 The Gunshot and the Bullet 00:14:30 The Robbery and the Fanny Pack Demand 00:15:11 Johnny's Reaction and the Passport Request 00:15:46 Confrontation with the Burger King Guard 00:16:37 Finding the Fanny Pack 00:17:47 Crime in Central America and Comparison to the U.S. 00:20:15 Costa Rica: A Safer Option with Unique Challenges 00:20:50 The Difference Between Thieves and Criminals in Costa Rica and Central America 00:21:39 Costa Rica's Peaceful Democratic Path 00:24:18 Deported Central Americans and Gang Violence in the U.S. 00:24:35 Crime Rates in South America 00:25:00 Warning About Dangerous Areas in South America 00:25:17 Crime Statistics in South America 00:26:16 Where Are the Cops When You Need Them?
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:01] South of the border, down Mexico way That's where I fell in love When the stars above came out to play Hi everybody, I'm Johnny Mueller And you're listening to the Exped Files Living in Latin America The one of a kind show that tells you what it's like To live, work, play and or retire in Latin America So let's get started He was a picture in old Spanish lays People are always asking me about safety issues when living in Latin America Everybody wants to know what's the safest country And what countries are most insecure and dangerous Well it's not as if you can list all 20 Latin American countries
[00:49] From most dangerous to least dangerous, from 1 to 20 But I can easily paint some broad strokes here And give you a pretty good idea what it's like living in certain areas and regions And of course certain basic rules follow just like in the first world If you live in a very big city There are going to be certain pockets where you wouldn't walk in the daytime and feel safe In some places you wouldn't even want to drive your car through in the daytime Just think about your own town or city right now I'll bet you a few dangerous areas pop into your mind right away Now when talking about this particular theme We should divide Latin America into two parts Central America and South America Because you should know that in general There are some very important differences when it comes to insecurity and crime So first let's talk about Central America Which includes Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize
[01:39] And for our purposes let's include Mexico Even though some nitpickers don't consider it part of Central America Anyway on this program anytime we talk about Central America We're talking about all the Spanish-speaking countries north of Columbia Starting with Panama Now when it comes to crime, insecurity, and personal danger Yes it's true Central America is statistically much more dangerous Than anything you're used to in the United States And if you want to be really general about it You could say that if you live in Central America You have a three or four times greater chance of being robbed, assaulted, or murdered But of course everything is relative So remember this If you live in the United States You have a three or four hundred percent greater chance of being robbed, assaulted, or murdered Than if you were a Canadian citizen And for example if you lived in Spain or Germany
[02:26] You'd have a three or four hundred percent greater chance of being robbed, assaulted, or killed Than if you lived in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, or Switzerland So like I said everything is relative But let's get back to the main point The fact is because Central America is the main narco-trafficking corridor Between South America and their main market, the United States There's an awful high percentage of murders and gang violence And I'm sure you've been reading about that on a daily basis In regards to the Mexican cartels and their drug war problems But as for expats living in Central America If you don't live in one of those high crime hot spots And you keep a low profile and don't flash your Rolex around You're almost never confronted with that kind of extreme violence Though you'll read about it in the papers every day But even so there are exceptions when violence breaks out
[03:13] Where it's generally pretty calm For example just about six months ago I was driving through a nice residential area in Salvador An area with nice little gated communities And houses costing $150,000 and up It's an upper middle class area by any Latin standards Anyway I'm driving along a fairly busy two lane road And about a block in front of me there was a small bus And suddenly a car passed me and sped up alongside that bus And forced it over to the side of the road Then two men got out, dressed in police uniforms With machine guns in their hands And they opened fired on that bus Now as for me I must have turned seven shades of green And I looked for an escape route And turned into a guy's driveway right away And I ducked down in the front seat And waited about ten minutes
[03:58] Until I finally heard police sirens coming down the road And when they arrived at the scene of the crime I finally got up enough nerve myself to drive on over there And I could see on the ground that there was about a hundred empty bullet casings And neither the bus nor the car that assaulted the bus Was anywhere to be seen So whatever happened, the only evidence there was some broken glass And some bullet casings Now the next day in all the papers there was a small article that said That there were two persons killed and two persons injured in a shootout When a bus that was transferring prisoners to a nearby prison was attacked And of course the newspapers got the best part wrong They didn't mention a thing about the guys with the machine guns in police uniforms And what I found out later by hook and crook Was that it was a hit of one narco gang against another
[04:45] The gang making the hit of course dressing up like policemen To make it easier to pull over that bus and get the upper hand Now this is the kind of thing I'm talking about That kind of level of impunity and violence and crime That you almost never see up in the first world That is unless you live in the ghetto But you know even though it happens That kind of violence down here is not directed at the average citizen That's typically gang on gang violence And the vast majority of murders down here Perhaps 75 to 80 percent Are gang versus gang too And what that means as far as expats are concerned Is once again keep a low profile And in a previous program I warned you It's not a good idea to have kids down here Because kidnapping is a real problem And not just for expats But for anybody who has a nice car and a nice house
[05:30] And if you have kids they're always the weakest link in the security chain And as a matter of fact the vast majority of kidnappings Are just that Kidnappings Not adult nappings So if you don't have kids And you keep a low profile That kind of personal threat will almost never come up But once again let me talk about The high levels of crime and violence in Central America As opposed to South America Let me tell you a little story now About what happened to a more aggressive expat friend of mine Down in Central America And this story is typical of locals and expats Who don't keep a low profile Or for people who let their anger or impatience Get the best of them Which often happens to newly landed expats And long term expats who just can't get used to the manana mentality down here So anyway here's the story
[06:17] A friend of mine who's a geologist And executive in an oil company down here Often drives into the boonies for work In an expensive 4x4 pickup Now he's the typical male American driver Who doesn't have much patience at all When he's in a hurry and he's driving on the road And he's a rough and tough John Wayne kind of guy Who carries a gun But probably shouldn't And when I asked him recently why there's three bullet holes In the bed of his pickup truck He said there was a guy in front of him hogging the road And driving really slow like an old lady So he passed him and gave him the finger And the guy took some pot shots at him at pretty close range So expats if you do have road rage You just have to get it under control If you're gonna live in Latin America And about those bullet holes in the pickup of my friend the oil man Well that's the third time that's happened to him
[07:05] So I guess he'll never learn And as for me I practice what I preach So I try to keep a low profile And I've still been assaulted at gunpoint and shot at Do you want to hear that story? Okay you twisted my arm I'll tell it Now it seems by universal law Everybody has one bad neighbor Ask anyone anywhere And they can name at least one neighbor That they hope will either die or move away tomorrow Now a few years ago down in Venezuela I lived in a nice gated community With a nice scenic little river Cutting right through the colony And the property right next to it was a big farm Where they grew mostly coffee and had a dozen cows or so Now naturally the farmer didn't want his cows to eat his coffee plants Because coffee is a very good cash crap And even back then was at historic highs in the market
[07:50] So what the farmer would do was he'd go down to the river Where there was a cyclone fence And he'd cut the links and let his cows come through And graze in the wooded and green areas of our private subdivision And needless to say in this subdivision The cows would eventually get around to eating flowers and nicely planted shrubs Rooting lawns and trampling things in general And leaving big cow pies on our nicely paved roads And by the time the residents were to get around to complaining The farmer had gathered up his cows and they were back on his property again And our maintenance men would repeatedly repair that cyclone fence And block those cows from getting in again So all was well But then it would happen again There would be more cows, more eating of shrubs and flowers and cow pies And when the farmer was confronted by the maintenance people
[08:38] He played dumb and said he didn't know anything about it And he said it was our problem if we couldn't keep our fences tight And that the cows that came in couldn't have been his And even though we had photos and proof like plenty of cow pies It didn't matter And it seems like a small thing now But listen to this One day the cows were in front of my garage making cow pies So I took my car and my dog and I herded those cows out the front main gate Not back down to the river Which was their usual sneaky entrance And once out on the main road They took off in all directions And they dispersed themselves far away from this guy's property on the main highway And that day that owner had a hell of a time rounding him up And the next day when I pulled my car out of the garage and parked it in front of my house I heard my back tire blow out
[09:24] And I got out of my car and sure enough I had a flat tire And then I heard a gunshot coming from across the coffee field And I know that sound It was a .22 rifle And then a split second later There was that unmistakable sound of a bullet Whizzing right past my head And I stood in shock for a moment And then came another gunshot And a split second later Yet another bullet whizzing past my head And how close it was to my head I'll never know But I could hear the air hissing as it went by The next thing I did was run into the house And call the maintenance and security guards And there was absolutely nothing they could do Because I hadn't actually been shot Which is kind of like a catch-22 now, isn't it? Anyway, that's just another example Why expats have to keep a very low profile down here Because these guys, the locals, on their own territory
[10:12] Can quickly resort to violence Because their own law enforcement agencies are so inept and inefficient The Latin lower classes especially So much of the time take the law into their own hands They're used to that And that's why every Latin country has quite a few Extrajudicial hangings every year Which I talked about on a previous show if you recall So why did this guy take some potshots at me? Well, according to one old-timer who lived around there He told me that it has to do with the fact that The farmer that sold off this piece of land some 20 years ago To the development company that built this subdivision Well, this farmer previously used to have some kind of deal With the other local farmers to let their cows graze on this land And he also had a deal to let the local coffee farmers in To scavenge firewood once in a while too
[10:58] And now that that land has been turned into a subdivision Obviously that long-standing deal on a handshake was no longer valid And besides, when it was sold off to developers The whole place was fenced in But those farmers that lived nearby Who'd always had permission to let their cows graze here Or so they thought Well, they resent the fact that that long-standing permission Has been taken away from them And in some sense, even though ownership has changed They think they have some kind of right by grandfather clause To get away with it if they can So the guy who shoots the cows out gets shot at And by luck, that guy just happened to be me And though I'll never forget that moment When those bullets flew past my head That was a mega adrenaline boost if there ever was one In fact, there's only so many terror-stricken moments A person has in his life
[11:43] And that's on my shortlist, believe me Anyway, there was another terror-stricken moment That happened to me when I first came down to Central America In Nicaragua, I had the privilege of being robbed In a Burger King parking lot at Gunpoint With an armed guard in the parking lot not 50 feet away from me And it was broad daylight, in fact, midday Not to mention, I was in a pretty good neighborhood Within spitting distance of a Chuck E. Cheese, a Marriott Hotel, and a Hooters Now, what could be more unthreatening than a Hooters? Anyway, here's how it went down I pulled up my car to the main entrance at Burger King And I parked it only about 4 or 5 cars from the door Right in front of that big expansive window Where everybody's sitting inside and eating and having a good old time So if you can imagine, I was about 15 feet from the building
[12:28] Sitting in my car, directly facing it And when I switched the ignition off I opened the door just a crack And I was about to get out when suddenly A young man appeared about 20, 21 years old And stuck a gun right in my face At first, I thought he was going to steal my car Which was a late model Suzuki sidekick Nothing worth bragging about But still, down here, worth stealing But, lucky for me, he just pointed to my fanny pack And said, give me your money And at that time, I wore your typical standard issue gringo fanny pack You know, the obvious kind that every first world traveler in the world seems to wear Well, needless to say, this is the very incident That made me change my fanny pack habits forever And I still wear one, though it's a little bit smaller But still obvious And I use it because it's a great decoy for thieves
[13:16] And nowadays, I carry maybe between $20 and $50 in small bills And an expired credit card or two in there Which I explained all about on a past show When we were talking about how not to get robbed And how to cut your losses if you do So check in the archives for that one Anyway, this young guy about 20, 21 years old Dressed rather nice, like a college student, in fact This guy was not your typical criminal With gold teeth and a neck tattoo This guy looked clean In fact, if he came up to me on the street And asked me for directions Under any other circumstances I would have gladly obliged And I might have even given him a ride Who knows, he looked that unthreatening That is, until he whipped out the gun And just as an aside here, I have to mention I'd only been down in Latin America for a year or two And was still bumming around all the tourist spots
[14:03] And had not quite figured out yet how everything worked down here I really didn't know what were the good and bad areas of towns And what to be on guard for I was just your hapless first world tourist With more time than money on my hands So I just walked and rode to any places I thought might look interesting Which might have been fine just a few years ago But these days you have to keep your eyes wide open, believe me Anyway, so here's the funny thing He sticks the gun in my face and says Give me your fanny pack And I don't know about you But if you ever had a gun stuck in your face Whatever the guy says next It really doesn't register very well You're kind of stuck like a deer in headlights And time kind of slips away at a different pace than you're used to So he repeated Give me your fanny pack a few more times in very good English
[14:50] So I know he must have taken some English courses at school Or he'd made it up to the states as an illegal and got deported But not before he'd picked up some pretty good English on the streets Who knows So with my brain in an adrenaline fog I undid my fanny pack and opened the zipper Not thinking at all about what I was doing And then I pulled out my passport and said Can I at least keep this? I'll be screwed if I lose it And he said yeah sure, go ahead Then he took the fanny pack and ran Now after that I sat in my car for a minute or two Not knowing exactly what to do next And of course I didn't want to get shot But I do remember staring at the guard in the parking lot Who was standing about 50 feet away And oblivious to the whole thing And after a few minutes passed I got out of the car, went over to him and said Hey, did you see that?
[15:36] I just got robbed It was a kid with a gun and he ran down this way And I pointed to the shoulder of the road Where the kid had taken off I said hey, you're the guard What are you waiting for? It's your job to go after him And he just gave me a blank look like a cigar store Indian And said I'm not supposed to leave the parking lot It's my job to stay here and look after things And I said it's your job to see that people like me Burger King customers don't get robbed And guess what Mr. Guard? I just got robbed on your watch And it happened right in front of your eyes Didn't you see it? And I could see I wasn't getting anywhere with this guy So I went inside and made a big scene Right in front of the Burger King workers at the front counter And I said in a loud voice more than once I just got robbed at gunpoint out in your parking lot And your guard standing right there doing nothing
[16:22] And I can tell you that got a lot of attention From all the people eating And the people behind the counter So the manager and a few other workers went outside with me And we walked down along the side of the building To the shoulder of the road Where the thief had taken off running with my fanny pack And guess what? I did find my fanny pack hanging from a branch in the bushes And of course the thief had cleaned it out It was empty And though because I opened my mouth at the right time I did have my passport But my all important address book was long gone And so was my extra set of car keys Toenail clippers Swiss army knife Maxed out credit card A lonely planet guide and about 200 bucks Now comes the part of this story you'll never believe When I got back into that Burger King I made such a big stink about it in front of all those clients
[17:09] That the manager gave me a free dinner Some passes to a Ricky Martin concert that Burger King was sponsoring Which I have to admit I couldn't give away fast enough And then the manager, a bit panicked at all the noise I was making Stuck his hand in the cash register and gave me 50 bucks Well you know what they say about the squeaky wheel getting the grease Anyway, after having a gun shoved in my face By a well-dressed young man I had kind of a revelation I was no longer going to act or dress like your typical tourist And I was no longer going to eat at Burger King or any fast food joint So I guess something positive really did come out of it Now that was a long time ago But techniques for stealing from tourists and expats haven't changed that much And lately I found out one of the most common ways to rob tourists and expats
[17:54] Is when they ride the public buses Also known as chicken buses down here And they call them chicken buses for a reason Because at any time The passenger next to you could be a real life squawking chicken Anyway if you recall I advised in one of my past shows That it's not a good idea at all to ride one of these things Even if it looks quaint and it's a great photo opportunity Because you see there are always thieves on those buses And they're always on the lookout for tourists, expats, and vacationers Especially sight seers who've let their guard down And these thieves, well they're experts at it And they try the stealth approach first So what they'll do is they'll get up behind you And slice into your fanny pack, backpack, or purse And get a hand up inside and blindly take what they think is worth stealing And most times you won't even know until you get back to your hotel room
[18:41] And you notice that surgical slice in your bag So one important thing to remember when you're down in Latin America is Definitely don't let your guard down, especially in public places And don't think that all criminals and thieves Look like a Latin version of Snoop Dogg or a bunch of tattooed gangbangers But now I'd like to talk about some of the differences between South America and Central America Concerning crime in general Now this topic should be of great interest to expat wannabes Since the subject seems to come up all the time Now I have some recent statistics about crime in Central America Which by now you should know consists of all the Spanish speaking countries North of Colombia, starting with Panama So anyway, according to a survey of over 10,000 Latins Living in Central America
[19:27] 23% have been victims of assault or robbery in the past year Now that's a little less than one out of four Now if you're living up in the first world Think about that statistic for a minute Chances are between all your friends and relatives up there You'd probably have a hard time naming even one that's been assaulted or robbed That is unless you live in a ghetto But if you live in a ghetto you're probably not listening to this show Anyway think about it About one out of four persons assaulted or robbed each year in Central America So yes, unless you know your way around and keep a low profile It is a dangerous place to live If you compare it to living in the average town in the United States Though if you compare Central American crime statistics with US cities like Cleveland, Atlanta and Detroit Then the differences are quite small
[20:12] Now there happens to be one country exception To those quite disturbing violent crime statistics in Central America And that country of course is Costa Rica And because there's so many foreigners and tourists and people with money down there Somehow it seems there's a great deal more white color crime Than there is violent crime In other words there's just as much crime on a percentage basis But you're more than likely to be ripped off by your lawyer Or your accountant Or your business partner Or your cleaning lady Or your maintenance guy Or if you own a business One of your employees And I was told very matter of factly By a hotel owner down in Costa Rica That the difference between the thieves and the criminals in Costa Rica And the rest of Central America Is that in Costa Rica When a thief robs you
[20:58] He might rough you up a little bit But he won't kill you Whereas in the other Latin American countries Like Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador and Guatemala Well the fact is The populations in general And nearly all the other Central American countries Have been conditioned to high levels of violence Because in the last 50 years They've all gone through a number of coup d'etats And civil wars And bloody military dictatorships Followed by martial law and lynchings and genocide So there's not only a lot of guns around There's a lot of people that aren't afraid to use them The fact is These people aren't afraid to pull the trigger And they're not afraid of the cops In fact if you are a victim of a crime There's a pretty good chance that there was a cop involved But Costa Rica somehow followed a different path than its neighbors
[21:43] Whereas back in 1945 Costa Rica had a president who eliminated the army And the country had a series of peaceful democratic elections On up through the present day And because for the last 50 years or so They haven't had a military No president was able to use brute military force To further his own ends or trample human rights Which unfortunately was the case in almost all other Central American countries So, Costa Rica does not have a recent history of war and genocide And though they do have just as much crime statistically Their violent crime statistics aren't nearly as bad So for you expats and expat wannabes If you think you can move to Costa Rica And leave your front door open and your car doors unlocked Like your grandpa did back in Nebraska in the 1950s
[22:30] Well if word gets around that you're doing that You'll be cleaned out in no time But the good news is While you're getting robbed You're unlikely to get shot Or even pistol whipped Okay now let's talk about a completely different case when it comes to crime And I'm talking about South America now Like I pointed out in a previous show South Americans rarely make it all the way up to the United States as illegal aliens It's just too rigorous a trip And too many thousands of kilometers Instead, the usual destination for a dirt poor South American happens to be Europe Because if they can scrounge together a few thousand dollars They can actually go to Spain legally without a visa Due to treaties that date back to the colonial days And once in Spain Since the European Union borders are open
[23:15] Latin Americans And in this case mostly South Americans Ones that can scrounge up the money for the passage that is Usually end up drifting to other European countries And overstaying their 90 day visas Eventually fading into the crowd as illegal aliens themselves Now as for dirt poor Central Americans who leave their country They almost always end up as illegals up in the United States And that's because they have a straightforward and easy direct route to go Once they reach Mexico that is And a couple of million illegals slip in and out every year So it's pretty much of a revolving door And the ones that end up as gang members Up in Los Angeles, Chicago, and a lot of the big cities in the States These are really bad guys Who end up getting caught by the tens of thousands by police and immigration
[24:01] And they get shipped right back to their home countries in Central America And there they cause even more trouble Armed with all those new first world criminal skills They learned on the streets up in New York and Chicago and LA, etc And these deported homeboys Are perhaps the number one reason Why Central American big cities are so dangerous But South America is a completely different story The crime rates in fact are so very low in South America That in almost all crime categories The crime stats are lower than those of the United States But there are a few glaring exceptions Like Venezuela, Brazil, and in the very rural areas of Colombia Let me explain Colombia has lower crime statistics in the cities than the United States has
[24:46] But out in the Campo, which is the country, it's a different story Because the Campo, the countryside, is FARC territory You know, F-A-R-C The Revolutionary Army, you see in the news once in a while That works hand in hand with the Narcos down there Anyway, here's a warning to keep away from Brazil, Venezuela, and the rural areas of Colombia And I should mention here that Lima, Peru has become a very dangerous city too It's a very big city with a lot of impoverished people living on the edge So it's another place that expats just might want to avoid But as for the rest of South America Most of their crime statistics are so low That hundreds of places, especially in the small towns Really do remind me of what my grandma used to talk about When there really was a time back in the States When you could leave your doors and windows open
[25:32] And your car unlocked Go away for a weekend and come back and nothing was disturbed And this might be hard to believe, but in some countries in South America Like Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia The crime statistics are in fact three to four times lower Than they are in the United States Which means there's even less crime down there than in Canada And another big difference between Central American countries And South American countries Is the police and military presence In Central America, for example, it's not unusual To see soldiers and police with automatic weapons Standing on the corner shooting the breeze and having a Pepsi Anyways, Central Americans are so used to that scene That they don't even bat an eye Which begs the question, if there's so much crime in Central America Where are the cops when you need them?
[26:18] What I mean to say is, if official guys with guns Are hanging around on every third or fourth street corner That's just proof that more cops and soldiers don't deter crime at all Because in South America you rarely see that The cops and soldiers are there alright But in no great numbers, not like in Central America And the ones you do see don't look menacing And they stay in the background So expats and expat wannabes who are overly concerned with security Or do elect to have a family or bring kids down South America really is the place to be Except, of course, for those few places I've mentioned Venezuela, Brazil, the very rural parts of Colombia And Lima, Peru And just one more thing about that crime survey That involved 10,000 Central Americans It turns out that 56% of Central American businessmen
[27:05] Have been victims of assault or extortion In their business or workplace in the last year So expat and expat wannabe entrepreneurs take note of that Because in South America, that number is well below 10% But we'll be talking more specifically about South American life In future shows, so stay tuned And by the way, now I'm on Facebook and Twitter So if you want to be my friend, just check out John Mueller M-U-E-L-L-E-R You've been listening to The Expat Files Living in Latin America And don't forget you can e-mail me on anything at all about Latin America The Expat Files at gmail.com That's theexpatfiles at gmail.com See you next time, nos vemos!