#630 – The Expat Files: Navigating Challenges in Latin America and Belize

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 that 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 You know on occasion in fact very often people ask me to do favor for them I'm talking about gringo people, you know who don't speak Spanish or speak it rather poorly for example The other day I was down at a new car dealership with one of my new gringo friends, you know

[00:47] I call him my new gringo friends Those other people that come down to my expat insider seminar and end up either staying here permanently or coming back some months later And getting their residency and making a life their plan B moved to Latin America Anyway, I was at a new car dealership the other day with a newly arrived gringo friend I know I know you're thinking Johnny What are you doing at a new car dealership when you're always saying don't buy a new car? You say don't make yourself obvious, you know blend in as much as you can anyway as a gringo Well, you know, some people just like to live dangerously and besides it all depends What kind of car you're gonna get if your goal is to get a brand new car. That's Absolutely neutral in style neutral in color and well doesn't stake out because so many people have them

[01:35] Then that is a good and acceptable way to play the game Except you will dish out first-world money because you're buying a brand new car. That said there are a lot of strictly neutral unobtrusive Non-attention getting new vehicles out there If you want to buy one go ahead just don't buy a luxury brand like Mercedes Audie BMW or Range Rover And of course don't buy the color Ferrari red or some candy colored fluorescent car because well Then he will stick out which by the way is something that's inbred in the Latin nature I guess and in the nature of teenage young American boys, too You know the type jacked up hot rods with trick paint jobs Why do you think that moronic fast and furious movie franchise just won't die? What are they up to fast and furious 117 now you think anyone with over a room temperature IQ actually watches those things?

[02:26] I mean Vin Diesel come on what an actor well did you know that down here in Latin America? They break box office records with the Latin macho boys however Latin girls don't go for those kind of movies But when you have a TV and a Latin guy in the same room the guy is always in control of the remote This is Latin America, you know, but where were we? Oh, yeah at the brand new car dealership? Negotiating for a gringo whose Spanish sucks You know why they asked me to go along right to hammer to salesman down and slap them around a bit And you know since the car is a big investment You got to be able to just walk away Even if the guy gets pissed off at you and they do get pissed off at me sometimes believe me anyway after we've been back And forth to three or four car dealerships and hammer down those salespeople Mercilessly now normally I'm non-confrontational

[03:15] Kinda, but when it comes to car salesmen all is fair because you know, they're just like politicians They'll lie to you and in the end no matter how good a deal you've gotten Yet never really get over on them because they know what the car cost the dealership and you don't by the way I never knew a car salesman in Latin America that really knew anything about what he was selling nor do sales people at electronics or appliance It's always a bit discouraging when you know twice as much about the product than the salesperson because you know as a gringo You would have researched it well ahead of time However, that's not the Latin way of doing things at least not yet Anyway, when the deal was finally made and the paperwork was signed the salesperson pulled out a new form to fill out something

[04:00] I'd never seen before now if you remember from the past show I mentioned you can't really walk in and pay Strict cash for a car anymore. I mean green cash You have to wire the money or write a check because of all the narco stuff and money laundering going on Those are the international bank regulations for all first and third world countries that use the swift wire transfer services we're talking about all the countries that signed the fat kah and katka agreements and now unfortunately pretty much all bank Transactions can be reported back to the US Treasury Hmm another reason you really have to get that plan B together and vote with your feet sooner the better So anyway, the dealer pulls on a piece of paper It's in Spanish, of course, and it says are you affiliated with or are you paid by any political party and or do you work?

[04:48] For the government if so in what capacity what department and who is your immediate supervisor? And how much do you earn a year now when I saw that thing? I said what I've never seen anything like that before Of course my gringo friend checked the boxes that said he wasn't affiliated with any of that stuff being a gringo Then I asked the salesman what's that all about? He said well, you know There's so much government corruption graph thievery and everything else You can think of that nearly all Latin governments have new reporting Requirements with regards to large purchases by people who work for government He said the new measures were to flag government employees Whose expenses didn't justify their income or is it their income doesn't justify their expenses?

[05:34] Ah, you get it Then he winked and said, you know the first thing these corrupt government guys will do once they've dipped into the till is Show up at a new car dealership and buy a couple of high-end cars Then he smiled and winked again and said, you know You can't buy a couple of Range Rovers on a salary of six thousand bucks a year And I asked him if this new regulation is cut into their business and he said yeah Then he said, you know two or three years ago when we were formally told not to take any more cash Only checks wire transfers and trade-ins. We thought that was gonna hurt the business But it didn't because he said, you know There's a lot of international and offshore banks where checks are drawn and wire transfers come from and we don't know the origin of that stuff We always figured if it's coming from a bank from another jurisdiction, it's been vetted

[06:20] But now he said with this new form people have to fill out It goes directly to the government tax bureau where they have records of all government employees and their salaries So the bottom line you can see the good and the bad in that system Bad is that there's more government bureaucracy more fat-ass government slugs and paperwork to clock the system Not to mention another big step in the keeping tabs on everyone big brother process and the good Well, it will put a damper on certain government pus bags who steal with impunity the evidence being the salesman said their sales have been down Since the advent of that new paperwork However, I doubt that those corpulent pustules in government will stop their stealing They'll just funnel even more of their dough into the real estate boom slash bubble, which is cracking at the seams right now

[07:10] And by the way, isn't it the Fox guarding the hen house when government makes the rules To investigate itself. We've seen how well that's worked out with the Bush and the Clinton crime families, haven't we? Oh well enough said about that You know, I still keep getting a trickle of emails from people talking about moving the police. Okay I'm all for voting with your feet and getting that plan B going but not to police. Please. I know the place Well too well, I hear practically nothing but regrets from expats who've moved there And you know people do have the reasons for thinking about police one is international living is always talking about it Number two, they speak English, but you know, that's a rather flimsy hook to hang your whole future on they speak English So I'm gonna move there. Hmm now what most expat gonna bees and wannabes

[07:58] Don't realize is that there's always a bit more English spoken anywhere on the east coast of Latin America Why because the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean coastal regions were settled and plundered various times throughout history By the British and British pirates, so they'll always be more English spoken on the eastern side of Latin America Whereas as you move westward to the Pacific Ocean side, there'll be very little English spoken at all Except where gringos have invaded like for example Costa Rica Anyway, the subject of police comes up all the time in emails and at my expat insider seminars We talk about what police is really like and why a police trust is very good If you're looking for a very small footprint and really want an ironclad way to protect your assets

[08:48] However, I also warn people that it's not a good idea to keep any substantial amounts of money in a police bank Even though there's never been a bank failure in Belize The fact is incompetent government pus bags have racked up a huge debt for a country so small in the last 10 years It's been bailed out twice by mother country England because it was insolvent and on the verge of bankruptcy Now most everyone in Belize thinks that England will always come to the rescue when Belize screws up But you see England's virtually bankrupt and in no position to bail anyone out not anymore So for a long time, I've been giving Belize the thumbs down In fact, I've had some people come to my expat insider seminars who ended up going to Belize anyway Despite the cautions given so then why is there such a difference between Belize and the rest of Latin America for one thing?

[09:40] There's a huge divide between the have and the have nots much greater than for the rest of Spanish-speaking Latin America So for the poor in Spanish-speaking Latin America, there actually is some upward mobility Which really doesn't exist in Belize the poor are really poor and they stay that way But you need boots on the ground in Belize to see that Not to mention almost all the gringos I know who've lived in both Spanish-speaking Latin America and Belize say they feel much more comfortable around Regular Latins than they do around average people from Belize They point to the extreme have and have not thing and they feel some awkwardness with the locals Which is why petty crime is out of control Meanwhile on the subject of Belize an email from listener Steve then I'll comment on it as we go along

[10:30] He says hi Johnny. I doubt Belize has ever been on your list of plan B destinations boy. He's right about that It sure isn't on mine But have you been following the recent slow-moving train wreck that the Belizean economy is turning into now a few years ago The government of Belize bought BTL the largest telephone company in the country from a Brit guy named Michael Ashcroft they still owe him money on the deal and since the Belizean economy is in the toilet The government just doesn't have the money to make good on the debt You can get a little background in the story here And then he gives me a link to a recent newspaper article that says the government owes Ashcroft 50 million dollars And that the Belize prime minister says if they paid out that amount by the way the amount owed is not in dispute

[11:21] They just don't want to pay it it would substantially weaken the country's foreign reserve position He said and then the Belizean prime minister Dean Barrow said if Ashcroft tries to go to the US to get concessions on assets Belize has in US banks it would be considered an act of economic warfare Okay, then since then Ashcroft has filed against Belize in US courts for their assets in US banks Okay back to Steve's email now He says much of Belize's foreign reserves are tied up in US banks and US courts have ruled They are fair game for judgments against Belize meaning mr. Ashcroft can claim them as fulfillment of the debt Now the Belizean government appealed the case to the US Supreme Court who declined to hear it on January 9th of this year

[12:13] Meanwhile, mr. Ashcroft has filed a claim against those assets in US court in a fit of desperation The government of Belize has passed a law Making it illegal for any Belizean to assist in the collection of that debt and the details are here Then he gives me a link. Let me read a little bit from this Belize channel 7 news report It says Friday January 27 2017 just a few days ago It says last night there was an emergency house meeting at the Barrow administration With less than 24 hours notice tonight We know the purpose of this meeting is to get the house to pass a very unusual piece of legislation with an odd name It's called a bill for an act to restate for greater certainty

[12:59] The immunity of the Central Bank of Belize for legal proceedings in other states So basically it's designed to protect Belize's reserves from the Ashcroft companies that are trying to recover 50 million US dollars in awards already granted by a US court The article says today when Barrow presented the bill the prime minister said that it had to be done in a hurry and with state Secrecy that's because there were indications that the Ashcroft interests would try to swoop in and freeze Central Bank of Belize reserves in the US before they could be protected or Firewalled with this new legislation the prime minister then said we're in a race against time We must know that our country's reserves are a big fat target for predators who would seek to collapse our economy

[13:51] Yeah, like predators are collapsing their economy not those idiots in government then he says basically I'll paraphrase this a bit He says any person or entity that wishes to attach the Belician government assets in the US The effort will be a criminal offense and that person or entity will be liable for prosecution in Belize then get this He says this new law does not stop people from abroad From still attempting to do this We have no way of getting at them because they are not in this country and perhaps will never come to this country But in current circumstances this particular threat is sourced to persons and entities Who are within the jurisdiction of Belize now? So we are doing all we can by the way of this bill to deter people

[14:39] Within our country from making that sort of effort Because he says if their efforts to attach government assets were to succeed This would put our country completely on the brink of disaster Now this part is funny even crazy talk about a banana republic in the official record It says the leader of the opposition party honorable John Bracino says quote. I would have hoped mr. Prime minister you could have given us more time to look at this bill We are seeing it just right now We would like to have enough time to study it and to consult with it now get this then the prime minister answers He says madam speaker. I will apologize and say that on the next occasion. I will consult you Yeah, next time he feels like shoving a last-minute bill down the Congress's throat now back to Steven's original email

[15:30] He says it's actually quite comical to watch the proceedings on Belizean television Then he gives me the Vimeo link here, so if you want a good laugh you can watch it I'll give you the link and then Steve says This whole story spectacle only goes to prove that politicians are thieving pus buckets No matter where they are the prime minister believes even admits on camera that he could be accused of using Quote banana Republic tactics his whole argument seems to be that Belize doesn't have the money to pay its bills So it doesn't have to then Steve says if you're a Las Vegas bookie You would even accept a bet on who's going to win this fight Well, I should wouldn't Belize has substantial assets in the u.s And the courts there in the u.s

[16:16] Have ruled that Ashcroft has a right to settle that debt out of those assets This looks like a fight between a hammer and a nail We know who the nail is and how that story always ends. There are a number of lessons He says we can certainly draw from this story obviously Anybody who's planning to move to Belize anytime soon might want to reconsider The infrastructure is pretty spotty already by the way, it's me Johnny again I can attest to that in fact It's well known that Belize Venezuela and Cuba have the worst yet most expensive phone systems in all of Latin America And wouldn't you know it's the government that bought the phone service from Ashcroft in Belize by the way It's not just with cell phones that you pay a very high price and have poor service Belize imports 95% or more of all manufactured items including electronics

[17:06] So you'll pay more than first world prices for a lot of stuff So if you do live there and want to live like a first world gringo You'll be paying first world gringo prices and you'll by the way need a pool and the maintenance if you have a pool near the beach At least a hundred bucks a month. How do I know that because I've had three beachfront pools already So yes, the infrastructure in Belize is very spotty except where the gringo subdivisions are We're talking about those beautiful Island Cays of Belize a real white sand beach paradise However, the houses apartments and condos are first world expensive Anyway, then Steve says I can't imagine it's gonna get any better after the government defaults on its debts Plus the Belician government even admits that losing 50 million in foreign reserves would be a kick in the head for their economy

[17:53] Which they're having a hard time sustaining as it is, you know, Johnny There also may be a cautionary tale for anyone who still has Substantial assets in the US and if you're looking for a sign that the market conditions on the gringo tourist trail are about to break This certainly qualifies as a bellwether example I wonder how many gringos are going to lose their shirts because they bought property on one of those K's That easily could take a big hit in the next few months. Anyway, Johnny I thought this might be a good point to talk about on your show all the best from Kentucky Keep up the great work Steve. Oh Then he says I left out the best part Johnny If you watch this Channel 7 Belize news story from last Friday They mentioned the lawyer who's handling the case for the Belize government just happens to be the prime minister's brother

[18:43] Hmm. So the bottle family that's the prime minister makes money off this deal. No matter which way it breaks Hard to find a better example of a banana Republic than that You think? All right, Steve. Thanks a lot for that I guess that really does spell out another great reason why it's not a good idea to move to Belize nor put money Any substantial amount anyway in a police bank now talking about being a banana Republic. I just want to say that it's Undisputed that Belize owes that money. They just don't want to pay which is again Why I don't recommend gringo seek out government contracts in Latin America either Seems every gringo I know who's got some kind of government contracts been ripped off or nickel didn't dime to death along the way including me

[19:32] You long-time listeners will remember the story I told about the radio gig I did for a Latin American government's tourism agency Unfortunately what I didn't know when you sign a contract like that right before election time and the opposing party wins The new government will often just void or renege on old contracts Which is exactly what happened to me and a few of my other gringo friends who entered into other types of government contracts Don't do it. You'll regret it. By the way in checking this Belize story out I can't help but notice that when Ashcroft filed his claim in US court His lawyers said a reasonable amount of time has passed since the claim for judgment was entered In fact more than a year ago Belize was supposed to satisfy the judgment

[20:18] Then more than a half a year later Belize finally replied on June 9th 2016 asking for an appeal to the US Supreme Court Yep, just like a chaotic Banana Republic took him six months to file a reply then six months later on January 9th 2017 the US Supreme Court denied Belize's petition then two days later January 11th Belize issued a press release Stating that the government has no intention of ever paying a penny So again, I'll ask all you gonna bees and wannabes Do you want to move the police a country whose economy is in the dumpster who will renege on its debts and change laws willy-nilly? Why not international living says it's a good place to live. Of course, they're still big on Panama and Costa Rica, too

[21:08] So then what's Belize good for? Well, it's a very nice vacation If you like scuba snorkeling and water sports, it's great for that, but it won't be cheap You won't get any deals and of course legally you've got some great instruments there You got the airtight Belize trust and the cool thing is you don't have to live there to create and maintain it and those trusts Are truly airtight a lot of people will buy a Belize trust and have a corporation or two in another foreign country Which are actually folded in under the Belize trust which owns and controls them Even though the trust is legally drawn up in Belize, it can own assets all over the world So even if the government and banking system goes down in Belize It doesn't affect your assets and the cool thing about a Belize trust is none of the assets can it be attached

[21:54] By a lawsuit or a judgment coming from another country Which is why they say a Belize trust is bulletproof and from what I understand that a single Belize trust has ever been Successfully penetrated or broken up. Yep. It's a special case and we do talk about that at the Expat insider seminars So Belize trust very good Belize banking not so good unless of course you're dealing with small amounts of dough In fact some gringos I know use Belize banks to get Visa MasterCard credit and debit cards and top the bank account off every month as you use that credit card to pay the charges And of course because we're talking about Visa or MasterCard You can use them all over the world for purchases and cash withdrawals Two more things about Belize one this story shows

[22:41] You don't want to have your money in a US bank where it could easily be attached or frozen by the US government Which is why you need to have an offshore bank account now a country like Belize on the edge of default What do you think their next step will be? Raising taxes, of course and like Ecuador. Who are they gonna hit? Why the people with money? That would be the gringos. By the way people have been masking they've been pestering me So I finally come up with some dates for my next Expat insider seminar It'll be held off the tourist trail in Central America again Saturday July 8th 2017 through Thursday July 13 2017 So providing the world doesn't implode by then and Uncle Sam doesn't impose new travel restrictions

[23:27] That's when my next Expat insider seminar will take place Now with my last Expat insider seminar which ended about a month ago. I was full up well before the start date I only take around 25 people so last time I had to turn some people away That means you have to start thinking about making your plans now, by the way Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and I'll put you on my early bird list for the seminar And you'll get the latest updates So the next seminar is about five months from now in the meantime You should be actively working on the steps to get your plan B going And the best way to get organized from where you're sitting up in the first row right now is to go to expatplanb.com And sign up for my expat essentials course I guarantee after you've gone through my nine-hour course

[24:15] You'll have the necessary information and that all-important confidence to get seriously moving on your own plan B Now I'm not exaggerating at all when I say I wish Some would have done this a long time ago when I first moved down here some 27 years ago because you know what? There was no internet practically no cell phone service down here. No one to blog No one to ask questions to I just came down and did it on my own Even now people say that was unusually brave of you to do that Johnny. Well looking back Maybe it was unusually stupid because I made every clueless gringo mistake in the book because I had no one to lean on for advice First two years I came down. I went to Costa Rica stupid move But I did learn a lot and more than anything I learned that the average gringo living on the gringo tourist trail doesn't really know much except that he's always trying to copy

[25:05] What he had up in the first world But soon enough you learn the best way to live is to have a balance between the two cultures It's a mistake to be pure first world gringo or to go completely rustic or native if you have a foot in both worlds You'll eventually get very comfortable with that. So the first couple years. I was done I was on the gringo tourist trail what there was of it in Costa Rica some 27 years ago Anyway, and after a few bad experiences there watching gringos getting ripped off by lawyers locals and gringos I ditched that scene and went completely off the gringo tourist trail And I can tell you when your Spanish sex or is almost zero That's a very brave thing to do some would call it stupid In fact, there were a few times. I remember I was looking out my hotel window Looking down on the streets of a completely different culture with not a gringo in sight

[25:52] Thinking I don't know if this was the right thing to do. So there it was. No internet. No cell phone No expat referent books or articles that little cultural niche hadn't even started yet All there was in the way of books back then was Latin America and 20 bucks a day and folders Of course, there were those backpackers and those backpacker hostels, but that never was my style I'm the kind of person who insists on his own bathroom and a shower at least once a day And of course since I was never into heavy partying or the nightlife or getting drunk on the cheapest rat-gut beer in the country I wasn't much good around backpackers who are pretty much into all that worse yet 99% of them were liberal Democrats and I'm a libertarian. So you can imagine how a lot of those conversations went down Bottom line way back when when I really would have liked some expat to lean on or expat reference points

[26:42] There were none which is why today it's so much easier to get yourself a plan B and vote with your feet Again, the best way to get rolling if you like my style living which is off the gringo tours trailer Not too close to it Anyway is to come down to one of my expat insider seminars and do check out my expat essentials course at expat plan B Dot-com then again if you vote with your feet, but you feel you just must live fairly close to gringos And you don't mind paying gringo prices. There's always Mexico Panama Costa Rica and Belize however someday when you're looking out your hotel window at all Transplanted gringos below you too might wonder man. I don't know was this the right thing to do Maybe I should have gone to Johnny's expat insider seminar after all or at least checked out that expat essentials course

[27:32] south of the border This is the expat files living in Latin America If you want me to help you out with your own plan B Just schedule a one-on-one consult send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to learn how to move forward with your own plan B from right up there in the states go to www.expatplanb.com and check out my three videos. See ya nos vemos