#827 – The Expat Files: Cuba’s Hidden Economy, Medical Exploitation, and Global Issues

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 out to play and now as 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 Hmm talk about how you can manipulate and lie with statistics. How about this? According to the US CIA that Central Intelligence Agency's world fact book Say what a CIA fact book didn't even know they had one as if the CIA deals in facts

[00:49] I always thought they made them up as they went along. Anyway, they say Cuba Let's talk about Cuba for a minute. They're export goods and services. That is what they sell to the world represent one point nine billion dollars worth of goods in other words what they export and They receive in US dollars or euros whatever some kind of internationally convertible currency Not like their peso grand total one point nine billion dollars in currency They receive from what they sell and if you break that down for each of Cuba's 12 million people 170 bucks per person you got that 170 bucks per person based on what they export whereas in first world countries even in other Latin American countries You're talking about thousands of dollars per person earned from the products and services they export. So what you might say

[01:40] Well, here's where it gets extremely interesting and what probably only one in 10,000 people has ever heard before According to the CIA world fact book the following are the top 10 things that Cuba exports to the rest of the world We're talking legal exports. Anyway, and this is from the number one money maker to the number 10 money maker number one sugar 556 million dollars. That's around a half a billion dollars. We're talking per year now number two tobacco around 250 million that's a quarter of a billion then you've got nickel 140 million bucks beverages spirits wine rum 120 million per year that is fish and fish products 89 million mineral fuels including oil

[02:28] 71 million did you know Cuba's an oil producing country, but you didn't know that either anyway number seven iron and steel 46 million a year Wood and wood products 43 million a year Pharmaceuticals 42 million a year and number 10 copper 25 million a year sounds like just a bunch of boring statistics, right? Well, just wait. All right. So there's the top 10 according to the CIA fact book Representing as mentioned around 1.9 billion dollars a year, but here's what you didn't know that list is all wrong It's a complete lie because you see Cuba's got one other particular legal export that brings in get this 20 times the dough 20 times Then the number one export on that list, which is sugar

[03:17] No, we're not talking about tourism here. That's a different thing. We're talking about exported items tourism is not exported In fact, they're real number one export brings in five times the dough than every other Cuban export combined So why is it not on that list because it's not a good PR or marketing move as you'll see Have you guessed it yet? It's medical doctors And you know what we wouldn't even be talking about this right now if it wasn't for a crazy thing that just happened in Brazil So Brazil as you may or may not know just elected a new president. He's a right-leaning president They say anti communist and somewhat anti socialist. Here's what happened something. No one expected. Listen to this The new president his name is Bolson arrow took office on January 1st

[04:06] 2019 just about a month ago and in one of his first official acts He decided to kick out all the Cuban doctors that were practicing in Brazil. Now, you might be thinking big deal How many Cuban doctors could there be in Brazil? How about 11,000 that's right 11,000 Cuban doctors under contract practicing in Brazil. That is until last month when they were all unceremoniously kicked out All right, let me read a few excerpts now from Brazil's biggest daily newspaper Translated of course not by me because I don't speak Portuguese, but someone did it. The title is president Bolson arrow rejects Cuban doctors working as slaves It says one of president Bolson arrows first acts is to refuse to allow Cuban medical doctors to work in Brazil for slave wages

[04:55] Since the Cuban dictatorship keeps the vast part of their earnings In fact slavery is the exact word used by the new Brazilian president He uses slavery to describe the working conditions of Cuban doctors in Brazil Given that the Cuban state keeps more than 75 percent of their salary in response The indignant Cuban government ordered the repatriation of the 11,000 doctors But in the meantime, they made a deal with another Latin country to absorb most of them. Guess what country? Mexico So how did Mexico make that deal so fast since nothing moves quickly in Latin America? Well, it turns out Lazaro garden as but tell chief advisor and confidant to Mexico's new president

[05:44] Negotiated the deal in less than a month So the question is how'd he get through the back door so fast? How'd he cut through all that red tape and get such access? Well, as it turns out 14 years ago But tell the chief advisor to Mexico's new president the guy who put together the doctor swap Lived in Cuban studied at the higher Institute of Art in Havana and is married to a Cuban national Mmm, that's reason number 2647 why I'd certainly never want to live in Mexico But the plot thickens listen to this According to this new deal where at least 3,000 of the 11,000 doctors kicked out of Brazil ended up in Mexico just a month ago in December

[06:31] It says the Mexican government will pay six and a half million dollars a month to the Castro Dictatorship amounting to a total of 80 million dollars a year which works out to around $2,100 a month for each doctor, which is even less than they were getting in Brazil Turns out after the Castro government gets their share, they'll be paying the docks 700 bucks a month Two-thirds of the dough to the Castro government a third of the dough to the dock Which is a $200 a month haircut from what they were getting in Brazil Then it says the first 3,000 Cuban doctors have arrived and are settling in. Oh and get this their distinctive feature Is that they have to be married heads of household and their wives or husbands and families must remain in Cuba

[07:17] That's how you get to be an exported Cuban doctor. Anyway, it says the negotiation is a part of at least 8,000 doctors arriving in Mexico from Cuba Then it says as an aside There's a sinister aspect to it all to there have been many instances where Cuban doctors who have not gone back Have admitted that they've been asked to or forced to fulfill the dual function of being an agent for the Cuban government Meaning some of them have been trained in espionage and for an indoctrination Although no one really knows the numbers or if the Cuban doctors are even playing along with the strategy It's just to say that it is true Some Cuban doctors are trained to be instruments of Cuban expansion, especially since their wives husbands and families must remain back in Cuba

[08:06] While the doctors are farmed out internationally now get this according to the Brazilian government. They've been paying three thousand five hundred bucks a month to the Cuban Dictatorship for each of the eleven thousand doctors in their country and of that thirty five hundred each Cuban doctor receives 900 bucks a month or slightly under eleven thousand US dollars a year That's about one twentieth of the average medical doctor's salary up in the States and in the rest of the first world Then it says meanwhile According to the Cuban ducks the biggest hardship of all is that they're forced to leave their loved ones back in Cuba for long periods of time and If when their contract is up they decide to skip out They'll never be allowed back in Cuba again and their family will never be allowed travel visas to leave Cuba

[08:56] So accordingly new Brazilian president Bolson aro called those actions human rights Violations and proposed a new contract and new set of conditions beginning with giving full salary directly to the doctors as well as allowing them to bring their families and Request political asylum if they so desire after the contract is up But as expected the Castro regime would agree to none of it Then it says the Cuban doctor program their number one foreign income earner by far is called the mass Medico's program that means the more doctor program in English and wouldn't you know it? It's going great guns and at full blast in 66 different countries and why not it's a great deal for any government since the doctors come so cheap and right now

[09:44] There are a total of fifty five thousand doctors in those 66 countries, and it says the Cuban dictatorship pockets 11.5 billion dollars a year for the program which even dwarfs the amount of money Cuba receives from tourism in fact The government receives four times as much from their doctor program than from all the tourism on the island Oh, and just a little background on this guy Cardenas, but tell he's the new Mexican president's chief adviser with the Cuban wife And who went to university in Havana it says when he was governor of Michoacan from 2002 to 2008 he hired 400 Cuban advisors had him shipped to Michoacan Installed them in various Mexican government positions

[10:31] Hmm all right, so that's what you didn't know about the Cuban doctor exchange program Meanwhile the whole world's under the impression that the Castro regime has created this sort of tremendous philanthropic do-gooder angel of mercy doctor program Shipping highly trained young doctors to the four corners of the earth as selfless Goodwill medical emissaries well you have to admit It's great PR all right it certainly paints a nice happy humanistic face on socialism doesn't it but in reality It's all about capitalism It's Cuba's number one money maker by far Which is why you really have to give kudos to Brazil's new president for having the huevos to expose the scam He's calling medical slavery

[11:16] Especially since his country was greatly benefiting from it when speaking of Cuban doctors. I bet you never met one How could you they're not permitted to practice up in the states? Well? I've met quite a few I met one. That's a professor, too Teaches physiology at a medical school in Panama And he told me there are so many Cuban doctors all over the world especially in Latin America That they kind of stick together and hang together They're kind of considered outsiders by the rest of the hospital staffs and other doctors He said one of the main topics of discussion when they get together is how to work it So they don't have to go back or how they can work it to get their families out of Cuba permanently He told me he knows a few doctors who skipped after their contract was up in other words They become illegal aliens in the country they were assigned to and then they apply for asylum and usually get it and though

[12:06] It's true. They're barred from ever going back to Cuba and their families in Cuba barred from traveling abroad Some take that risk and skip anyway. Oh And here's something else the doc told me that's quite interesting He said there's another Cuban personnel export program going on that almost no one knows about He said the Cuban government has around ten thousand sports trainers at various schools and universities around the world Operating under the same sort of exchange deal in fact He said if you check out any Latin University, and there are over five thousand of them You'll find that nearly all of them have one or more Cuban sports coaches and fitness trainers But that's not all but doc also told me the Cuban government contracts out professional

[12:52] Musicians merengue and salsa bands mostly to big hotel chains like the Clarion Hyatt Hilton Intercontinental, etc. So next time you're staying at one of those nice three or four star hotels Not in the US of course and you see there's a really slick salsa or merengue band playing nightly in the lounge There's a very good chance. They're on contract from the Cuban government also making slave wages Though they do have the advantage of free room and board at a very nice hotel All right time to take a left turn into the gutter Remember a couple of shows ago I was talking about stinky people at airports and getting stuck next to people that are potentially repulsive Though maybe they're thinking the same thing about me who knows so anyway on the heels of that now comes this story

[13:43] It's about how just last week American Airlines booted a family of three from their flight home to Detroit After many other passengers complained about the group's body odor Yes, sir It says last Wednesday evening Yasi and Jenny Adler and their 19 month old daughter were told to get off the plane from Miami To Detroit while they were in the midst of boarding Turns out Yasi Adler the odiferous guy they kicked off said I don't get it all the sudden They closed the gate on us and said sorry, sir. Some people are complaining about your body odor. All right me Johnny here What do I think about that? Listen, if you've paid four five six hundred even a thousand bucks Are you supposed to tolerate a stink induced migraine? I don't think so or maybe as one emailer suggests got a lot of emails when I spoke about that last time

[14:32] He said they should have a no stinking section on the plane However, if that were even possible who's to judge it couldn't be a human It'd have to be an electronic instrument of some sort because normally when people stink as their natural state They don't know it think about garlic lovers for a second. All right. Now. Here's some news you should pay attention to Occasionally I get emails from people saying Johnny you never talk about Chile What's up with that? Do you recommend it or not? Well for some people what it's got going for it is the four seasons and lots and lots of beachfront It's a long skinny country around 2600 miles from north to south So if you want nice decent spring like weather all the time you have to stay way in the north The thing is most of the people listening to this show would like to learn how to live fairly cheap

[15:21] And let's say a social security check of fifteen hundred bucks a month Well in Chile that would be difficult because it is expensive And as a rule if you want to live like a first-world American Almost anywhere in South America is gonna be more expensive than in Central America That's the reasons for that you heard me talk about many of them on the show Just for example be prepared to pay up to twice the price for electronics electrical appliances and cars One of the other reasons of course is you'll have air conditioning and heating expenses But what about Chile you've heard me say many times that Latin Americans don't give a rip about privacy They'll give their personal debts up on a platter to any pop-up window that offers them a free slice of pizza

[16:06] seems like they have no idea how dangerous that can be until the moment comes when they get their ID or credit card numbers stolen or faked or cloned That's why you see here in Latin papers and media just countless instances of ID theft credit card fraud Etc as for example with this story coming directly out of Chile And you thought this stuff only happened up in the first world the article entitled hackers access 14,000 Chilean credit card accounts and publish the data on the internet It says this week there was a massive leak after hackers gain access to 14,000 credit card numbers They'd published the credit card numbers expiration dates and security codes right online Then it says although the attack was mainly aimed at the bank of Chile

[16:55] There were at least 12 other entities involved including BCI Valabela Santadar and Banco Estado Bank Then it says in a brief statement Banco de Chile said that our security protocols have blocked these cards in a preventative manner What the hell else they're gonna say in a preventative matter How come you couldn't prevent the attack you idiots then it says Chile's Superintendency of banks and financial institutions as BIF said the hack was carried out by a mysterious group of hackers called The shadow brokers known for hacking the supposedly unhackable NSA in the US in 2016 hmm, then here we all thought the NSA was supposed to be the hacker not the hacky

[17:41] Then it says get this the hack was discovered after publication of the data on social network Twitter Then it says the hack was tracked down to Eastern Europe and Asia with millions ending up in Hong Kong banks But that's not all in June of 2018 Banco de Chile the biggest in the country said that hackers robbed it of 10 million dollars and the funds were never recovered By the way, my brother's best friend is a high-end banker in Chicago And he told me not so long ago that when you hear about hacks on banks in the news That's only about five percent of the money. That's really hacked or stolen Banks do not like to publicize that stuff It makes them look bad and they don't want to panic the customers

[18:28] And he said if you hear a certain number when they talk about funds being hacked or stolen in the news You can bet it's really double or triple that figure or even more now You see we got to talking about this during a Bitcoin discussion The discussion was specifically about how much Bitcoin has been stolen or hacked out of wallets Since it's been in existence for 10 years now He laughed and said don't you see that's the plan for bankers to undermine the prestige of Bitcoin and the other Cryptos by saying wallets are insecure and the coins are getting stolen all the time for bankers That's the standard line because cryptocurrencies are a big threat to the traditional banking system He said what the public doesn't know is that the banking systems hacked all the time for millions even billions a month

[19:16] The big banking hacks are never reported, but we're glad to pass on information about Bitcoin hacks He said the public would just freak out if they knew how much was being hacked every month out of their own banks Meanwhile, he said you'll hear all about the Bitcoin and crypto heists because that's the name of the game when undermining consumer confidence in Investing and using cryptos. He said someday people will find out the real truth of the massive hacks that have gone down and Continue to go down and the fragility of the traditional banking system though He hopes it doesn't happen till well after he's retired The problem he says is that the hackers are always a step or two ahead of what they've got for banking cyber security So they're always chasing their tails. They get hacked funds get stolen. They fix the hack they get hacked again funds get stolen

[20:04] They fix that hack you get it. Hmm. Does that scare you? It should Alright enough said about that speaking of Catholic countries Were we speaking about those glad you brought it up? You know, I was brought up Catholic went to Catholic school and all that we all kind of knew there were some twisted Padres out there. In fact, my brother has his own story He told me that when he was around 12 or 13 one of the fathers took him and a bunch of kids camping That's pretty common. Actually nothing wrong with the young priest bonding with a bunch of teenagers He knows just might get in trouble if he doesn't lead him down the right path That's what priests are supposed to do. Right? By the way, stop me if I told this story already, okay Hey when I was 12 or 13 one of the young Padres, you know, they're usually really young 20 21 22 right out of the seminary

[20:52] You know, they're all pumped up with all that goodness and energy trying to save the world and all that He did the same thing took a bunch of us young guys camping a couple of times Tried to be a good influence and all that he was a good guy, too However, my brother tells a different story of another padre who molested two of his buddies in a tent Though they didn't talk about it for years later By the way when my brother and his buddies were in their late 30s They showed me a little article in newspaper where this guy this scumbag priest was caught and was finally being brought up on charges Only 25 years too late So as far as priests and molestations up in the first world the Pandora's box has been open Millions if not billions have been paid out by the Catholic Church in reparations and all that priests have gone to jail

[21:38] They've been documentaries on the abuse the pulp covering up things for years and years you've heard the stories Meanwhile here in Latin America, there are even more Catholics and more devout hypocrites. Hey, we all know the Latin macho guy playbook He's got a wife a girlfriend on the side. Maybe two that's during the week But Sunday is exclusively for the family church, too And you know up till about a year or so ago There have been very few publicized cases of Catholic priests here molesting young boys, although it's an epidemic So it took a while big lag time, but the Pandora's box has been opened down here, too Turns out every single Latin country has had its Catholic priest sex scandal or two or ten or twenty and you do read about It in the newspapers, but it's almost never covered on a TV news shows

[22:24] Isn't that weird and just like it was 10 15 20 years ago up in the States? It's not a topic you want to bring up for general conversation at the dinner table and especially Prohibited at a Catholic dinner table. It's just too embarrassing and delicate a topic for mom pop grandma and grandpa They still don't believe it or deny it all together. It just seems Inconceivable by the way, that's exactly what happened 30 years ago when I tried to have that discussion with my own Catholic mother She didn't want to hear about it, but we're talking about Latin America and the floodgates have been open Here's a perfect example. Listen to this the title of this article Ecuador's National Assembly revokes honor to Quenca priest accused of sexual abuse. All right big deal You're thinking not much of a headline

[23:11] You see they don't want to tell you right up front But they do later in the article now listen to the rest Ecuador's National Assembly has revoked an educational award to Quenca priest Cesar Cordero Cordero is the founder of Quenca's Catholic University and the annual pass del nino celebration In English a celebration of children ain't that nice Turns out six former students have come forward and accused him of sexual assault and prosecutors say he's guilty of dozens more abuses man Does it get worse Cordero who is 91 now and in poor health received the assembly's Vincente? Roca Ford Award in 2010 for lifetime achievement for his work in the education of Ecuadorian children

[23:58] You know that would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic Says born into one of Quenca Ecuador's most prominent families his grandfather was president of Ecuador and later its poet laureate and The current Quenca mayor is his close relative Cordero helped build more than a dozen primary schools throughout Ecuador man. He had a thing for kids, huh? He's also credited with founding hospitals clinics religious radio and television stations and several Catholic charities He's earned PhDs in Lima Paris and did postdoctoral work in the US in addition to Spanish He is fluent in five languages among his many lifetime honors our grants of Citizenship in Italy, Moldova and by way of the US state of Arkansas

[24:47] Shades of that scumbag Bill Clinton, huh? It goes on to say the official accusations of sexual abuse began last year with one accuser calling Cordero a Sexual monster who has ruined the lives of many young men in Quenca You know what I say a bullet is too good for that guy He needs to be hung in a public square at least when you hang a guy you can use the rope over and over again It's recyclable. Don't even have to pay 50 cents for a bullet Oh, and you know in junior high school in high school I had a buddy who ended up going to the sales Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to become a priest he went there a couple of years didn't finish quit and became a funeral director Anyway, I lost track of the guy till my 10th year high school reunion and to everyone's surprise

[25:33] He'd come out of the closet He was one of those gay guys that was totally masculine showed no signs of in high school had girlfriends and all that but you Know things happen. No big deal. He's a great guy Anyway, we sat down got to talking about old times and he told me at the seminary There were actually two different factions two camps one camp all gay guys And the other camp all straight guys and they didn't mix much. He also said it was kind of a gay man's paradise Now I'm only telling you what he said to me But it was firsthand from a guy who actually attended a Catholic seminary when I asked him to estimate How many of those guys he thought would violate their vows of celibacy after becoming priests? He said he was sure at least 20% would screw around whether gay or straight So there's a little info right from the horse's mouth though

[26:21] I have to say in defense of the Catholics I really did get a great education at Catholic schools and the nuns really did whoop my ass Regularly no harm done. You just have to be aware that there are a lot of pervert priests out there But the problem is rarely when they get caught do they get their comeuppance? They usually get shipped around to other parishes where they do more damage or get psychiatric treatment, which doesn't help However here in Latin America, it's a completely different story And I know you've heard me say this many times before especially in small and middle-sized towns The locals the men and women on the street often take the law into their own hands What I can see for some of these abusers of the cloth is a lot of whippens and stone ins in the Central Park Alright, just one more thing before we close out for the day

[27:09] There's been a lot of interest in my Latin American health care report Subtitled first world health care at third world prices if you want to know the current state of health care in Latin America and how to find those first world doctors clinics and hospitals and Find out all about those amazingly cheap insurance plans Just go to the expat files comm slash health care and pick up my hundred page report So you've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B, you can schedule a one-on-one phone call with me But first download my free plan B questionnaire at www dot the new expat calm Better yet if you want to get your plan B going from right up there in the states Just sign up for my 9-hour expat essentials course get the perfect plan B blueprint by going to the expat files calm

[27:57] Academy