Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller explores the complexities of living in Latin America, contrasting it with the United States. He highlights the concept of 'poop hole countries' and 'poop hole neighborhoods,' emphasizing that while certain areas in Latin America may be problematic, the countries themselves are not. Johnny discusses the impact of social media on immigrants, particularly how those who have moved to the U.S. often send photos back home to their families, showcasing their success and creating jealousy. He also shares a personal anecdote about a maintenance worker named Chepi, who lives in a modest home but has a thriving garden and chickens, illustrating the mindset of many in Latin America regarding food and economic conditions. Johnny concludes by discussing the American dream from the perspective of immigrants and the role of language in their integration into U.S. society.
Johnny then critiques the nature of social media, comparing it to childish one-upmanship, and shifts to a critique of 'poop hole' neighborhoods in the U.S. and Canada. He argues that even though the U.S. is seen as a prime destination, many prime neighborhoods are becoming problematic. He then transitions into a political discussion, recounting an incident where he was criticized for supporting Trump due to his business background, despite Trump's history of bankruptcy. Johnny counters by listing numerous successful individuals who also filed for bankruptcy, including historical figures like Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, to challenge the narrative that bankruptcy equates to failure. He concludes by describing a recent encounter with liberal couples who were hostile toward him for expressing support for Trump's stance on the Second Amendment.
In this segment, Johnny critiques the Democratic Party's policies and their implications for the United States. He argues that the party's stance on open borders, free healthcare, and social programs for illegal immigrants is misguided and potentially harmful. Johnny also highlights the irony of the Democratic Party's current stance, noting that former President Bill Clinton, who enacted welfare reform, supported capital punishment, and opposed big government, would be labeled as a right-wing extremist if he ran on similar platforms today. Johnny further discusses the potential consequences of these policies, such as the exodus of the wealthy and the resulting economic and social challenges. He also mentions his neighbor, Sylvester, an Eastern European immigrant, who has witnessed the negative effects of such policies in Europe, and shares his own plans for relocating to Guatemala. The segment concludes with Johnny discussing a listener's experience with property in Guatemala and offering it as a potential rental option.
In this segment, Johnny discusses a letter from Chris, an expat living in Austin, Texas, who is seeking advice on paying a property manager for his rental property in Latin America. Chris is currently paying his caretaker $200 a month and his cleaning lady $100 a month. Johnny notes that these figures are reasonable for expats on a modest income, as they can afford a nice house and garden with a spectacular view. He then addresses Chris's question about the property manager's salary, suggesting that $175 a month is reasonable, but Chris should be prepared to offer more if he wants to retain the manager. Johnny also highlights the importance of advertising the job on local platforms to attract potential candidates.
In this segment, Johnny discusses the challenges of managing rental properties in Latin America, particularly in Mexico. He critiques the idea of hiring a property manager for a single property, suggesting that it's not a legitimate role and that one can find other hustlers to manage the property for a lower cost. He also emphasizes the importance of being present or nearby to prevent property managers from scamming the owner. The segment then transitions into a discussion about police corruption in Mexico, citing recent news articles about the arrest of entire police forces in Chihuahua and Puebla states. Johnny highlights the systemic nature of this corruption and the lack of effective government reforms. He concludes by advising expats to reconsider their plan B if they're thinking of Mexico due to these issues.
Topics
Living in Latin America, Social media and immigrant success, Economic conditions in Latin America, The American dream and immigration, Language and integration, Social media behavior, Critique of 'poop hole' neighborhoods, Political discussion on Trump and bankruptcy, Historical figures and bankruptcy, Recent political encounters, Democratic Party policies, Open borders and immigration
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:14 Introduction to the Expat Files 00:00:26 Overview of the Show 00:00:31 Johnny's Location and Commentary on 'Poop Hole Countries' 00:01:04 Discussion on 'Poop Hole Countries' and Immigrant Sentiment 00:01:33 Impact of Immigrant Success on Families Back Home 00:02:52 Johnny's Personal Experience and Observations 00:03:33 Chepi's Story and Mindset on Food and Economic Conditions 00:04:47 The American Dream from the Perspective of Immigrants 00:05:51 Social Media as Childish One-Upmanship 00:05:58 Poop Hole Neighborhoods in the US and Canada 00:06:53 Political Discussion on Trump and Bankruptcy 00:10:06 Historical Figures and Bankruptcy 00:11:02 Recent Political Encounters 00:11:22 Critique of Democratic Party Policies on Immigration and Borders 00:12:29 Comparison of Bill Clinton's Policies with Current Democratic Stances 00:14:23 Sylvester's Concerns About the Future of the United States 00:16:15 Chris's Experience with Property in Guatemala and Rental Opportunities 00:17:02 Chris's Property Management Inquiry Begins 00:18:33 Chris's Current Payment Structure 00:19:13 Johnny's Response to Chris's Inquiry 00:22:30 Cost of Property Management in Latin America 00:24:30 Police Corruption in Mexico
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat 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 All right, me Johnny here broadcasting today from a very nice subdivision in a poop hole country Yep, and you wouldn't believe how many very nice subdivisions locales business party and hangout districts that our first world all the way in poop hole country
[00:46] I have to tell you if I was broadcasting right now from the south side of Chicago And I had a camera with me and I panned around you'd say my god Johnny's broadcasting from a poop hole country Same thing if I was in certain parts of Cleveland, Detroit and most of LA if I had a camera you saw this on YouTube You'd say poop hole countries. What's he doing there bottom line? Poop holes are in the eye of the beholder on that note pondered this for a second Suppose you lived in a really crap district in a Latin poop hole country and all you're mostly illegal friends and relatives up in The states were sending back money pictures and happy faces in front of Minnie and Mickey as well as flashing their latest iPhones bling And lowriders the object of course is to show off making the folks back home envious and jealous of every what's up photo and message
[01:33] They said the fact is people who have escaped poop hole neighborhoods in Latin countries Notice I said poop hole neighborhoods not poop hole countries because the fact is the countries themselves are not poop holes But certain neighborhoods definitely are just like there are definitely poop hole neighborhoods in US cities, too The fact is Latinos who have escaped to the states that have made it Consistently bombard their friends and relatives back home with photos that come out and say look at me I've made it that Definitely has a big impact on the pole folks back home who really don't have much and thus nothing to lose if you were Someone like that. What would you want to do? Where would you want to go? Well, I'm telling you right now friends and relatives up in the states Don't send sad pictures of themselves back to the pole folks back home. Nope
[02:18] They're not posing in front of abandoned business districts and garbage dumps after all That's what social media is all about trying to impress the friends and relatives with that new TV or that trip to Vegas Chicago or the Magic Kingdom Especially the Magic Kingdom or even just to show you got 20 bucks to spend at the sizzler on a rib-eye dinner Because you see 20 bucks is more than the average daily minimum wage throughout Latin America So that's the mentality you see with the un and undereducated Immigrant classes in the states as they communicate with the pole folks back home living in poo-pole neighborhoods And how do I know this? Well, I've been here in Latin America for about 30 years now Continuously and I've seen that happen over and over again with my own cleaning ladies maintenance guys and gardeners
[03:03] Look the maintenance guy I've had for a long long time chepi He lives with his wife and a couple of grandkids in a tin laminate shack that doesn't even have glass for windows Just pieces of canvas that they batten down for storms, but he sure eats Well, he's got some lemons orange and avocado trees in the backyard that during certain times of the year He gives this stuff away and he's got driveway chickens, too He's got a driveway, but no car not even a motorcycle and those chickens of here's produce so many organic eggs that every so often He brings me over a dozen He has no idea how good and healthy his eggs are in fact once he said my eggs are always smaller than the store-bought eggs I wonder what they feed those things he said and I said probably Predigested Monsanto hormones. He had no idea what I was talking about and I had the heart to explain it to him
[03:50] But in his mind get this he thought the store-bought eggs were better than his simply because they were a bit bigger Plus they were all shiny and clean without a trace of caked on poop and feathers and whose size and shape were perfectly consistent Can you see there's a real problem with that line of reasoning? That's pretty much what all middle and lower middle class and poor Latinos think that food coming from a nice clean supermarket Like Walmart is better than the stuff they can buy at the big crazy food markets where a lot of the food is slightly irregular Of course, we know different and one of the reasons we're down here in Latin America not shopping at Walmart up in the States Now check he's got two sons up in the States Both who'd entered illegally and our son and rebuses back to him and they also send him a continuous barrage of photos on His what's up demonstrating the great American dream that God let them fall into
[04:39] Because you know everything good or bad that happens to Latinos is in the hands of God los manos de Dios You hear that over and over again So according to his two sons there live in the American dream one make an 11 bucks an hour in a meatpacking plant Which is about what cheffy makes in a day and the other making 10 bucks an hour Scrapping out condemned and abandoned buildings and doing drywall in New Jersey. Yep the American dream. All right Well to some maybe it is and you know, I've said the cheffy look you've got two sons up there apparently doing okay Why don't you go up there too? He said well, I would but I'm just too old. He's around 58 I don't think I'd fit in he said then I said to him. I think you would if you spoke English Then he said you don't really need English up there. My sons don't know it and they're getting along just fine
[05:25] Now understand his sons have been in the States over 10 years and they don't speak English So think of what's going on there You got immigrants up in the States mostly illegal making their friends and families and poor neighborhoods back home jealous and envious And you know that in a way is a point of most of social media, right? You know your friend sends you a shot of him and the family at a vacation hot spot in California Next thing you do is send him a shot from your vacation in Hawaii Yep, social media is 10% legit conversation and 90% pure childish BS and one-upmanship But back to poop hole neighborhoods in the US or Canada. Yep. That's right. I'm hearing even Canada has some poop hole neighborhoods How about that? Now suppose you were living in a poop hole South Side Chicago neighborhood Well for one thing you don't have friends and relatives living in other foreign countries sending you photos showing the streets are paid with gold
[06:16] Because the US of A is the end of the line the place everyone in other so-called poop hole countries set their sights on But I'm as you're living in the grand so-called first world prime destination But somehow more and more prime neighborhoods are turning into poop holes. Look at LA and San Francisco We're talking about literal human poop holes And what do you think those poor uneducated souls from poop hole countries who risk the journey and up in poop hole? Neighborhoods in US cities you think they end up in Lakeshore Drive in Chicago or South Beach, Florida or Brentwood or Beverly Hills They might work there blowing leaves and trimming bushes, but they're living in some nearby poop hole neighborhood So what the US politicians say keep the borders open. Let's have more of that So then why am I bringing all this up since I rarely talk about politics except to say that I'm an equal opportunity hater
[07:04] Well, I thought it would be a good opener for this email I just got that you really have to hear this one comes from Sylvester slide. He said Johnny I think you might find this story interesting a couple of years ago before Trump got elected I was verbally bashed by a vocal Democrat at a company dinner Just because I said Trump might be good for the country because he knew something about business not Wall Street paper pushing business But a guy who actually built buildings and complexes and resorts a guy who could organize hundreds of people to get real brick-and-mortar Projects built and that I said was what the country was sorely lacking Well, the guy laughed and made a point of embarrassing me by saying Trump was a shit businessman because he filed for bankruptcy in Atlantic City Which meant he was a failure and the only reason why he got richer and richer was because he was cognizant of loopholes
[07:54] He had staffs of accountants and lawyers who knew how to game the system. Yes He tried to embarrass me, but I'd done my homework Johnny. I said to him you said Trump filed bankruptcy What a scarlet letter that is or is it? Do you know how many extremely wealthy people have filed for bankruptcy? Even multiple times and still went on to succeed beyond anyone's wildest expectations Look at up Johnny and you'll find these names on a list and there are hundreds more what I'm saying Johnny is Trump's on a distinguished list Did you know Abraham Lincoln the 16th president of the United States filed bankruptcy twice? Ulysses S Grant 18th president also went completely bust and filed bankruptcy as did William McKinley 25th president
[08:40] How about Walt Disney? Did you know that then there's Rembrandt the famous Dutch painter PT Barnum? He filed for bankruptcy in 1871 Mark Twain filed for bankruptcy Oscar Wilde the famous playwright who wrote the picture of Dorian Gray and others John Henry Heinz filed bankruptcy He's the condiment manufacturer of Heinz ketchup and those 57 varieties of whatever Then there was Milton Hershey founder of Hershey's chocolate JC Penny founder of that giant department store chain and Henry Ford yep, Ford He went bankrupt then you've got hundreds of other very famous people who went bankrupt not necessarily business people But artists performers and athletes who were brilliant in their fields
[09:26] For example, Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Johnny Unitas Bjorn Borg, Burt Reynolds, Nicholas Cage, MC Hammer, Willie Nelson, Larry King twice Then you've got Mike Tyson, Will Smith, Wesley Snipes and how about this? George McGovern former presidential candidate and John Connolly Texas governor who was injured while riding with President Kennedy at the time. He was assassinated now, Johnny I'm not saying i'm a Trump supporter All i'm saying is next time you hear the argument that Trump filed bankruptcy and because of that He's a shit businessman and should not be running the country Just thought you'd like to know what's happened to much better men and to me the greatest shocker on that list Thomas Jefferson founding father author of the declaration of independence and the third president of the united states
[10:13] One of the most brilliant geniuses and one of the most quoted guys in history filed bankruptcy Then Sylvester says so anyway Johnny I got into that little tussle right before trump got elected So now let's turn the clock back up to present times this weekend I was surrounded by six very liberal couples absolute trump haters Most thought trump would never leave office if defeated in 2012 that he'd proclaim himself king or something And these were educated people in fact one man stood up and said he was physically sick And when he was in the presence of trump supporters This guy thinking I was a trump supporter because I mentioned at least trump would uphold the second amendment and I could keep my guns Well, this guy gathered himself and his five friends and left the table They didn't even want to be sitting near me. I didn't even have a chance to tell him I didn't vote for trump
[11:02] I didn't vote for anyone. I think voting is futile Meanwhile in the upcoming election you've got candidate andrew yang matter of factly predicting The disappearance of millions and millions of low skilled jobs due to robots and sophisticated ai And pretty much everyone on both sides agrees with that Yet he and the democratic party argue for essentially allowing millions of low skilled workers to enter the country without consequences because They don't believe in borders Did any of these guys ever take a logic class i'd say the democrats have two huge problems in 2020 first They're looking at a spending spree that no country in history has ever attempted For example canceling student loan debt thousand dollars a month basic income allowance free health care free university
[11:50] Hey, i'm for a lot of that stuff too good ideas, but it's supposed to be funded by taxing the rich I wonder what could go wrong Then you got democrats and progressives putting out the message to voters that america is hopelessly contaminated by white males and it's racist Naturally, they're talking about everyone but themselves Now johnny i'm an old enough guy to have voted for bill clinton twice Did you know as president bill clinton number one enacted welfare reform that included work requirements number two? He signed into law the defense of marriage act which defined marriage as being between a man and a woman only Number three he signed into law the religious freedom restoration act which further prevented the government from regulating religion
[12:36] He publicly supported the concept of capital punishment. He privatized sally may He increased border patrol by 35 percent and installed hundreds of miles of border fencing He also declared in his state of the union speech that quote the era of big government is over That was 20 short years ago and today the democratic party, especially some freshmen in congress Would see him as a right-wing terrorist for supporting and enacting those laws Not only that he'd definitely be called a white supremacist if he ran on those issues and platforms today However, this time around in the 2020 election if I was dumb enough to think that voting actually made a difference I used to think that but i'm smarter now But if I did I would not vote for democrats
[13:24] They're the party of socialism open borders free health care and social programs for illegal immigrants and identity politics If I did vote i'd vote against that stuff every time And republicans like democrats are just chronic sociopathic liars It doesn't take much to reveal their sense. Just look at the bush dynasty and their perpetual wars Then he says my next-door neighbor is an eastern european immigrant a legal immigrant He said it was the land of promise But now he's very disappointed in the way things have turned out He lived under communism and socialism and escaped all that but sees exactly the same happening in his adopted country He says people will do just what they did in europe Those who have the money will leave the usa and what they leave behind are the poor Uneducated people who can't afford to leave so they're forced to fight or give in but they won't fight
[14:14] They'll just give in he said that's exactly what happened in western and eastern europe throughout the 19th and 20th centuries He and his family witnessed it and it's happening here Then he said take new york when mayor de blasio patted himself on the back after raising taxes on the wealthiest But then was puzzled when the state revenue stream dropped off drastically Why because businesses he taxed the most closed or left for states and countries with lower tax rates His neighbor said this is not the country. I want my kids to live in i'm here He said and i'm old so i'll tough it out, but I don't know what they're gonna do Then sylvester says johnny i'm old too My kids are growing out of the house and I still have enough drive and energy to get my plan b rolling So expect to see me at one of your seminars real soon signed sylvester
[15:00] All right. Thanks for that sly very interesting and you're right. You know when you deduce that voting is futile I'll argue that point with anybody who begs to differ as you long-time listeners Know I mentioned the last person I voted for was ross perot You know of the big sucking sound that he was absolutely right about when referring to the naphtha trade agreement He was the last guy I voted for and of course he lost However, if in this election there were an illegal muslim handicap satanist transvestite midget on the ticket Hmm might be worth pulling the lever just for grins Which begs the question how's your plan be coming? The clock is ticking and by all accounts we're only a couple of minutes to midnight All right. Let's get back to talking toyky about latin america
[15:47] I specifically want to comment on this email. I got from a listener named chris Because he brings up so many good points about doing business and hiring and firing and contracting people Chris says hola johnny We've spoken a couple of times in the past couple of years on a few phone consult calls I got my plan b in full swing too and I bought a house in guatemala on lake Atidland the most beautiful lake in the world. All right me johnny here. He sent me a video of the place It's fantastic. It's got two houses on it huge garden and a 10 million dollar view of the lake and the volcano If I remember right, I think he bought it from an old german who was getting way up there 80 something years old Developed the property built the houses and really manicured the gardens Well, I believe chris paid something on the order of 150 grand for all that
[16:35] And his idea was to list one of the houses on airbnb And I think he was going to live in the other part-time. Here's what he writes. Johnny. I've posted the house I'm renting on airbnb and then he sent me the link and if you look at it It's really a great setup if you want the link send me an email The expat file is at gmail.com and you know It would be a great place to rent for a while while you were scouting around lake atidland for a place of your own Remember lake atidland is considered the most beautiful lake in the world. It's in the alti plano So it's got spring like weather all year round and like I tell everybody if I wasn't such an active guy If I was for example an artist sculptor heavily into gardening or writing a great un-american novel I'd buy or build a place on lake atidland and live there all year round But as for me, it's a little too far from the big city, you know coming from chicago and all that
[17:22] I need a little hustle and bustle at least nearby anyway, and that's why my place in the coffee fields is so cool I'm only about a half an hour drive from guadamala city And that's a place that has everything because it's got three or four million people in the metropolitan area But back to chris and his new place on lake atidland says johnny I'm trying to hire the same property manager who worked with the previous owner. I've known her for four years She's organized proactive everything you would not expect from a local latina So i'm curious if you have any insight into what I should be paying this person She would be the go-between for myself and the caretaker and housekeeper and other contractors that are working on the property She'd be visiting the property at least twice each month
[18:07] And she'd handle much of the finances like paying contractors and caretakers And also help keep the home rental supplied with essentials In my mind, she has proven to be very capable and trustworthy. So I offered her a salary of 175 bucks a month She said it didn't seem fair Now I certainly can offer more than that, but I thought I would ask for your perspective first for more context on the issue I'm currently paying my caretaker 200 bucks a month, which includes all the gardening We pay the cleaning lady about a hundred bucks a month Anyway, johnny. Hope all is well signed chris who's now living in austin, texas All right, chris i'd like to begin by pointing out to you listeners the fact that he's paying his caretaker the maintenance slash gardener
[18:54] 200 bucks a month and his cleaning lady a hundred bucks a month Now you've got a real world idea why gringos and expats coming down on a crappy Social security check of 12 or 1400 bucks a month can have a great little house and garden with a spectacular view And live like a king or queen All right that aside Here are the basics of my answer to chris about his property management issue And this applies to anyone here in latin america that plans on putting their house condo Whatever in a rental pool or as an airbnb Chris as far as this lady goes who you trust and you know a bit I think is a pretty good property manager without a lot of the usual faults that latinos and latinas have like for example Manana time and not writing things down besides the fact that especially if you own a business
[19:42] That manana time thing can really cause some aggravation of course up in the first row There's a certain segment of the professional population that is always on manana time too. That would be doctors Oh, they're allowed to be late for appointments. That's okay, right? But if you're late look out now ask for chris Just figure out how many hours a month this lady or whatever property manager would work. Let's say it's 40 That's 40 hours a month not a week But I kind of think it would be more like 20 hours even less Now remember if she's a property manager yours isn't the only property she's managing So she's got a nice steady income from who knows could be five or ten other properties You should ask her because let's say for example She's got five properties and she's making 200 a month off each one. That's a thousand a month Man, she's making more than most young doctors
[20:30] Remember in latin america you have to figure that practically no one who isn't a professional like a doctor or lawyer or whatever Or doesn't have their own business makes over five or six hundred bucks a month You have to realize six hundred dollars a month is a nice salary for the average local Because it's about twice the minimum wage you heard me say this before on other shows But doctors routinely hire other doctors fresh out of medical school and dentists too for five or six hundred bucks a month That's why I say you can like a hollywood star or diva Have your own personal doctor on call 24 seven for around 500 bucks a month But that's another story. Anyway, let's pick that number 600 a month for a very nice salary for an average person Who's not a professional here in latin america aside from the fact that 600 bucks a month is even okay for a new professional starting out
[21:21] Anyway, let's say 600 bucks a month is a good salary for a property manager And let's say she's working 40 hours a week out of a month for you Like I said, she's probably only working 20 or less. Anyway, let's assume 40. That's one week a month You divide 600 by four that comes to 150 bucks, which is reasonable and less than what you offered 175 right my take she's being unreasonable And I predict She will take your offer if you hold your ground and tell her you'll be posting That job on olex.com and on the bulletin boards in the big grocery store And of course in a local gringo english language rags because you know many times when you're on or near the tourist trail There'll be some gringos and expats usually backpackers who want to stay on forever and ever and they need to make some money
[22:07] And some of them are very smart to speak spanish I would love to have a job like that because i'll tell you right now if you're a college graduate or college student Who took a lot of time off and you want to stay in a certain latin american country because you love it You won't be able to work on the books. So you'll probably take a bartender's job or work at a hotel For something like 175 to 200 bucks a month And you'll be glad to get it because you're used to low budget living and you can live on that If you're used to the backpacker life, so hear me out that 175 bucks a month You're offering her is practically a gift because like I said She can't be working more than 20 to 40 hours a week managing one loan property like that The fact is it's kind of ridiculous to call yourself a property manager if you only manage one property So in the end chris, I know you think she's good You have known her for four years and you're accustomed to the way she works Plus you're not from guaramala and i'm guessing maybe you don't speak spanish very well
[22:56] But as for me, I don't care how good she is or how good you think she is You can find 10 other hustlers in the area that can do just as well I'll tell you managing a property is not rocket science and rocket science isn't even what it's cracked up to be However, if you do have a soft spot for her and you're at a crossroads You can sweeten the pot with her if you just tell her look i'll give you 175 bucks a month And you tell her that she'll get a commission with each paid airbnb client or whatever other renters She could scrounge up say a commission of five or ten percent that way she'll have skin in the game And we'll do a little marketing for you, too So anyway, that's my take on it and it's pretty good advice for anyone Who's going to put their house or apartment in a rental pool or airbnb it however I'm very much against owning a property
[23:43] And putting it up for rent if you're not around to look at it once in a while yourself Or at least come back three or four times a year to check up on what's going on To me the ideal way to do it is to live on the property yourself and rent out Perhaps half of your house if it's a duplex or a lockout Or in your case live in the big house and rent out the extra house on the property Man, i'll tell you one of the first rules of renting in latin america You really have to be there or close by because when the cat's away It's a golden invitation for your property manager to start scamming you. Hey, I know it happened to me Meanwhile comes an article that just came out on the 21st of august in spanish And you'll never hear about this stuff up in the states But man does mexico need another nail in the coffin to kill your idea of a plan b? Listen to this you've heard me mention this before but now this is way over the top
[24:30] The title of the article and i'll translate entire police forces continue to be arrested in mexico Okay, i'll paraphrase this because i'm translating it says the arrest of a town's entire police department in mexico state of chihuahua Reflects just how insidious police corruption continues to be in the country with governments at all levels seemingly unable to make any real difference at all Then it says police officers from the municipality of madera chihuahua in northern mexico were arrested on august 15th during a joint operation by state and federal agencies According to mexico's attorney general who himself is most certainly a corrupt bastard Then it says not only was the entire police force arrested, but the police commander was also arrested He apparently provided protection services to drug traffickers in the area and obstructed the work of other federal authorities
[25:21] The arrest came it said when the police chief stopped operatives from the federal government and Security agencies and threatened them at gunpoint to abandon an investigation of narcos in the area Then it says the fact that entire police force is being rounded up for corruption and collusion with organized crime in mexico Is nothing new on august 2018 It happened again A 205 man police force were all disarmed and arrested in the municipality of tecucan in central puebla state While 113 more policemen from that district had fled and are now considered Fugitives, of course, they all kept their guns in their uniforms. And what do you think they're gonna do to make money now? How about let's get on the extort the gringo bandwagon after all they're dressed like real cops, right?
[26:09] Then it says the ease of which corruption pervades mexico especially inside the police forces and the vast impunity of governmental officials along with Participating officers too ensures that successive government reforms will show no results Then it says the police departments in mexico are so corrupt that in 2017 There were 1688 Reported corruption cases for every thousand active duty police officers. That means for every single mexican cop there's 1.6 8 8 reported corruption cases And that's according to an official survey conducted by the national institute of statistics and geography in mexico Then it says in 2018 in the state of chihuahua for every thousand police officers
[26:56] There were 133 that had been arrested for criminal activities That means a little over one in seven cops on the mexican police force Will be arrested for corruption and thrown in the slammer And then it says for those of you who like mexico city district of federal they have the highest rate of officers arrested 179 arrested for every thousand members of the police force then it says for the past 30 years Each new government in mexico has proposed a new way to address the issue of police corruption And none of those measures has been effective. So how about your plan b destination still thinking about mexico? You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america if you need some help with your own plan b We can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult
[27:41] Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com