#929 – The Expat Files: Expats, Extortion, and the Search for Plan B

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. Here's some hot news that just came in from mr. B Yeah, the famous mr. B our man in Guatemala who teaches English online to Chinese kids So obviously he'd be the man to talk about what's really happening with the coronavirus since he's talking to those kids

[00:48] Sitting right there in the thick of it every day and you know since these days the catchphrases fake news Just how much of that coronavirus crap is fake news or anything you hear about the economy politics climate change any of that crap Well, at least we have mr. B who's got a direct pipeline to China and what about the coronavirus in Latin America, you know Everyone's talking about it. You can't avoid the news. It's everywhere But so far no cases or at least I haven't met anyone who knows someone who's been in contact with the virus But this thing's just getting started. So it's coming time will tell anyway back to mr. B He says I've had four students now who speak really good English that tell me the name of the coronavirus is really Neo-corona pneumonia. That's what they're calling it in China. Anyway, he'll corona pneumonia

[01:39] Of course people die from pneumonia all the time and usually it's from a virus up in the states We call it a virus anyway But the reason I'm writing this to you today Johnny is in case you want to talk about So-called corona virus on your show. I want to inform you on the impact It's having with my job of teaching Chinese children English online So then what impact has this virus situation had on my job? none Absolutely zero effect Turns out Johnny the kids are not able to go back to their brick-and-mortar Something anything because you know, there's lots and lots of competition for education and grades in China That's the goal. But what about the impact of that virus?

[02:26] Well, it's like this the time slots that I have for students are 30 minutes My company a lots 30 minutes per class and I've had a couple of my students cancel their time slot But it's been filled up right away by another student whose teacher had called in sick or something I'm okay with being a substitute in case the teachers out That's always a good option if you want to make even more money, but I personally am booked I rarely have any open slots In fact, he says the demand for online English teachers like me is very high right now because of the virus Causing my company to even extend winter hours and they're asking teachers to open even more additional time slots for students if they can Like I said, Johnny their parents are desperate for their children to learn something anything anything because you see in China

[03:14] It's all about getting a leg up on the other guy You wouldn't believe the competition among these kids and are they serious about it However about that virus, I personally think it's a man-made pneumonia virus And I believe the Chinese government wants more of their people to be home prisoners Instead of out on the streets talking to each other and I have that sneaky feeling the US government wants the same for its people Though I could be wrong. I wouldn't count on it. Anyway, Johnny, that's my little report about the corona virus from the trenches I'm on it Johnny more stories to come signed. Mr. B Alright, thanks for that update. Mr. B keep those cards letters and emails coming and it is good to know that virus situation in China Has not negatively affected you guys out there teaching English to Chinese students online

[04:04] And in the end who would have thunk that the virus itself would have kicked up the demand for teachers like you Every cloud has a silver lining and all that I guess. Oh and as far as that last show I did on how they get rid of those nasty kookarachas Been getting a lot of feedback on that show. It seems like there are plenty of people up in the states with the same problem Infestations for example, this email comes from Mitchell. He says Johnny I learned a while ago that a common sneaky way to which you end up getting cockroaches in the home is from Cardboard boxes that packages come in especially boxes of food, of course now, Johnny Roaches love to lay their eggs inside crevices in those cardboard boxes So watch out for those packages from Amazon my advice get rid of those boxes quick even before you get them in the house

[04:54] All right. Thanks for that Mitchell all good advice Now I have to tell you of all the thousands of emails. I've been getting over the years Once in a while, I get emails from people addressing what they call my poor attitude That'd be of course my on-air attitude, especially when it comes to politicians and other scumbags Now I have to admit that most people agree with my assessment a hundred percent But I do get the occasional person who says Johnny really how could you be so hard on politicians? There have to be some good ones out there. And isn't it true that if you get a really honest smart persevering person in there Perhaps he or she could really affect some changes even turn it around That's right. Yep. I get emails from people who say Johnny. We all know the system is broken, but any system can be fixed

[05:43] So yes, I get emails like that. What can you say to that? Anything's possible, I guess but Just recently I came across a brilliant article that explains in Mathematical terms why it'll never get fixed and after reading and letting these words sink in you just know there's no hope for the system It's doomed. The US truly is making its last few swirls around the edge of the toilet So let me just read a few excerpts here and you'll see what I mean. The title of the article is What are the odds of getting a good leader? This is a new article just came out first He gives us a premise the premise is the larger the country the less likelihood of getting a leader Who can be trusted with the job? That is the premise then he says on the surface

[06:30] This premise would seem to be an illogical claim because surely the size of a country has no bearing upon whether the leadership is competent trustworthy, etc And yet that's very much the case and mathematics can prove it Then he said this is due to a combination of conditions that can be found in every country Studies have long revealed that in any population roughly 4% or 1 in 25 people will display significant sociopathic traits These traits are as follows number one glibness and superficial charm number two Manipulative and cunning three grandiose sense of self-worth for pathological lying five

[07:17] lack of remorse shame or guilt six shallow emotions seven incapacity for real love eight continuous need for compliments nine continuous need for stimulation Now I wonder who could best serve as a poster boy for those traits Bill Clinton, but I digress though. Not too much. Anyway, it says picture the leading politicians in your own country Not just Trump either the top dogs of any party whether you support or oppose this individual He or she is very likely to possess these traits So then why should it be that sociopaths rise to the top in politics the answer quite simple first those with these Pathologies are likely to be drawn to jobs that allow for self-aggrandizement and minimal consequences for actions taken plus

[08:09] considerable rewards both in income and power Second a sociopath will have fewer Scruples than others, so he'll be prepared to do whatever it takes to gain office while others more likely to have a conscience Will have limitations as how far they'll go to succeed That suggests that the 4% of sociopaths will not only be more attracted to a career in politics They'll be likely more successful And of course, we know this to be true as we commonly note the above traits when describing almost any specific politicians But why then are sociopathic politicians more likely to occur in a larger country than a smaller one? We can prove this with two examples take a country. That's small a population of let's say only 65,000 that means only about

[08:54] 20,000 of those people can legally run for office. That is they are adults born in the country, etc If you take 4% of that population that translates to 800 potentially bad actors out of a possible 20,000 now if only one in a hundred of those bad actors actually pursued politics That means that at any given time the country might have eight Pathological types rising to the top of politics and based on the knowledge of them as individuals I'd say that's a kind of a universal number and what we have at any given time now in that country for example if there Are 50 senators only eight sociopaths in the mix represents? Well less than one quarter of the total legislature So even those eight out of fifty can possibly be dealt with that is their bad sociopathic and corrupt ideas

[09:43] overridden or neutralized however, an example to let's look at the US a much larger country of 327 million people and with that fixed 4% Sociopathic rate that gives us 13 million Sociopaths that have the potential to rise to the top. That's 13 million That's a hell of a lot of people for a country with only around 650 top-level political positions that be Congress plus the president and the cabinet, etc And remember the most pathological people are the ones that are likely to work the hardest to succeed So if we simply do the math we recognize in all likelihood an individual in a senior political position

[10:29] That would be state representative is on up Statistically speaking would be pathological personalities because you see there's no doubt about it that 13 million Sociopath number is simply overwhelming Nearly all of them with a burning desire to hold one of those 650 top positions in the country the math does not lie While conceptually your mind probably recoils. That is unless you're a sociopath yourself at the thought of so many millions going after 650 top jobs the truth is the numbers illustrate that it's not only possible that Sociopaths do fill most of these 650 top positions in the country the math does not lie while conceptually

[11:17] Your mind probably recoils that is unless you will throw his hat into the ring He's almost always trounced in the primaries and should he actually obtain office He's likely to last only a term or two before he's had enough for the swamp He either drops out or becomes a swamp creature himself The latter being the more likely case because the perks are just so damn good And of course, this is a fact we've all observed on occasions when a truly admirable candidate does appear on the scene Bottom line if we step back and assess the mathematics of what this means the system itself of Course has failed. It's a failed system to start with how could it be anything else? It's not intended for the system to work for the betterment of the electorate

[12:04] It's meant to serve the rulers whose majority has always been according to the math's Sociopaths so over the years the system has been finely tuned to their needs Which leads us to an even more unsettling conclusion since the system is populated by pathological individuals They have no intention of ever rectifying the problem no matter what rhetoric they give you Regardless of party affiliation they are in fact the problem the worst of problems to us that is because to them There's no problem at all and by extension It means that the problem cannot be fixed without employing Thomas Jefferson's solution of throwing them all out Periodically and starting fresh from the beginning in fact here's the Jefferson quote

[12:52] He says the tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends the ends being life liberty and the pursuit of happiness it's the right of the people to alter or abolish it and Institute a new government those are Thomas Jefferson's words But the fact is these days to really see the halls of state cleanse the bad actors and sociopaths We recognize that nothing short of a revolution will bring about Thomas Jefferson's resolution And that ain't gonna happen Even if we were to think a revolution was justified very few of us would wish to see the economic and political Devastation that would be sure to accompany it at least in the short term

[13:38] So we let the sociopaths have their way We let them rule and hope in most ways we can get on with their lives without too much government interference All right. All right. I know what you're thinking What the hell does all that have to do with living working playing and or doing business in Latin America? Well, there's an easy answer to that. Of course either choose to live in a system. That's completely controlled by big brother Sociopaths who monitor your every move and control every little aspect of your life You can choose to live in a place where you commit three felonies a day and don't even know it You can choose to bank in a place where the government can lock up your account with a simple phone call You can choose to live in a place where you're paying more than 50% of your income in combined taxes

[14:23] And if you don't believe that I'll send you a report that proves it Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com So then what's the alternative to being under the thumb of uncle Sam and big brother the rest of your life? Well, you get that plan B underway vote with your feet and get the hell out of dodge Sure, if you end up in Latin America, which I highly suggest their leaders are definitely sociopaths, too However, there's one big difference their sociopaths on manana time Pretty much says it all doesn't it not to mention Latinos not only hate their own government They do everything in their power legal and otherwise to avoid paying taxes or having any involvement with their governments at all In other words, they see their government not as their friend

[15:08] But as their enemy and those that govern know this so they never push their people too far Except of course in those few cases, they've actually gone hardcore socialist like Cuba, Venezuela Nicaragua Bolivia and Ecuador and that's sure working out. Well, isn't it? So the question is how's your plan B coming? Oh and that reminds me I do a lot of phone consults, you know Mostly with people who are somewhere along on their plan B and they need some guidance and advice and you know It's a funny thing most of them I'd say even 90% of them have admitted to me that they're what you might call failed or disillusioned preppers And many of them have admitted they were preppers for a long time Some started 10 even 20 years back Stock piling stuff in that certain little corner in the basement thinking a grid down scenario or Armageddon's right around the corner

[16:00] but now 10 or 20 years later that food in the basements gone past its due date and well that Enthusiasm for prepping is on the way and I imagine every time you walk downstairs and do an inventory Brush the dust off and check the expiration date You're probably wondering if it was the right thing to do probably even feeling a bit foolish Sometimes you're thinking of friends and family knew about it. They'd probably think you were nuts Well, you know, there's really nothing wrong with prepping. It is a good idea Hey, the Mormons are all in on it for at least a year. In fact, my own sister's one of those No, not a Mormon a prepper, but now she's an enlightened prepper There's a difference, you know and you know She's like so many longtime preppers who've graduated or were enlightened to the realization that it ain't gonna cut it the long run Sure It'll get you over the hump in a small disaster the last couple of days or even a couple of weeks

[16:49] but it appears that what we're in for it's gonna be really nasty and long-term and Economic financial or environmental blowout just unequal than modern times at least You know in the big depression when half the country was out of work There was really only one degree of separation between city folks and a relative or two living on a farm So at least during the depression people could eat but you know these days That's not the case at all in the coming blowout when that reset button gets hit Well, let's just say that's why you want to have a plan B Because you know if you're in Latin America Every city dweller is one degree of separation away from a family or a friend who lives on a farm That's a sustainable model prepping is not prepping is just a short-term insurance policy having a cousin or brother

[17:37] Who owns a little farm? That's a long-term lifeline So there are literally tens of thousands of people like my sister who've got a corner in the basement Just chock full of stuff that's reaching its expiration date Luckily, she's got some gold and silver and that won't spoil or go bad And now that her kids are grown and out of the house She's wisened up in this disillusion with long-term prepping and it's well along in her plan B now, too Hey, but you got to start somewhere and prepping is a very good first step At least if you're a prepper You're no longer fooling yourself into thinking everything's gonna be alright and when the crap hits the ventilator All you got to do is dial 9 1 1 good luck with that All right changing gears again. Let's talk about Extortions here in Latin America, you know if you live down here and you mingle with the locals and you speak Spanish

[18:28] You'll hear stories and read stuff in the paper. You'll hear about people who occasionally get extorted now I'm not talking about police extortions. I'm talking about being extorted when you're in business So what's that all about? Well think of the protection rackets You used to hear about or see depicted in Hollywood gangster flicks where someone named Knuckles Tony snake eyes or Johnny bagels would show up every week to collect an envelope and the collector the guy picking up the envelopes Was known as the bag man Not the envelope man, but the bag man now, you know, I've been down here in Latin America something like 30 years now And yes, I've heard extortion stories But I've never heard a single extortion story coming from gringos and expats who own Businesses as long as their businesses are on the gringo tourist trail slightly on the gringo tourist trail or in middle or upper middle-class

[19:19] Neighborhoods in business districts. In other words, if you want to hear extortion stories, just go to the places I never recommend you live work play and or hang out. I mean really why do you think I give you the heads up on? Those places now, that's not to say that gringos and expats don't on occasion open businesses in Undesirable areas like that. Why because the rent there is so damn cheap. We're talking backpacker and cheapskate heaven I mean, for example in a crummy lower middle class gruffy neighborhood You could probably get a really spacious two-bedroom apartment for around 150 to 200 bucks a month Sure, it sounds great. But along with that, there are some negatives like for example, you probably won't have water 24 7 That's a big problem and you'll probably have a couple of power outages a week for half hour or so

[20:04] And though it may be safe enough to walk around during the day at night I wouldn't chance it and Chances are the locals that have little businesses there and there are businesses everywhere in Latin America Doesn't matter what district or neighborhood seems like every corner has got its little tienda bakery and pincaso That's a tire repair joint and in the nicer neighborhoods are left unmolested by the bad guys Because the gangs and no-goodniks stick to the crummy neighborhoods that they themselves live in and remember the nicer the neighborhood The better it's policed Personally and all the time I've been down here I've only spoken to a few business men who've been extorted and I've never met a gringo or expat businessman who've been shaken down Only local businessmen and crap neighborhoods. In fact, some years back I had a girlfriend whose father owned a hardware store and one day when the place was closed

[20:53] The note was slipped under the door that said there was a new protection tax to be paid I think in that case, it was something like 20 bucks every two weeks So yes, bottom line is I've seen and heard of extortion rackets But never in high-end even middle-class or business districts in decent neighborhoods But you know lately here in Latin America, there's been a new twist on the extortion racket Fact is it turns out that more than half of all the extortion phone calls Originate from a single place most likely the closest Latin American prison. Yeah, you heard right in this case We're not talking about the note under the door that says pay up every couple of weeks We're talking about getting a phone call that says pay up every couple of weeks a paper and pencils old-school these days

[21:38] It's all done by what's up by the way how do you think the bad guys get people's phone numbers to extort money from because Latinos make Absolutely, no effort to maintain their privacy and give their phone numbers and what's up numbers to everyone including all their Email addresses fake book and instant crap logins names and handles too So anyway, as mentioned the most recent data shows that most Extortion phone calls are coming from a prison. So then how do the cops and investigators know? Extortion calls are coming from prisons most often the local prison nearest the prospective victims Well, that's because in every prison There are a number of raids and inspections that take place throughout the year where they clean everyone out of their cells and they check

[22:23] For contraband, for example, there's a recent case in Guatemala where a massive search of the cantal prison They turned the place upside down back in July of 2019 about six months ago, which involved over 1,200 cops They uncovered over 200 phones and chargers with lists of hundreds of names and numbers of businesses in the local area And get this in November just a couple months ago Guatemalan police spokesperson Pablo Castillo told the press that one particular Individual prisoner residing there one David Quinteros Lopez el Tiedas in English David the scissors Lopez was found to be coordinating about 200 extortion calls a day along with three other prisoner buddies

[23:09] You got that just one guy and his two buddies 200 calls a day and their modus operandi was to call companies and threaten to hurt or murder their staff if they did not comply However, this guy in his little prison game never intended to hurt anybody They had no connections or muscle outside the prison and there's a lot of guys like that They're called copycat extortionists with little or no Connection to real gangs or thugs that can actually do any harm to anyone So what they do is exploit businessmen who fear extortion by real gangs and they make phone calls posing as gang members now according to investigators Copycat extortion is a new game and it's showing up in every Latin country and almost all of them are working out of prisons according to very recent statistics

[23:55] 70% of all extortion calls come from prison and 80% of those are from copycats who pose as gang members But have no power or authority or muscle to back up their threats They're just counting on the fear factor and according to stats these copycat extortionists are extremely successful in collecting dough For example, the article says last August authorities obtained a list from just one person in jail who had extorted over 36,000 bucks from private businesses over the phone with the extortionist a cold caller Not having a single connection to any of the gangs like MS-13 or barrio de ezio. Joe turns out He was just a very successful cold caller and with his calling skills and technique. He made a killing

[24:42] So again, the bottom line is Authorities estimate that 90% of extortion calls from telephones Which is the most common method these days are from imitators or copycats Just trying to hit the jackpot kind of like the latino version of the Nigerian prince in exile scam I don't get it. How come I keep getting emails from so many exiled Nigerian princes with millions of dollars in locked-up funds They want to share with me. How'd I get so lucky meanwhile? We've got some wild and crazy news out of Brazil. Here's an article. Just came out of Brazil entitled gay Jesus comedy Reinstated on Netflix after Brazil's Supreme Court reverses the lower court ban The title is great Anyway, the article says the president of Brazil Supreme Court authorized Netflix to show a comedy that depicts

[25:31] Jesus as gay after a lower court bandit. By the way, this comes from the Brazil State News Agency Ahencia, Brazil It says the movie which is named the first Temptation of Christ has prompted outrage in Brazil home of the world's largest Catholic population Then it says since the movies released last month millions of people have signed an online petition to have the film removed from Netflix Not only that on Christmas Eve four men were involved in an attack on the headquarters and offices of the group that made the movie So in effect, they've got two judges with two different rulings One says that the satire has the power to undermine the values of Christian faith And then they've got another judge who ruled that no movie even a gay Jesus movie can bring down the church

[26:18] Since the Catholic Church has weathered more severe storms in its 2,000 year history So for now you can watch it But since the Supreme Court's ruling is described as provisional the movie could still be banned at any time now Netflix Which described the 46 minute film as a Christmas special that's gone wrong They've expressed their support for the group producing the film and its artistic sensibilities and values Meanwhile the ensuing publicity has propelled the ratings for this gay Jesus comedy to new heights Hmm very interesting, but I still don't want to see it. How about you? Alright, we're getting to the end of the show Now, I just want to give you a heads up once again as to my new website It's expatplanb.com check it out. That's where you'll find my Latin American health care report

[27:04] It's new and revised in more than a hundred pages and something You're absolutely gonna need because at whatever stage you are in your plan B You will absolutely need to know about doctors clinics hospitals and Latin health care insurance Check it out at expatplanb.com and also in a few weeks time I'll be putting up some details about my upcoming expat insider seminar My next week-long event in Central America will be in July 2020. I'll keep you posted 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 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

[27:50] 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 Nos vemos