News from Around the Hemisphere, Jan 15, 2014 (reposted from original location)

article from January 15, 2014
By Jamie Douglas

First off, an apology to my readers: I have not been writing as often as I would like, as I am not well... but not ill enough to refrain from occasionally spouting my opinions and pointing out interesting facts.

Mexico’s continuing problems

Poor Mexico! After the recent elections, there was hope that the violence would subside somewhat, but it is only getting worse in the states that have been flashpoints in the unfortunate war on drugs, which has cost over 100,000 lives over the past few years – one of which is the state of Michoacán, where I used to reside until I went to buy the newspaper for my morning coffee at Pátzcuaro restaurant where expats, artists and criminals alike would mingle.

Since that morning eight years ago, when I was shocked to see photos of 22 mutilated corpses on the back pages of La Voz de Michoacán, things have gotten progressively worse. In a recent article in Proceso [spanish], it is revealed that the Knights Templar, successors to the Zeta crime syndicate, have now entered politics on behalf of the PRI, the hyper-corrupt Mexican political party that bled the country dry for generations. After a brief respite, the PRI is back in power, with a little help from their usual election fraud along with the Knights Templar, who have become an economic force to contend with, as they have made hundreds of millions of dollars running the port of Lázaro Cárdenas and illegally mining iron ore.

As a result of long-standing collusion between the local, state and federal government and the cartels, Michoacán has come close to being an ungovernable failed state, and the neighboring states up and down the Pacific coast may follow.

When will the powers that be realize that the unfortunate war on drugs had the same results as the prohibition in the United States did? It enabled criminal elements to take over the country with diluted and dangerous unregulated alcohol, corrupting most major police forces by flooding them with money.

Panama and Nicaragua race for a wider canal across the isthmus

In 2006, Panama’s then-president Martin Torrijos announced a plan to expand the Panama Canal so it could accommodate today’s VLCCs. He boldly stated that this project would turn Panama into a first-world country. Perhaps he did not anticipate all of the corruption that would inevitably follow this proposal. Perhaps he underestimated the larceny of the Martinelli administration. But one thing is glaringly obvious: The conglomerate that bid on the work grossly underestimated the cost and time for building this ambitious project – and therein lies the current problem. The Panama Canal Authority is refusing to pay for the cost overruns and has threatened to take over the project by force mejeure.

Regardless of what will happen in this chapter of Panama Canal history, Panama will not be a first-world nation until it rids itself of all the scams that are at home there, including the banking and real estate sectors, much of which is run by American and Canadian expats, con men and women and convicted criminals trying to sell anything they can think of.

Meanwhile, a Chinese investor has put together a consortium of wealthy business people from China to build a canal clear across the isthmus in Nicaragua. This project is slated to begin in December of this year; and if successfully completed, it will be quite a thorn in the side of the Panama Canal Authority. But with the enormous nature of the project, one should not hold their breath. China may be riding high at the moment, but nothing lasts forever. The Chinese economy is already feeling the pain of the costs of their armed forces and high-speed rail networks.

I wonder why Mexico has not pursued the logical choice of building a trans-isthmus canal from Tehuantepec to the Caribbean. Perhaps the cost and logistics are too prohibitive, along with the opposition of the indigenous people.

Venezuela and crime

Venezuela’s sweetheart, actress and former Miss Universe Monica Spear, and her husband, Thomas Berry, were brutally murdered a few days ago when their car broke down. Their little 5-year-old daughter was also shot but survived.

Venezuela is a spectacular nation, blessed with abundant natural resources and stunning beauty. From Angel Falls to the Caribbean islands, nature has blessed this nation with abundant and fertile lands, not to mention the crude oil reserves in Lake Maracaibo and the gold in the ground.

Unfortunately, the riches of the nation have been distributed unequally to the point of forcing many into a life of serious crime. The homicide rate is near the top of world statistics, and the prisons are overflowing. The staggering amount and wide distribution of serious crimes is affecting everyone from the very poor to the very rich. Ironically, Monica Spear and her family moved to Miami out of fear for their safety. Nearing the end of a holiday vacation, fate caught up with them.

If there is one good thing that can be said about it, it is the fact that thousands of people came to her funeral and thousands more protested the senseless violence the Bolivarian nation is confronting.

And now the weather

After an early spring followed by another cold front, the Southern Cone countries of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina have been hit with several waves of severe weather, which included some of the most intense lightning and thunder this observer has ever witnessed.

Torrential rains in Brazil took their toll in human lives, and Uruguay also had several casualties, including a police officer who was killed in downtown Montevideo when hit by a swinging door he was trying to secure during one of the storms, which packed winds of up to 100 km/h.

Argentina also suffered one of the worst heat waves in their recorded history that was compounded by the failure of the electric grid in Buenos Aires, causing brownouts, blackouts and several heat-related casualties. The worst incident happened in the small beach town of Villa Gesell, where four youngsters were killed on the beach by lightning and another 22 injured. The tragedy happened so quickly that the victims never had a chance to escape.

I will not opine on the cause of all this severe weather, from the polar vortex to the unseasonably severe cold in Antarctica that caused an Australian tour boat to get stuck in the pack ice, forcing other important scientific programs to be interrupted when several additional ships had to be sent to their rescue. The Australian organizer of the trip defended his expedition as having valid scientific value by explaining that the lay observers on the ship were qualified to make observations of the current conditions in the region.

Antarctica, being the last frontier on this planet, has been exploited for high-end tourism for several years, and this latest problem is no different from any other for-profit organized tour.

Jamie Douglas

At large in Uruguay

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Expat News and Info Jan 6, 2014: Libya, Brazil (reposted from original location)

article from January 6, 2014
By Jamie Douglas

Working in Libya

During the attack on Libya that deposed Muammar Gaddafi, I wrote two articles (here and here) for Expat Daily News forecasting that there would be many openings in the oil fields of Libya, which holds the largest oil reserves in Africa, to rebuild the infrastructure that has been neglected for decades and also to build new high-capacity pipelines.

Sure enough, there is now a sizeable population of expat workers under contract to various companies as well as the state-owned Libyan oil company. But one must always be careful when navigating the explosive atmosphere of this country. After 40 years of iron-fisted rule by the despot, there is still a lot of hatred against Westerners present in this oil-rich nation.

Sadly, two expats decided to go on a romantic beachfront picnic in western Libya recently, but instead of having an undisturbed time on a lovely beach, they were later found shot to death, execution style.

Tripoli itself has several enclaves of expats who only move in heavily secured convoys, and life is very difficult for them, as they are unable to move freely. The concept of accompanying family members is impossible to realize, but the excellent salaries are enough incentive for foreigners to go live in this desert wasteland that is suffering from all kinds of security issues.

Brazil, the “B” in BRICS

The only Portuguese-speaking nation in the New World, Brazil is the fifth-largest nation in the world. It is home to over 200 million people, the majority of which live in poverty.

The nation had become the darling of investors, with its ever-growing GDP, and the currency of the nation, after years of wild swings and hyperinflation, became one of the strongest in Latin America. Along with that came a new era in politics that brought socialist Lula da Silva into the office of the presidency. New wealth was created with industries and a middle class was established, but the very poor still existed below what the World Bank considers to be abject poverty, US$1.25 per day per family.

With all the newfound wealth, one would have expected the administration of Lula da Silva to institute stronger social programs to stabilize the destitute and build a sustainable social safety net. But instead, he committed the nation to take on the Soccer World Cup as well as the Olympic Games, squandering billions of dollars in the process.

His successor, Dilma Rousseff inherited a mess of corruption that ate away at the core of the government, with ministers and governors as well as local politicians robbing the nation’s coffers.

The nation initially was spared the impact of the meltdown that was triggered by the real estate bubble in the USA and Europe, but by late 2013, the Brazilian real had lost almost 30% in value, and the nation was downgraded by the major ratings agencies.

The new affluence has brought in many manufacturers and there has been a boom in auto sales, which, in turn, has created a demand for refined petroleum products, a large portion of which has to be imported, adding to the problems of inflation and the nation’s trade deficit.

Meanwhile, the construction projects for the World Cup are way behind schedule and the quality of the construction can only be described as shoddy, leading the FIFA President Sepp Blatter to issue an unusually blunt statement on January 6, 2014.

This is also an election year, which will see Dilma Rousseff try to hang on to the presidency of Brazil. Her current approval rating is 52% among the desperately poor but at an all-time low of 0% among the upper classes. She has looked at the example set in Argentina for years, covering free food, TVs, cash handouts, large child allowances and generally buying the election with the poor on her side a la Evita Peron.

There is no doubt that the disenfranchised Brazilian masses need government assistance, so just imagine what could have been done with the trillion dollars the nation is spending on itself to celebrate its exit from “developing nation” status.

One of the biggest priorities Brazil should have is to create decent jobs to get the millions of young unemployed into mainstream Brazil. There will always be favelas (slums), but the living conditions there should be improved by creating much-needed infrastructure for the poor instead of giving them a little money.

Jamie Douglas

At large in the Americas

[Image of Tripoli Central Business District via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Expat Financial Advice: In the U$ Dollar We Trust (reposted from original location)

article from December 30, 2013
By Jamie Douglas

As 2013 draws to a close, many of us are wondering what may lie ahead for us in the coming year.

Where to place your trust

A little over three years ago, I wrote two articles – Basic Financial Advice for New Expats and a follow-up – urging my readers to not believe in all the false prophets of doom and gloom in regard to the US dollar. This is a follow-up on both of those articles, which focus on Latin America.

As we have all witnessed the boom and bust of the “nouveau riche” BRIC nations over that period, one nation that, until recently, seemed isolated from the world’s economic troubles has been Australia. But the Aussie dollar has lost over 15% in value over the past year, as China has been affected by the global slump and its demand for the mineral wealth in Australia has waned.

In its place, the Chinese have taken their hoard of 1.4 trillion US dollars to buy into the mines and mineral rights of other mineral-rich nations around the world, even landing in tiny Uruguay to exploit that nation’s meager iron ore deposits.

While global currencies have an uncertain future, with more problems forecast for the Euro Zone for 2014, the almighty US dollar has held its course, with the help of steady support from Ben Bernanke, and has gained substantially against virtually all Latin American nations’ currencies, with the exception of those currencies that are either fixed to the dollar or those nations that are using the dollar as their own currency.

A December 27, 2013, Bloomberg News analysis of Latin American currencies should be sufficient to convince all travelers and expats in the region to keep their money in US dollars or Swiss francs to protect their nest eggs. And as Jeffrey Grossman, president of BRG Brokerage, explains, “compared to all the other currencies, as we always say, even when it’s at its weakest, [the US dollar is] still the best horse at the glue factory. In 2013, the Dow Jones Index gained 25% and the Standard and Poor´s Index gained 28%.

Where not to place your trust

Never automatically trust fellow expatriates who want to help you invest your money in crash-proof funds or metals. In many cases, their job is to fleece you with fancy schemes to buy fractional ownership in vineyards in Argentina, teak farms in Central America or, worst of all, to get suckered into one of those pricey seminars to sell you real estate, urging you to invest in Colombia as if there was not a civil war raging there for the last 50+ years. The vultures at Escape Artist (Disclaimer: I was indirectly involved as a writer with these people several years ago, but distanced myself after I realized whom I was dealing with) and similar publications will gladly fleece you of your life savings ...but wait – I have a bridge for sale somewhere!

Enjoy the day, commit an act of selfless kindness and have a great new year!

Jamie Douglas

Still at large in South America

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

The Expat Mantra

article from July 24, 2012

by Julie R Butler

This is a point that escapes some people when they move abroad. Yes, they take note of the obvious differences, such as language, food, music, how people look and how they dress, which side of the road they drive on, and when the dinner hour is. But beyond customs, it just doesn’t occur to many people that there are other kinds of differences, such as ethical principles, legal systems, rights, and laws that can catch the unaware off guard.

There have been several occasions when I have come to the sad conclusion that people think that rather than being in a foreign country, they have merely entered a larger version of Epcot Center in Disneyland, and the “employees” are there to serve their every wish and desire, which is to have good old “American” style french fries with regular old catsup or to have A-1 Steak Sauce with their beef rather than chimichurri. (Asking for “salsa ah-uno” will probably not elicit the desired result.) Maybe they will get used to the exquisite flavor of plain and unadulterated all-natural grass-fed beef, and even find it pleasing, after a while.

Then there is the surprise when, faced with a sea of bureaucracy, with a legal advisor who is unable to expedite anything and, in fact, seems to only be shuffling papers, stalling, and piling on unforeseen fees, they discover that there is absolutely nothing that waiving their passport around and exclaiming (in English, of course) “I am an American citizen!” or even complaining to the nearest US consulate or embassy about having been ripped off or getting the run-around can do for them.

That is precisely what it means to be in a foreign country.

Ethics

There are scammers and con artists everywhere in the world, so it would not be fair to characterize any one culture as having more when, from the point of view of a newly arrived foreigner who does not speak the local language and is entirely unfamiliar with the country’s system of law as well as the specifics of the law in that particular place, it may seem like everyone is out to take advantage of you. Scammers have honed the skill of finding the most vulnerable people to scam. It’s their job.

It is therefore the job of the newly arrived foreigner to do their due diligence and learn all they can about the laws, along with figuring out whom to deal with, before engaging in any legal or serious financial transactions. Get to know people in the community, and then get references for the necessary lawyers, real estate agents, translators, builders, etc. – but not from the same organization that is looking to make a bundle of money off you in, say, a property sale. Ask a variety of other people who have gone through the same process that you are about to go through.

Latin American culture values time well-spent over expedience; arrangements for the future are often not considered to be very binding; and time frames can be even wider than when your cable company promises their guy will show up sometime on a certain date – we are talking weeks, here. In many places, it is a cultural habit to commit to things that one has no intention of actually committing to as a strange twist on what is considered to be politeness, as it seems to be more polite to say “yes” without meaning it than to be honest and just say “no.” It may even be the case that the society you are in is somewhat insular, and taking advantage of outsiders is not a reflection on how ethical someone is considered to be within that society.

These are all issues that take time and experience to learn about, so patience should reign for any new expat in any foreign culture. Do not allow yourself to be impatient, and if impulsiveness is your modus operandi, then try not to commit more money than you can afford to let go of, in case your judgment turns out to have been off base because you didn’t quite grasp the subtleties of a situation or were too trusting of someone you didn’t know that much about.

Legal systems

It may also be that the legal system is so convoluted and arbitrarily enforced that even the most competent attorney will not know exactly what to expect in each case.

Civil law systems are often characterized as such. People from the US and the UK are used to common law, so it is difficult to comprehend a system that emphasizes procedures over substance. For example, going through the various steps required to register a piece of property takes precedence over the deed to the property. You may be the owner of the title to a parcel, but unless that title is properly registered, you may not be the owner of the land that the title is attached to.

This system is vexing to anyone who believes they should be able to look at a list of required documents on a website and take care of the process themselves because the emphasis on procedures means that each official will interpret those procedures somewhat differently, and there is no way to know what each one will decide to emphasize.

Add to the confusion that the rules and regulations might change frequently. In this case, if you are undertaking a particularly complicated maneuver, by the time you have managed to complete all the necessary steps, the rules have changed, so you have to get a whole new set of signed and notarized documents and pay the new, higher fees that have been put in place, even though you began the process under an entirely different set of rules, regulations, and fees. Argh!

The expat mantra

These are just a few of the ways that things can be different in a foreign country. Just keep repeating the expat mantra: Patience and Due Diligence, Patience and Due Diligence, Patience and Due Diligence... Sprinkled generously with Oms, and who knows, maybe wearing special shoes and clicking your heels together three times might also help. Just don’t expect a wizard (or an ambassador) to show up with a bag full of solutions. And forget about transmogrifying yourself back to the farm in Kansas. Instead, think blissful thoughts of eventually getting your residency.

You are in a foreign country. Things are different here.

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking.

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler

Costa Rica Property Double Whammy

article from April 24, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

In May 1974, I moved down to the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, in Dominical, at the mouth of the Barú River. It was summer still, the river was low and I was able to rent the only house within miles. Soon, the “Hey Gringo, you wanna buy my finca?” doorknockers came. I had become friendly with a few of the locals, and they all warned me not to buy in Dominical because the government had already advised them not to build anything within 50 meters of the high-tide line, and the next 150 meters would be considered public property, as well.

I could have bought all the land from the mouth of the Barú all the way south to Crazy Norman’s house for US$35,000 – a steal! Then the law was published. In most cases, beachfront properties are untitled because the ownership and possession of the shoreline is governed by the Ley Sobre la Zona Maritima Terrestre (Maritime Zone Law), which restricts the possession and ownership of beachfront properties. By law, the first 200 meters of beachfront starting at the high-tide markers is owned by the government. Of the 200 meters, the first 50 are deemed public zones and nobody may possess or control that area. On the remaining 150 meters, the government, through the local municipality, will lease the land by way of concessions to private individuals. Since virtually all of Dominical is located in the 200-meter range, I would have been entangled with various departments in Costa Rica for the next two lifetimes. Good thing I didn’t get involved, as multiple murders have been committed over the property both north and south of the Barú.

I had the money, but not the inclination. I did not go to Costa Rica to buy a finca. I was a nomad with no fixed destination, and it was the jungle and photography that had me by the tail. After about a year or so, I moved on to Panama (That was another adventure!) and then the Big Inheritance came, and another and another and another, and I was able to keep exploring the planet. Meanwhile, the civil war raged in Nicaragua and El Salvador, making Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala into US surrogate states.

Eventually, thousands of gringos moved to the area south of Limón on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and flooded the Pacific side with their surf resorts and yoga retreats, and naturally, Latin America’s least popular president is ready to cash in on all the gullible foreigners who listened to the “don’t worry about it” sales pitches.

So now, suddenly, comes the second slam of this double whammy. A few weeks ago, the Costa Rican government decreed that all of the land that had been granted to the aborigines, and was never to be sold to whites, not even Costa Rican whites, was to be returned to its original owners. Reaching back for decades, this decree is creating quite a bit of panic among all the people who bought land on the BriBri and the Talamanca, along with some of those Ticos who sold their jungle paradise for a few dollars or euros. There is an attorney general who, if she doesn’t get assassinated, will give all that land back to the indigenous people. It does not matter that they are the very ones who sold the land. All of the titles to indigenous lands are communally owned. I knew about those laws when I did a documentary in 1975 in the Boruca area. The cacique (chief) informed me in no uncertain terms that not a millimeter of their land could ever be sold to a non-Indian. Too bad they did not include all the natural resources.

So all those foreigners along the coastlines – Pacific and Atlantic – are likely in for quite an expensive fight. Costa Rica has become a more developed nation that does not need to sell its fincas anymore. They have an INTEL Microchip factory, one of which has powered this computer flawlessly for the past two and a half years.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

[Image of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Ecuador and Bolivia Relations With the United States

article from April 6, 2012

by Julie R Butler

When US citizens are considering where the perfect Latin American country for them to live might be, there is more to look at beyond cost of living, weather, and culture. While these are all very important, one item that is often ignored or brushed aside as less significant is the relationship the country being looked at has with your home nation.

When it comes to the two nations of Ecuador, a very popular South American expat destination, and Bolivia, a more off-the-beaten-path cultural immersion experience, the question of where relations with the United States stand is not an easy one to answer.

The presidents of both countries have, in recent years, antagonized the United States, bringing about deteriorations in bilateral relations and periods when there were mutual ambassadorial vacancies that lasted for about eight months in Ecuador and for more than three years now in Bolivia. The situation in Ecuador was at least partly rectified, as Natalie Cely, the new ambassador to the United States, stepped into office in December 2011. For its part, the US will send a new ambassador to Ecuador ...as soon as Congress gets around to confirming the nomination. As for Bolivia, happily, the United States and Bolivia officially agreed last February to reinstate their long-missing ambassadors – albeit at some un-designated point in the future.

The dances that each of these nations are dancing with the United States are intricate and confusing. Mixed signals and coyness are the norm. In one arena, smiles and friendship abound, while in another, angry words and shaking fists make for good political theater. The presidents of both Ecuador and Bolivia are strong, left-wing populist personalities, so fiery rhetoric is all part of the dance.

The interrelationships between all the nations of the region are equally intricate and confusing, as their histories include regional warfare following their battles for independence from colonization, with further border disputes springing up and dragging on through the years. Yet for many, there is a deeply held Bolivarian desire for all of Latin America to be joined together into one coherent unit, with the idea that the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts. And one of the greatest forces joining all together is a rejection of influence by the United States, the nation that, having gained its independence some three decades ahead of any other country in the hemisphere, stepped into the power vacuum created by Spain’s retreat, to become a new kind of economic colonizer.

It is, in many ways, a love/hate relationship. Leaders don’t like to be perceived as dependent and weak, and they play wholeheartedly to the “you’re not the boss of me” sentiment toward the United States within their countries. However, these nations need the resources that the United States showers them with in order to buy their loyalty.

Bolivia’s Evo Morales

In 2006, Bolivian President Evo Morales began accusing the US military of using operatives disguised as students and tourists to infiltrate and try to destabilize his country, and in 2008, he kicked out USAID, Ambassador Philip S. Gordon, and the DEA. Obviously, this did not make for a very safe situation for actual students, tourists, or any other US citizens in Bolivia. But in May 2009, the two countries reengaged in dialogue in order to work together on drug-trade interdiction, a high priority for the United States in the region. Last November, the Bolivian government ratified into law a framework agreement with the expectation that the United States would adapt a “non-intrusive” and “more transparent, respectful and honest attitude” toward the Plurinational State of Bolivia. In return for social and economic development aid, Morales has once again begun to cooperate with the United States in combating the drug gangs that have been utilizing Bolivia as a transshipment point for distributing narcotics from Colombia and elsewhere to eastern destinations such as Europe. Now, he has even agreed to allow the United States to bring in new technology to monitor and eradicate coca plantations using advanced laser systems and satellite imagery.

However, a recent incident in Santa Cruz between the Bolivian security forces and the US Embassy highlights the disconnect between policy and cooperative programs vs. the reality on the ground.

Evo Morales calling the US government discriminatory, undemocratic, and racist because of its veto of Cuban participation the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Colombia doesn’t help the atmosphere in the country for US citizens much, either.

Ecuador’s Rafael Correa

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, in an even bigger huff, has announced that he will boycott the summit over the exclusion of Cuba (the only nation in the Western Hemisphere that is not a de facto member of the Organization of American States), putting the blame squarely on the United States rather than buying into any sort of diplomatic “well, there was a lack consensus on the issue” language that is being bandied about. He was hoping that his leftist friends in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia would join his boycott, but they have not, as of yet, as the summit is a substantive gathering of the hemisphere’s heads of state.

The number of US citizens living in Ecuador, estimated by the US State Department to be 50,000, is one factor that works to counteract the president’s bluster and strengthen ties between the two nations, along with the 250,000 US citizens who visit annually, more than 100 US companies conducting business in the country, and the many Ecuadorians who live in the United States. Other signs that bilateral relations are not completely severed are that USAID and other aid organizations operate in the country. Perhaps most telling is that the United States is Ecuador’s principle trade partner.

The counter-narcotics dance between Ecuador and the United States is as dysfunctional/co-dependent as the economic relationship. In short, the two countries need each other, so they each have to put up with the other’s quirks and personalities. As far as attitudes on the ground, the situation does not appear to be much different from many other places throughout Latin America where cultural and economic disparities are bound to pose security problems, while navigating around historical tensions and gross generalizations is something that each individual must work on for themselves.

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking.

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler

Crumbling Infrastructures: Buenos Aires, Caracas

article from February 25, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ash Wednesday in Buenos Aires turned out to be a very tragic day. A fully loaded commuter train with over 2,000 porteños on board suffered a suspected mechanical failure in its brake system, slamming into the end-of-the-line barrier at the Once station in the capital city, with devastating results. Fifty dead and 650 injured – ¡que horror! – a very inappropriate end to the Carnival festivities, although not altogether unexpected.

The infrastructure of the city of Buenos Aires has been crumbling since the 1980s, but the bottom really fell out during the last financial crisis when Argentina defaulted on its sovereign debt. Looking at the photos and videos of this catastrophe, I was astonished to discover that the rolling stock looked to be from about 1950s or 60s and in very bad shape, even just look at. Buenos Aires has become somewhat of a dangerous eyesore, where you are not safe in the best of neighborhoods anymore.

Those of us who always admired the city as “the Paris of South America” now look at it as a crumbling city, a city where you can still look up at the beautiful facades of those magnificent edifices built in the 1920s; but while looking up and admiring that, be careful, because the sidewalks are hazards to your health. There are not just cracks, but holes and missing manhole covers – and you really have to be very careful where your next step will take you, as there are so many dogs that use the sidewalks as their toilet.

Then there are all the homeless sleeping and living in the entryways to abandoned businesses. And whatever you do, exercise extreme caution when using an ATM. It’s not that robbers in Buenos Aires are very sophisticated; in fact, they are quite clumsy, spilling a drink on you or dropping mud from a balcony to cause a major distraction, or dropping something in front of you, trying to take advantage of the Good Samaritan in you so they can grab your wallet, purse or bags. The current economic downturn has led to a lack of public safety, with the federal police abandoning their patrol duties on the subway and trains, leaving that to the local police, who are either part of the criminal gangs or not present at all.

So for those of you contemplating moving to Buenos Aires, be aware. Crime is surging, inflation is over 25%, and public confidence has reached new lows. It was only a couple of weeks ago that a well-known French photographer was stabbed to death at 8:30 in the morning, in a very populated and “safe” section of town, the park dedicated to the Falklands War Veterans in Retiro. ...it makes the photographer in me want to leave that part of my life behind. Whenever I stepped out while in Buenos Aires with my Nikon camera, the people at the front desk of my hotel would warn me, shopkeepers would warn me and waiters in restaurants would have me hide my equipment. Fortunately, we were always very aware of our surroundings. And when the guy came by with a huge key ring and dropped it at my feet, it was me who kept a local from running after him. It was such an obvious attempt to separate us from our luggage in front of the hotel that it was almost laughable. Jajaja!

Caracas, Venezuela

In Caracas (how similar that sounds to carcass!), Venezuela’s Clown Prince is now following his destiny, which looks to be an appointment with Mr. D. After denying rumors about having The Big “C,” he just announced that a new lesion of about 2 centimeters had been discovered in an undisclosed location “near his pelvis,” where surgeons in Cuba last June had removed a baseball-sized malignant tumor, and after a few rounds of chemotherapy he had declared himself to be cancer free. Hallelujah!

Except that he is not. For the first time since his medical misadventures began, he openly stated that it was probably a malignant growth. Various experts in the field of his unknown cancer have previously stated that he in all likelihood suffers from Steve Jobism, which is denial of his terminal condition and the putting off of the immediate treatment of his disease. After all, a bull can only be a bull if he has his cajones; and now that a young, virile opposition leader has emerged, Henrique Capriles, the 39-year-old governor of Miranda State, the chances of Venezuela’s return to the civilized world are getting better with every moment that Chávez waits to have radical surgery. I do wish him well in his battle for life, but more importantly, I wish Venezuela only the best in its recovery from the years of darkness. Let there be light!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Trouble in Paradise: Nicaragua and Costa Rica

article from January 12, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

Nicaragua

These are interesting days for Nicaragua. President-re-re-elect Daniel Ortega was re-re sworn in in Managua, in spite of the constitutional prohibition against such an act. But like his colleague in Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, he now has established a legislative super-majority, which, for the good of that impoverished nation, will probably allow him to be president for life.

Silly me, I thought the reason that they got rid of the Somoza family regime was to avoid that from happening again. Next thing you know, the Ortega family will refurbish the former Somoza seaside palace in San Juan del Sur. At least he got rid of the rumpled army fatigues, a trademark he copied from Fidel Castro. Looking at his wife wearing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry for the inauguration, you would never guess that this is a socialist state.

Judging by the attendees present, which included Venezuelan Clown Prince Hugo Chávez and Iran’s flailing leader Mahmoud Ahmedinejad along with most regional heads of state, it was quite a love fest, with the expected anti-American rhetoric. Chávez  called the United States “the lackeys of imperialism.” What an insult! The US is the imperialist, and most other nations are its lackeys!

Costa Rica

Notably absent from the festivities was the president of neighboring Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla. (Her name alone must give the heebie jeebies to members of PETA.) In referring to a useless sandbar in the middle of the San Juan River, Roberto Gallardo, the spokesman for the presidential ministry, clearly stated that “we have said that there cannot be normalization of relations with Nicaragua while the aggression and occupation of our national territory persists. Relations will return to normal, when the violation of Costa Rican sovereignty ceases in the area of Isla Calero.”

If “normal” means that supposedly neutral Costa Rica will repeat history by allowing a buildup of CIA and US military forces on its sacred soil to attack the neighboring country, which was the case with Honduras helping to bring about the deaths of 60,000 Nicaraguans along with another 75,000 in El Salvador, I, for one, am not looking forward to the normalization of relations between the two. Costa Rica has already given permission to the US armed forces to create a naval facility, as well as to use the CIA-built Liberia International Airport and “temporarily” house some of the US troops on their soil. But what the hell, they are the 53rd state already.

While Chinchilla is off attending to other foreign presidential inaugurations, (Guatemala) and vacationing in Mexico with her family, perhaps she should pay a little closer attention to the crime wave that is washing over her nation. Just over the last few days, several US and Canadian retirees and travelers were brutally murdered, while 360 kilos of cocaine were found on a truck heading to Nicaragua (Foreign Aid) and one ton of the Peruvian Marching Powder was dug up on a beach between the two popular tourist resorts of Quepos and Domincal. The stash of drugs on the beaches of Parrita was discovered through a tip; but instead of waiting to see who came to get it, the ministry of security turned it into a major press event.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the town of Quepos was just released on bail following his arrest for being one of the country’s major producers of child pornography. Mayor Lutgardo Bolaños was released a mere 12 hours after his arrest. Of course, no officials were available to comment on this.

Then there was the riot in La Reforma Prison that left two prisoners dead after 800 were given recreational outdoor time with the supervision of a mere seven guards. But it could be that they rioted because two separate woman were arrested trying to smuggle a cell phone with charger and hands-free device inside one, and a half pound of marijuana in another woman’s insides.

Then there was the story of the British man with warrants out from Interpol who was able to enter Costa Rica undetected, where he promptly raped and killed a 22-year-old Czech girl doing volunteer work on a farm.

Unfortunately, this is the current reality in Costa Rica, long a drug warehouse, but lately, things have only been deteriorating in this tropical paradise.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Central America News Roundup Dec 15, 2011: Costa Rica Rains and Trade Relations, Panama Expat Murderers

article from December 15, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Costa Rica: Rains and trade relations

Good news for our Tico friends: While you may get the impression that it’s raining all over the world, it is not raining here in Argentina; and regardless of your present dilemma, the rains will stop soon. But it is true that this last rainy season has eaten well into your current verano. If things go as they have in the rest of the world, you can expect a very dry, dry season. Keep your rubber boots and umbrellas handy for the time being, especially if you live over on the Caribbean side.

Even in regard Costa Rica, the United States is losing its hold on trade. With the US having treated the region like a giant backyard banana plantation for years without giving any respect to the area’s inhabitants, China has entered the Latin American market with gusto. After establishing itself successfully in the developing nations of Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, China is now courting smaller countries like Costa Rica with massive loans on favorable terms to improve their infrastructure. The Asian Giant has just concluded negotiations to assist the small Central American nation with an upgrade of the Recope refinery in the Caribbean Port of Moín, offering US$900 million to finance the upgrade from a capacity of 20,000-25,000 barrels per day to 60,000 barrels. And as an additional insult to the gringos who built the original facility, the construction work is to be carried out by an Australian company. Total expenditures are estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.25 billion.

If it were not so tragic for American workers, it would be ironic. The Chinese are going all over the world, spending all the US dollars they acquired in trade with the US, looking like the benefactors of the developing world, when in fact they are just the latest reincarnation of economic assassins as they get these nations into incredible debt, for which China will receive valuable licenses to extract minerals as well as creating huge plots of monoculture soy plantations, all for export to feed their hungry masses.

Maybe these countries should look instead at the USA to grant some of their generous aid, perhaps transferring some of their transfer-acquired technology north to the land of the unemployed and starving masses. You know, the richest nation in the world, where one in seven residents is receiving what used to be food stamps. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the politicians who are responsible for this mess, and I mean all of them.

Panama: Expat murderers

Some of you living in Panama may have heard about that nice steroid-pumped neighbor in Bocas del Toro, a certain William Holbert, aka “Wild Bill,” and his gangster moll, Laura Reese. The couple admitted to murdering five expats in that small community without anyone there getting particularly curious about what happened to their neighbors. They were apprehended while migrating north to Nicaragua, where they planned on settling in San Juan del Sur.

Now, it turns out that there is another victim to their reign of terror, a US business owner by the name of Jeffrey Klein who, according to the prosecutor general in Chiriquí Province in Panama, was also murdered by the infamous criminals.

I have written about the dangers new expats face from established crooks who prey on newcomers, but this is a reverse situation where it was the established nice expats who were murdered by a professional criminal. Watch out for each other.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Central America News Roundup Sept 22, 2011: Costa Rica, Panama

article from September 22, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Costa Rica

The misnamed “Switzerland of Central America” (there is no such thing) is contemplating building an international jetport on the Osa Peninsula in the southwest part of the country. This is an ecologically sensitive area and one of the last regions to fall victim to tourism development. After having seen what the CIA-sponsored airport (I am not making this up) did to the overdevelopment of the Nicoya Peninsula and the mainland of the northwestern part of Costa Rica, one must question the sanity of those greedy government officials who operate out of the pockets of foreign land developers. Corruption is and has been one of this country’s overwhelming problems.

Meanwhile over on the Caribbean side of the nation, a shocking development for developers and agribusinesses: Judges in Goicecoechea ruled last week that the government will seize several hundred thousand hectares of land and return it to the Bribri people, who are part of the indigenous Keköldi nation of people of the Talamanca. What really makes this bite sting is that a lot of this land is near the very popular Puerto Viejo tourist area. The ruling is to compel the Agricultural Development Institute to expropriate the land and relocate any and all non-indigenous residents. This epic decision is based largely on the Indigenous Law of 1977, along with the presidential decree that established the Keköldi Reserve that same year. This established law states very clearly, “Land and property may only be traded between the indigenous residents of the reserve.” Judge Cynthia Abarca, president of the court, stated in an interview with La Nacion of San José that “the obligation to recover said land is sanctioned by international agreements, protecting the indigenous people’s rights. The lands have very special meaning for them, being places they consider sacred.” The government plans to appeal the decision.

A fiery Tica beauty, Johanna Solano from Heredia, made the country proud once again for its famously lovely ladies by placing in the top 10 at the Miss Universe pageant in São Paulo, Brazil. She is the current Miss Costa Rica, and will remain so until March 2012. Felicidades Johanna!

Costa Rica is also celebrating its independence from Spain 190 years ago. All the Central American nations except Belize tore themselves loose from the crumbling and broke Spanish Empire, and of course, that freedom did not come easily. The region has since been plagued with various dictators, despots and megalomaniacs, as well as an endless procession of civil wars. Costa Rica’s last civil war was fought for 44 days from March 12 until April 24, 1948. It is estimated that over 2,000 people lost their lives in that uprising caused by the country’s legislature voting to void the election results from February of that year. A rebel army, under the command of José (Pepe) Figueres, rose up and defeated the government of President Teodoro Picado in the bloodiest chapter of this tiny nation’s 20th-century history. After winning the revolt, Figueres ruled the country for a year and a half, wisely abolishing the army to keep history from repeating itself.

Meanwhile, on the narco front, Costa Rica managed to maintain its spot on the US State Department’s cherished blacklist of countries contributing to the illicit drug trade. Belize and El Salvador were just added this year.

Panama

Panama will have to exercise a little more patience until they get their hands on former strongman Manuel Noriega, the object of the United States’ affection in the 1970s and 80s. Noriega, a rogue CIA asset, was captured in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City in 1989 by George Bush’s invading army. Once again, like in Granada, the US went into a non-aggressor country and, according to UN estimates, slaughtered 2,500 civilians as well a number of members of the military, raking up an oft-mentioned figure of 4,000 dead, while the US forces numbered 23 dead and 325 wounded. Some surgical strike that was!

Manuel Noriega was to be returned to Panama from France, where he is currently incarcerated for money laundering. But French judges have held up the extradition because they needed more time to study the issue. Noriega has now been imprisoned for over 20 years, and I feel it is unlikely he will ever be released, as it could prove to be very embarrassing for the CIA-head-turned-US-president, George H. Bush, who is ultimately responsible for the crimes committed by Noriega. It sure would make for some very interesting reading if Noriega were ever able to publish his memoirs.

Ebrahim Asvat, a lawyer and activist for the voiceless masses of poor people in the country, is trying to get himself killed by attempting to have the law of Anati (National Land Authority) overturned. Laws and regulations have been no match for corruption in Panama ever since private land developers found out what a lovely country Panama is and how easy it is to get prime land for development by lining the pockets of everyone from the president down. Knowing how Panamanian “justice” works, I have no hope at all that he will prevail.

While on the subject of presidential corruption, it should be mentioned that President Ricardo Martinelli has declared that the Italian citizen wanted by the prosecutor of Naples for the extortion of a million dollars from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is welcome to stay in Panama. Berlusconi did not mind paying the money to protect himself from exposure in his underage prostitution “Bunga Bunga” scandal. Martinelli considers Valter Lavitola to be a very useful asset for Panama since, by giving him shelter, Berlusconi has become a major Panamanian benefactor, donating six patrol boats to the nation that are valued at close to US$300 million. Martinelli and Berlusconi also signed a no-bid sweetheart deal valued at $335 million for helicopters, radars and other assorted items.

Good news for film buffs: Panama will finally have its own world-class film festival in 2012, when it will host the International Film Festival April 11-17. The festival will be in the capable and experienced hands of the cofounder of the highly successful Toronto Film Festival, as well as those of Panama’s own Pituka Ortega Heilbron, a well know producer/director whose work includes a documentary about the life of famous pugilist Roberto Duran. Quiet on the set! And … ACTION!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where that Fine Malbec wine is ever-present! Salud!

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Central America News Roundup Sept 21, 2011: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua

article from September 21, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Guatemala

The elections are headed for a runoff. On Sept 11, a massive 66% of 7.3 million eligible voters went to the polls for the general elections, which were to determine the presidency, the vice presidency, members of Congress and the Central American parliament as well as municipal elections. As usual, there were some shenanigans leading up to the elections, such as the wife of President Álvaro Colom, Sandra Torres, divorcing her husband in order to circumvent Article 186(c) of the constitution, which explicitly forbids relatives of the current president from participating in the presidential election. Nice try; but in the end, she was called out on her little gimmick. (Good thing for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from Argentina that there is no such law on the books there, where the husband-and-wife team was set to rule indefinitely in a laughable presidential relay, had Néstor not suddenly perished before he could take up the baton again.) The runoff will pit the two top vote winners, Otto Pérez Molina from the Patriotic Party (36.02%) and Manuel Baldizón of the renewed Democratic Liberty Party (23.21%), against each other. The runoff will be held November 6, 2011.

El Salvador

El Salvador is dealing with the pesticides used by the large multinationals operating there with impunity, having destroyed and contaminated a large portion of the nation’s water supply. Heavy metals are present in concentrations of more than one million times the norm. The presence of arsenic and other poisons lead to birth defects and a slow wasting away for the victims affected.

Unfortunately, crime is still a major problem in this small country, with every week counting more record-numbers of murders, armed robberies, assaults and rapes. Peace please!

Honduras

Honduras has been in the grip of a crime wave of its own for many years now, and it seems to have spilled over onto the formerly relatively peaceful Bay Islands, where recently, an Australian was shot in his spine for parking his bicycle in the bushes and obviously displeasing someone. Like El Salvador, the police forces are corrupt and incompetent, with the number of crimes solved hovering around 12%. It is the petty crimes that are being solved, while the narco-related murders are committed with impunity. I personally get the creeps every time I have to pass through Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula. To compound the worsening situation, the leading crusader against police corruption, Security Minister Oscar Alvarez, has resigned his portfolio after meeting with President Porfirio Lobo on Sept 10. I feel that his departure was not entirely voluntary, as he has been a source of irritation to the many corrupt police commanders blanketing the country. The good news is that they did not just assassinate him. It is rumored that he was forced to resign because top officials felt their major source of wealth was being threatened.

Nicaragua

Last weekend, Nicaragua celebrated Volks Fest, with over 90 different Volkswagen Beetles cruising the streets of Managua. The parade was made up of 40 Nicaraguan Bugs, as well as another 50 from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica. Many different models were seen, including the old VW camper, the 23-window van, Brazilian-made vans and the ever-popular Cabriolet.

President Daniel Ortega promised credit to a half a million campesinos along with 150,000 land titles during an appearance in Chichigalpa, in a blatant attempt to tilt the outcome of the coming election. Under cloudy skies that turned into a massive downpour, forcing the cancellation of the rest of the event, Ortega, accompanied by a few ministers as well as his wife, children and grandchildren, made the usual pre-election promises politicians all over the world make: A chicken in every pot – and so forth. I am sure all the poor campesinos have heard it all before, but the prospect of having their very own parcel of land will surely have them voting him back into office.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where that Fine Malbec wine is ever present! Salud!

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Central America News Roundup Sept 20, 2011: Mexico, Belize

article from September 20, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Mexico’s oldest person

There is hope for me yet. Leandra Becerra Lumbreras of Zapopan, Jaliso, celebrated 124 years of being on the planet on August 31, 2011. That’s almost twice my age! And listening to her talking, she may yet have a few years ahead of her. She has lived in the house she is in for over 40 years, outliving all her children and most grandchildren. Her great- granddaughter Miriam Albear Hernández showed pictures of a lovely young girl, an old photo of Leandra from the turn of the century. On Sept 16, Mexico celebrated its 201st anniversary since independence, making the Aztec nation a mere 77 years old when she was born. During her lifetime, she witnessed the Mexican Revolution, which lasted from 1910 to 1920 (some say 1917), killing between one and two million citizens, as well as the 1918 flu epidemic, which was responsible for another 300,000 casualties. Two world wars passed, along with major changes brought to Mexico by the constant march of time. From very primitive peasantry to very modern cities and superhighways, this woman witnessed so much history from the sidelines.

Undiscovered archeology

When going back in time, there are, of course, many archeological sites throughout the country, some fully restored, but many more are still waiting to be explored or discovered. Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta, an official with the National Institute of Archeology and History (INAH by its Spanish initials) estimates that there are over 40,000 such sites in the state of Chiapas alone. The terrain of Chiapas is very rugged and covered in jungle, making the rediscovery of the sites very difficult. I have stumbled through the jungles of Chiapas on several occasions and was always taken by the fact that there were signs of civilization everywhere. Being an archeologist in Mexico is one profession with good job security!

US-Mexico bilateral relations

In bilateral relations between Mexico and the USA, Felipe Calderón and Barack Obama signed a multinational agreement to promote transparency and combat corruption.

Does that mean that all the lobbyist and corrupt politicians in the USA will be exposed for the crooks they are? Wishful thinking!

Belize butane problem

Belize is suffering from a butane problem. The government of Belize is in a dispute with regional butane companies that refuse to use authenticated scales in distributing their product in Belize, so those companies are on strike against selling in Belize. Several other companies have stepped up the effort to keep Belizeans supplied with butane imported from Mexico, but this is a more expensive product. The public is being advised to remain vigilant about the prices being charged, which are supposed to adhere to a controlled price listing that is dependent on the source of the butane.

Cell-phone crime in Belize

While consumers suffer through this debacle, crimes committed with cell phones as well as cell-phone theft are about to suffer a big blow of their own. A new law is coming into effect requiring all citizens to register their cell-phone numbers or risk having their SIM cards deactivated. Theft of a person’s cell phone must be reported immediately, otherwise the owner will be held liable for any crime that can be traced to that phone. Prosecutors expect this to greatly enhance the ability of the police to investigate crimes. At the same time, they assure that a set of Supreme Court procedures are in place to protect from the invasion of privacy of the country’s citizens. If I lived in Belize, I would be among the first to register, because the police need all the help they can get!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine is always Fine

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Corruption in Latin America: How Will It Affect You?

article from June 20, 2011

by Julie R Butler

Most people are probably aware that living in Latin America involves dealing with some level of corruption. But what does this mean, exactly? To what extent are countries corrupt, and how does this affect people’s daily lives?

The standard definition of corruption is “the abuse of entrusted power for personal gain.” From the responses to the disastrous 2010 earthquake to the recent headlines coming out of Buenos Aires about the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, the issue of the corruption in aid efforts is particularly enraging. Not only does this affect the needy who are denied help and the donors who are betrayed, but it appears as the tip of the iceberg that is the larger problem that affects everybody, pointing to such problems as lack of oversight, nepotism and favoritism, and a culture of corruption that can mean a potentially dangerous erosion of the rule of law.

The good news is that, according to Transparency International, not all Latin American nations score poorly in their Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). In fact, Chile and Uruguay are in the neighborhood with the UK, Belgium, the US, and France in the 2010 index. Among the better-ranking Latin American countries in the index are Costa Rica, Brazil, Cuba, and El Salvador, whereas Honduras, Haiti, Paraguay, and Venezuela rank lowest (in that order). The index is based on perceptions, which are likely to fluctuate wildly from year to year, depending on political climates – for example, Chile will probably fall in the 2011 index in parallel with President Piñera’s fall from grace, although the country will still rate highly among Latin American nations.

Of course, corruption varies greatly in nature and degree. It encompasses such issues as bribery, extortion, kickback schemes, and embezzlement, as well as transparency, accountability, and effectiveness. It ranges in scope from the local to the regional to the national and even the international levels of government and their dealings with private entities.

Its results also vary from the annoyance of wasted time and money spent greasing wheels to get things done in life, to victimization by crimes without having anywhere to turn to for justice.

The major expat communities of the world are somewhat removed from areas and situations that are physically dangerous, even in such notorious countries as Mexico and Colombia. But it is a given that living in most places in Latin America means taking your personal security into your own hands, because the police are either corrupt, incompetent, or both. Sensible safety precautions must be taken while traveling, there are known places to be avoided, and homes can be protected to some extent by having a few dogs or perhaps hired security. One may also be able to live in a gated community or a more secure neighborhood. Speaking at least some level of Spanish is also a kind of protective measure, because you may be able to talk your way out of sticky situations or stand up for yourself, when necessary.

Beyond the lack of a police presence that many see as a part of a freer life with “less government” regulating their lives, high-level political corruption is easy to brush aside as having little to do with everyday life. Yet it has everything to do with establishing a culture of corruption at all levels, and it affects the quality of life for everybody in society.

This kind of corruption can mean that the head of the country’s immigration makes it difficult for you to become legalized, while allowing criminals or slave laborers into the country in exchange for big payoffs, as was recently the case in Panama. Or corruption can be like that which exists in Venezuela, where the government is currently laying the blame for horrible mismanagement of the electrical system of the country on the users, applying a 200% “overuse” surcharge on electric bills that it deems to be too high. And the ongoing and always dramatic scandals that arise whenever someone is caught with their hand in the till of public funds only causes more cynicism toward governments that are elected on their promises of popular reform. Anyone who lives in Buenos Aires can attest to the difficulties caused by the constant clamor of street protests calling for social justice and government accountability in a city that is already plagued with major traffic problems, not to mention a constant shortage of small change and other banking issues that inject a measure of chaos to everyday life.

Government corruption is a concern that is not often discussed in terms of what to expect when living in a foreign country, like dealing with poverty. It is something that people learn to live with throughout the world, taking it in stride as a part of the culture or a social evil that can only be addressed with the patience of slow political progress. Everyone deals with their own situations differently, but the important thing is to be prepared to have to deal with being extorted by a traffic officer or some government official in a dank office who holds the power of his stamp over you. It is a paradox of living the “simple life” that things seem to be far more complicated than they should. Pero eso es la vida.

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking.

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler

The Roller Coaster of Current Events and How They Affect Expats Worldwide

article from February 23, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

When I first started writing and editing for this publication, I wrote several articles that set instant fires in the hearts of some expats, one of which was about the advantages of renting vs. buying real estate.

Mind you, I had no evil intent! What I do have is 40 years of experience traveling and living in foreign countries. Yet, I was rather rudely belittled by a reader asking if I was “blowing smoke,” in reference to my having to bail out of the country I was in very quickly on several occasions. I didn’t much appreciate subsequent commenters asking if I was smoking crack, either, when they disagreed with my opinions.

But anyway, back to having to bail...

In the last few weeks, we have seen several countries with sizeable expatriate communities, not just from the USA and other Anglo nations, their regimes suddenly collapsing or in the process of disintegration or exploding into outright civil war, forcing many expats to grab what they could and get the hell out of Dodge, or rather Cairo, or Bahrain, or Libya. That infamous Domino Theory is working its way through North Africa and the Middle East, and most of those who had to evacuate had to leave virtually everything behind. And you may rest assured that many of them will come back eventually to looted houses and destroyed properties.

Most of those expats where not retirees seeking a safe haven for their income or a cheap place to await the grim reaper. In fact, they were employed by multinational corporations that set them up comfortably with their families, their kids attending private schools, and generally feeling insulated from the daily turmoil and strikes that have been raking the region now for about three years, ever since the USA decided that instead of donating or selling cheaply the surplus grains they were producing, they would turn it into ethanol to feed their hungry SUVs. All that while the price of basic commodities such as wheat, corn and rice have gone through the roof. The Egyptian government was able to pretty much downplay the food riots, where many lost their lives, while the infant death rate from hunger surged worldwide. And now the US Congress has decided to mandate an increase in the amount of ethanol in fuel to 15%, which will soon be gobbling up more untold thousands of tons of edible grains. This is how the USA is destabilizing the world now. It’s the politics of hunger. Even Al Qaeda was caught unaware of the impending fall of the dictatorships throughout the region.

But the fact is, tens of thousands of expats had to run, taking with them only what they could carry. Now to bring this back into context, there is Venezuela, a country in the Western Hemisphere where there are several hundred thousand expats from all over the world, many employed in the energy industry, but also in other  industries, high and low tech, along with all the retirees living there. Hugo Chávez is the Moammar Gadhafi of the Americas, a former member of the army who overthrew the government and now acts like a totalitarian madman. His gig will be up sooner, rather than later, and I will not predict how that will play out, but you can bet that there will be a mass exodus of foreigners from Venezuela while the poor masses who are now the backbone of his Bolivarian Revolution will go on a looting rampage before order can be restored. Mark my words!

Now to another subject, the frogs and earthquakes I wrote about a little while back. Yesterday, Christchurch in New Zealand was hit by a second and this time very deadly earthquake. The damages are enormous and my sympathies go out to my many friends in Canterbury. The historic cathedral where “the Wizard” used to preach his anti-American rhetoric is destroyed, and most of the city is under water, with many still trapped inside the rubble of collapsed buildings, fires raging out of control and the fire brigade’s efforts severely hampered by all the broken water mains.

A few days ago, a pod of 100 pilot whales beached themselves on Stewart Island, and those that did not die outright had to be euthanized. Over the last few days, there has been a tremendous amount of seismic activity in that region. With all that seismic activity occurring, it would not surprise me if the beaching of the pilot whales was somehow related to the tremors. But scientists, knowing everything that goes on in whales’ brains, immediately proclaimed that the two events were not related at all! Very interesting. Did the whales telegraph the scientist who made that bold declaration that their pending suicide had nothing to do with magnetic or other anomalies that were happening in preparation of this catastrophic event in Christchurch? Note that this has happened more than every 4 or 5 years, as the photo in this link illustrates. The last major one occurred September 23, 2010. The previous big earthquake occurred September 4, 2010, almost three weeks after the last big mass suicide or disorientation of pilot whales. Could they be related? Perhaps! Perhaps not, but for a scientist sitting in his office in Auckland to make such a broad declaration to me demeans the term “scientist.”

My condolences go out to all the families who have been affected, not just by this natural disaster in New Zealand, but also by the manmade disasters in Libya, where a mad dog has decided that his holding on to power is worth opening fire from aircraft on his own people.

Reduce our dependence on fossil fuel. Park your gas guzzling SUVs and walk a little more. Your heart and lungs will appreciate it almost as much as your descendants will.

Jamie Douglas

Patagonia

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Welcome to Gringolandia

article from January 18, 2011

by Julie R Butler

An honest list of dangers and annoyances faced by expats should include, unfortunately, other expats – not all other expats, but enough of them to merit attention. The problem is, I think, unique to expat living, particularly in Latin America, because no matter how removed from the “scene” anyone attempts to be, we are all connected to some degree in an interrelated Diaspora, where rumors can fly and drama tends to become augmented by... I don’t know – something in the water, it seems.

At the level of annoyances, we can look at some perceptions of expats that paint a picture that is not exactly pretty. Take, for example, this article: Dear Miss Move Abroad: Are all expats losers? The author does a great job of taking on the question with honesty and bit of humor. Short answer: No! A slightly longer answer: Of course not. As with any group of people, a few are more obnoxious than the vast majority of others who are living quieter – and better-behaved – lives. But the actions of those few will nonetheless reflect badly on the entire community and adversely affect the way the natives will decide to interact with the foreigners moving into their communities in increasing numbers. Everyone is affected.

This is not just a matter of perception, though. The fact is that there are those expats who move to Latin America for all the wrong reasons, often to prey on other expats. Yes, con artists and opportunists do exist everywhere in the world, but they thrive in developing nations where regulations and/or enforcement are meek, with vibrant underground economies and institutionalized corruption thrown in for good measure. For expats who move to a foreign country, who do not speak the native language well or at all, who may be intimidated by the complicated bureaucratic procedures, who perhaps fear being taken advantage of by the native people in a culture they do not understand, and who thus turn to other expats to help themselves get settled in, these land sharks can pose a significant threat.

What’s worse is that the whole issue of who to trust becomes muddled and confused.

My point is illustrated by the following tale. It is a tale that is set in the two gringo havens of Mérida, on Mexico´s Yucatán Peninsula, and Costa Rica. Although there is some entertainment value to this tale, this is a serious issue, and ultimately, the entire expat community is tainted by it.

My tale begins with several articles I had seen recently at Insidecostarica.com that had titles such as “What’s an Ugly American” and “Gringo Terrorists in Costa Rica.” The author of these articles is lamenting the fact that his real estate business is being undercut by others who he accuses of being less-than ethical or professional. Then came this: Gringos Gone Wild in Costa Rica.

At the end of this article, the author refers to another article that was easily Googleable (hey – did I just coin a new world?) that he had recently read, using the over-the-top scenario painted in that story as a comparison to show how much better Costa Rica is than Mexico for expats. I read the article, A New Challenge for Mexico: Expats Gone Wild with growing alarm as the claims made in it grew crazier and crazier. But then there were the comments, which, after following the links posted at the bottom, brought relief but at the same time distress about the whole affair. It appears that this article was the work of someone with a previous record in the States of harassment, intimidation, and defamation.

Although this case is more sensational than most, I have to say that this kind of bizarre expat-word melodrama is not unique.

Welcome to Gringolandia.

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking.

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler