Central American News Roundup

By Jamie Douglas 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 like 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. After the U.S. having treated the region like a giant backyard banana plantation for years without giving any human respect to the area’s inhabitants, China has entered the LatAm market with gusto. After establishing itself successfully in major 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 US$1.25 billion.If it was not so tragic for American workers, it would be ironic. The Chinese are going all over the world, spending all the US$ they acquired in trade with the U.S., looking like the benefactors of the developing world, when in fact they are just the latest re-incarnation of economic assassins, getting these nations into incredible debt, for which China will get 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 that are responsible for this mess, and I mean all of them. 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 tight knit 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 U.S. 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 repeatedly about the dangers new expats face from established crooks that 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.[image: Costa Rican Rainforest, via Wikipedia]I encourage you to write to me, jamie@expatdailynews.com with any questions or suggestions you may have, and if necessary, we can establish a voice communication via Skype. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel related business. My advice is based on my own experiences, and is free of charge. (Donations accepted). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.Jamie Douglas is an Adventurer, Writer and Photographer with an amazing array of Nikon equipment, and a lifetime of experience traveling and documenting. To contact him for assignments, email: jamie.douglas [at] yahoo.com
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