Warning! Boat seizures reported in Mexico

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by SV Sailfish

+1

Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my!!!

yes those, too.
stay away.
you will DIE!!!!

[thruska]

Originally Posted by Jannie Radiance

This is kak funny. You come from a president that wants to build a wall between you and Mextex. Then you want to do illegal activity is that same country....you are a special kind of stupid ... are you not???lmfao!!!!!

Hi jannie, me wifie is africaner.
So instead of the building of a wall, are the majority of live afrikaners working hard to secede in west cape ?
How novel if we could get Mexico to secede huh ?
The reality in Mexico is I believe that there southern borders are getting more sringent scrutiny than north border.
So jannie where do you acquire your news info ?
Nou nou
Thank you

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by thruska

Hi jannie, me wifie is africaner.
So instead of the building of a wall, are the majority of live afrikaners working hard to secede in west cape ?
How novel if we could get Mexico to secede huh ?
The reality in Mexico is I believe that there southern borders are getting more sringent scrutiny than north border.
So jannie where do you acquire your news info ?
Nou nou
Thank you

from what is it you are wishing mexico to secede. it is its own nation. secede from living and life?? secede from planet earth>??

[oldjags]

The ultimate take-away from this is you need to be careful no matter where you are.

I see a big difference between the guy who comes to Mexico on a tourist visa and sets up a charter business and competes with the locals, versus the cruiser with mechanical skills simply supplementing his income by helping out other cruisers.

Technically, both are illegal. But as long as you don't advertise or solicit business and go strictly by word of mouth, on an informal basis, you are usually OK.

Here in Panama it's a $500 fine if you get caught, so it's not all that bad if they catch you. But having your boat seized and being expelled from the country makes it a totally different story.

Prostitution is legal here in Panama, and the local girls are all up in arms over the Venezuelan girls who are coming here and taking all their business. They are complaining that the Venezuelans are both cuter and cheaper and they want something done about it. Almost all the waiters here in Panama are also Venezuelan, as in many other jobs.

Almost every country, it seems, has problems with foreigners coming in and working when they shouldn't, but enforcing the laws is sometimes more than the government is capable of doing. And the penalties do vary widely from country to country.

I retired and moved to Panama 6 years ago, but I still occasionally do programming and web site development on the side, mostly for some of my former clients. I guess, technically, I could be considered to be breaking the law by working here in Panama, but where do you draw the line? I don't get paid here in Panama, so I'd say what I do is extra-legal, but not illegal.

It's a gray area, for sure.

[SV Sailfish]

Originally Posted by zeehag

yes those, too.
stay away.
you will DIE!!!!

Attention worry warts and scaredy cats... Best stay right where you are.

Those of us cruisers that are already here in Mexico are NOT having any fun.
It is just nothing but heartache day in and day out. Please feel sorry for us.

Oh no... here come the boat seizure cops right now. Run!

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by oldjags

The ultimate take-away from this is you need to be careful no matter where you are.

I see a big difference between the guy who comes to Mexico on a tourist visa and sets up a charter business and competes with the locals, versus the cruiser with mechanical skills simply supplementing his income by helping out other cruisers.

Technically, both are illegal. But as long as you don't advertise or solicit business and go strictly by word of mouth, on an informal basis, you are usually OK.

Here in Panama it's a $500 fine if you get caught, so it's not all that bad if they catch you. But having your boat seized and being expelled from the country makes it a totally different story.

Prostitution is legal here in Panama, and the local girls are all up in arms over the Venezuelan girls who are coming here and taking all their business. They are complaining that the Venezuelans are both cuter and cheaper and they want something done about it. Almost all the waiters here in Panama are also Venezuelan, as in many other jobs.

Almost every country, it seems, has problems with foreigners coming in and working when they shouldn't, but enforcing the laws is sometimes more than the government is capable of doing. And the penalties do vary widely from country to country.

I retired and moved to Panama 6 years ago, but I still occasionally do programming and web site development on the side, mostly for some of my former clients. I guess, technically, I could be considered to be breaking the law by working here in Panama, but where do you draw the line? I don't get paid here in Panama, so I'd say what I do is extra-legal, but not illegal.

It's a gray area, for sure.

panama is panama. mexico has written regulations and laws regulating what can and cannot be done here with and without proper licenses and what to do to be able to compromise with their rigidity. legally.
as for venezuelans, feel sorry for them as their chavista dicktater has essentially genocided em out of country. i have friends in vene who wish they could work but have been ruled against same.
she is a world class high level translator of more than 4 languages and worked contract in vene for over 20 years with a 20 yr cap on contractual labor. oopsy. she is still in vene. cannot leave as her bank account was taken by government. cannot work online as vene dicktater has nilled the interwebz. censorship and cutting off sources. with 9000 percent inflation and no money and no foods on shelves, there is a reason for vene citizens to expat and work. donot begrudge em. they are not wealthy gringos coming into country to rape wallet. maduro has sentenced all venezauelans to slow death by hunger.

[Pelagic]

Wow Zee, I feel sorry for your friend in Vene.

What a mess to get caught in and I'm sure it is far worse for the citizens.

Haven't cruised Central America for about 15 years now.
How are the countries between Mexico and Panama doing now economically?

[oldjags]

Originally Posted by zeehag

panama is panama. mexico has written regulations and laws regulating what can and cannot be done here with and without proper licenses and what to do to be able to compromise with their rigidity. legally.
as for venezuelans, feel sorry for them as their chavista dicktater has essentially genocided em out of country. i have friends in vene who wish they could work but have been ruled against same.
she is a world class high level translator of more than 4 languages and worked contract in vene for over 20 years with a 20 yr cap on contractual labor. oopsy. she is still in vene. cannot leave as her bank account was taken by government. cannot work online as vene dicktater has nilled the interwebz. censorship and cutting off sources. with 9000 percent inflation and no money and no foods on shelves, there is a reason for vene citizens to expat and work. donot begrudge em. they are not wealthy gringos coming into country to rape wallet. maduro has sentenced all venezauelans to slow death by hunger.

I do feel sorry for the Venezuelans, but it's not the fault of the poor Panamanian who can't get a job because the jobs are all taken. So I feel sorry for both of them. It is horrible what is happening in Venezuela, and it is impacting all the countries here in the area.

Like Mexico, Panama has laws too. But they don't have the manpower to enforce them, so they get ignored. I have a neighbor who built a nice house on the water 3 years ago. A month ago he discovered, somehow, that he had never had a final inspection and gotten a certificate of occupancy. And the reason was the contractor had never gotten a building permit. He had just showed up and started building.

And the local pangueros complained to the government that non-residents were coming out here in nicer boats and taking people fishing and whale watching without a tourism license, and that was cutting into their business. Then the government reminded them that they, too, were unlicensed, and if they started ticketing people for operating without a license, they would have to start ticketing everyone. So they said, "OK, never mind!"

None of the pangueros here even have life vests in their boats, much less a paddle or a fire extinguisher!

The laws are on the books, but no one enforces them.

[zeehag]

enforcement is beginning in mexico for real and earnest.
economy seems ok, better for us then them, as peso is around 18.8 to one usdollar. so i can buy more mexicans to work or more materials with which to work. or a fone . or a washing machine or a spinner... 2 items each summer and only boat work in winter. that is reality. i bring in 1500 usd expendible only per month. so i am not their richie rich gringo. those are only here in winter when weather is to their standards hahahahaha
yes what is occurring in vene is only the beginning. it will envelop the planet before it is repaired. seems the global puppeteers donot want the poor to flourish, but to die.
the locals have now begun to obtain licensures. they also know a lot about boats and building them that many gringos donot know. the lazy incoming vacationers whether in boats or cars or airplanes dono t bother learning enough spanish to order from a menu. must have pictures to point at for wait staff. amazing. and spanish is sooo easy. these gringos encourage the abuse by hiring those with whom they are able to converse, not spanish speakers, so they prove how little they wish to learn about the nation they visit. always the ugly american pops head out of the jack in the box.
the reality here is they really dont care how much you have, they do care about how they can help us. very cool population. and if ye screw up their lingo they donot hesitate to help you learn correctly. unlike french or americans.
another reality is chavismo has arrived in mexico with the election of president obrador who takes office in december. could get interesting.
pangas here have yamahas, bilge pumps, paddles and fishing net bags of pop bottles, 3 liter size, for flotation and net markers. imagine that. and still fishermen disappear......correct no firebottle in pangas.

[laika]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

How are the countries between Mexico and Panama doing now economically?

Would defer to Zee's comments about Mx. but a few others..

Belize, or at least it's cays, seems quite stable.

Nicaragua is edging closer to civil war, sparked a few months back by people protesting austerity cuts to pensioners and the Ortega regime's violent crackdown.

Corruption, poverty and powerful entrenched gangs in Honduras and Guatemala are continuing to bring great instability and violence to those countries.

As for cruisers, the route between the Rio Dulce and Panama seems to be getting more frought. My sense is of a slight but gradual increase in reports of piracy even quite far offshore to Honduras and Nicaragua. But I would gladly defer to those who are more familiar with the area and the route than I. We are currently weighing our options for a possible passage from the Rio to Panama.

Originally Posted by oldjags

I retired and moved to Panama 6 years ago, but I still occasionally do programming and web site development on the side, mostly for some of my former clients. I guess, technically, I could be considered to be breaking the law by working here in Panama, but where do you draw the line? I don't get paid here in Panama, so I'd say what I do is extra-legal, but not illegal.

It's a gray area, for sure.

Some thoughts..

I do web work from the boat with clients back home. My bank account and 100% of my client-base are back in the states, and from that my meager little contribution is made to local economies that would otherwise never see it.

Nearly everyone who even goes on a weeklong vacation to an all-inclusive these days brings their work with them now..checking email, making business calls, etc. So the gray area is indeed a wide and thinly stretched line!

Tho an argument might be made against the expat gentrification process of coming from abroad with higher earning power and jacking up prices in local markets. But that has at least the potential to be offset by the investment and development opportunities that also come.

No hard and fast rules in today's world it seems

[model 10]

It's hard to tell what is what in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala but lots of Gringo's are doing business. Coastal Belize is different. There wouldn't be any gringo trying to do business around there and the Belizeans I've met are not interested in moving to the USA.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Ecos

It's hard to tell what is what in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala but lots of Gringo's are doing business. Coastal Belize is different. There wouldn't be any gringo trying to do business around there and the Belizeans I've met are not interested in moving to the USA.

Guatemala is pretty simple, no one really cares what you do. If they do, they will ask you nice not to do it...once.

Its a PITA to do business in Belize legally, and they do have periodic labor/immigration sweeps in tourist areas...so illegals are may get busted.

Fun fact: There are more Belizeans living in the USA than in Belize.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Wow Zee, I feel sorry for your friend in Vene.

What a mess to get caught in and I'm sure it is far worse for the citizens.

Haven't cruised Central America for about 15 years now.
How are the countries between Mexico and Panama doing now economically?

Attachment 174006

Well, since the original subject has been addressed...and I just finished a boat project...I'll add to the drift:

Its mixed bag economically and politically.

The countries I know the best:

Guatemala is funny, its govt has been so unstable and corrupt for so many years (the past Pres & VP are in prison, and the current one may join them soon), that I think the private sector has learned to function mostly without the govt...and its rocking...just take an excursion thru the upscale parts of Guate City to see that. Very diverse economy, lots of new construction, but the benefits of it only trickle down to a very few. There is a small but growing middle class in Guate, a very small uber wealthly class (which has mostly controlled the country for decades), a large lower working class who are just getting by, and the other 60% or so are still scrapping for their next meal. Severe poverty is still quite common, as is illeteracy. Having a population comprised of a majority of indigenous poor Mayans creates some intractable socio-economic problems for Guate.

Belize. Plodding along about the same as usual with some small pockets of tourism/expat related growth. Heavily dependent on tourism, mininal other industries. Very small aflluent to wealthy class, almost everyone else is just getting by...but, thats actually a common state of mind for many Belizeans and they are fine with that. Off season gets pretty drastic for many and theft goes way up.

Honduras has been in downward spiral for a long time now, and getting worse, my affluent Honduran friends are very worried about the future.

Panamá is booming! Strong GDP growth with low debt ratio, mind boggling amount of public infrastructure (canal expansion, new canal bridges, renovated PanaAmerican Hwy, hyrdoelectric...) and new construction projects in both public and private sector. Rapidly growing lower middle class...this has sparked large developments of small homes to feed this growing market. Even in little Volcán, where we now live, new construction is eveywhere. Of course, not everywhere/everyone in the country shares in these benefits, but the economic trickle down seems to have a much broader benefit here, than in Panamá's bretheren countries.

....

Ok...back to work!

[john61ct]

A very large proportion of Panama's capital comes from pretty questionable sources.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by laika

...

As for cruisers, the route between the Rio Dulce and Panama seems to be getting more frought. My sense is of a slight but gradual increase in reports of piracy even quite far offshore to Honduras and Nicaragua. But I would gladly defer to those who are more familiar with the area and the route than I. We are currently weighing our options for a possible passage from the Rio to Panama.

...

Yeah, its unfortunate...would love to explore the Nicaraguan Banks more, but per CSSN there have only been two _attempted_ piracy events and one suspicious activity report there for 2018. Several friends of mine have crossed the banks this year without incident...though a bit nervously.