Expat Files – 09.11.15

-Bolivia is having all kinds of civil unrest. The steep 50% drop in state oil revenues in the past year has caused President Evo Morales to call a press conference asking the general population to officially tighten their belts. Yes, the public is being forced by necessity into doing that right now (like they needed his official proclamation, duh!) but you can bet that no government official will ever follow suit (yup, less 5 star hotels, champagne and caviar maybe?)

-People want to know why some Latin countries (Panama, Ecuador, Belize and El Salvador) use the US dollar as their official funny money. How do those Franklins affect local economies, and what about the dollar effects on the surrounding Latin countries who use their own homegrown funny money?

-With the Latin real estate bubble about ready to pop, it’s definitely a renter’s market. But fresh clueless gringos often don’t get in on the good deals. So then how can you get the best deal on rent? Today, frequent contributor Captain Mango tells us how he got his $650 a month rent sliced all the way down to $250 a month- a 60% reduction!!!

-A “boots on the ground” real estate and cost of living report from Medellin Colombia.

-Did you know that Colombia’s peso has crashed 27% against the dollar in the last year? It’s really causing havoc especially at the border towns. That means many gringo opportunities… but do look out for potholes!!

What Women Must Know – The Power of Plants for Spiritual Awakening with Michael Sanders – 08.06.15

Michael Sanders is a partner and Vice President for clean energy startup SunMoon Energy and the Vice President of ClearMedia.tv advertising agency. He’s the author of Ayahuasca: An Executive’s Enlightenment, a revealing memoir designed to unlock your creative, intellectual and spiritual potential. A passionate traveler, athlete and mover, Michael practices sound nutrition, regular introspection and daily meditation. He’s also an avid Burning Man participant committed to fostering human connection and improving the world.

www.macromicrocosmos.com

Dr. Sherrill Sellman will be leading a two week journey into Peru to explore some of the most sacred sites including Machu Picchu and the rain forest jungles of the Amazon basin. This program will include 4 journeys with Ayahuasca guided my indigenous shaman elders.

Peru reopens probe into mass sterilizations of over 300,000 indigenous people

Peruvian judicial authorities have ordered the reopening and expansion of a criminal probe into the mass forced sterilization of an estimated 350,000 women and 25,000 men during the 1990s. A Peruvian public prosecutor reopened an investigation on Thursday into former President Alberto Fujimori’s possible role in the forced sterilization of thousands of Peru’s indigenous people during the ‘90s. Luis Antonio …

WikiLeaks Leaks TPP Draft!!!

This is an advanced January 2015 version of the confidential draft treaty chapter from the Investment group of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks between the United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei Darussalam. The treaty is being negotiated in secret by delegations from each of these 12 countries, who together account for …

University of Oxford finds trees inhale less carbon when they are drought – impacted

For the first time, an international research team has provided direct evidence of the rate at which individual trees in the Amazonian basin ‘inhale’ carbon from the atmosphere during a severe drought. The researchers measured the growth and photosynthesis rates of trees at 13 rainforest plots across Brazil, Peru and Bolivia, comparing plots that were affected by the strong drought …