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More About Panama vs. Belize (Sep
2006)
I was on a list (bz-culture) with Susan for several years
before she finally gave up on Belize and moved to Panama. Here is a recent
letter from her to a list on Panama. She is a lady lawyer from California
and (I think) a reliable souorce.
From: Susan Guberman-Garcia
Date: 8/12/2006 9:17:31 AM
To: panamaforum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [panamaforum] Re: Belize vs. Panama-was new move to Panama
We owned property in Belize for 14 years, have many friends there, and
operated tourist rentals there. Belize, while a beautiful country with
wonderful people, has many more problems than Panama, and those
problems would directly impact you as an expat. These problems are why
we changed our long held plans to relocate to Belize and instead came
to Panama: 1. The government and the country are flat broke. As in NO
MONEY - not just an increasing debt, I mean NO MONEY. When that
happens, who do you think they are going to look to for funds? Taxes
are increasing and many small business people are being driven out of
business by excessive fees, permissions and taxes. Your "qualified
retired person" exemption can be lifted at any time if anyone in the
government wants to do it. It is not secure like the pensionado visa
in Panama. 2. Crime is rampant all over Belize, except perhaps for
Ambergris Caye, though even there it has worsened somewhatin recent
years, by many accounts. On the mainland, including Cayo District,
armed gangs of thugs, mostly from Guatemala (the border is completely
porous) roam and rob and kill at will. You will find few tourism
operators who have not experienced a problem with bandidos, except
perhaps Chan Chich (because it is so hard to get to and off the main
roads). Private cars, tourist vans, and buses are sometimes stopped
and robbed by these bandido gangs. Usually the occupants are released
unharmed but not always. The police are few, poorly trained, poorly
equipped and totally impotetent. It is very hard to get a gun permit
to defend yourself in Belize, unlike Panama, and if you kill a
bandido, you are likely to go to jail while its all sorted out. Drug
traffickers roam the islands and Placencia Peninsula with impunity and
innnocent locals (and expat residents) have gotten caught in the
crossfire. Please understand that the overwhelming majority of
Belizeans are law abiding, but the ratio of gangbangers (from Belize
CIty, many of whom have brought their gangbanger ways back with them
from the USA) and the Guatemalan bandidos is too high for anyone to be
safe. 3. If you think lawyers are bad in Panama, you haven't been to
Belize. There are only about 25 lawyers in the whole country and they
are virtually all owned by a small number of extremely wealthy
individuals and politicians. They charge US fees for even the simplest
transaction and every single one of them will try to cut themselves in
on a percentage of a property sale if they are involved in one. 4.
Belize is in the hurricane belt, big time. Our condos were hit by
major hurricanes 4 times, one time a catagory 4, then dropping to 3,
sat over them for a whole day (due to high qualify construction, the
damage was relatively minor). 5. The cost of living in Belize is
astronomical. The primary source of income for the country is customs
duties. Most consumer items have a 75% to 100% duty. Therefore, it
costs at least twice as much to buy any small or large appliance in
Belize as in the USA. Want to go off-grid? Be prepared to pay 75-100%
duty on your solar equipment, generator, etc.
This is all true, and I know what I am talking about. If you want to
call it "negative and cynical" so be it.
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