ecuadorjoe
1/18/2015 11:59 EST
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Joel Bauta Lopez earned $7 a month as a bus dispatcher in Cuba. Within a few years of his arrival in the United States, he was driving a Hummer, living in his own condo and vacationing at Caribbean resorts.
Bauta made his riches bilking American insurance companies.
"I had just been here for two years. I needed the money," Bauta, 42, told the Sun Sentinel. "In Cuba, we live in a system where if you don't invent, if you don't rob, you don't eat."
Bauta was part of a Cuban crime wave that's aided by U.S. policy and proliferating. He came to the U.S. without an entry visa, got to stay because of his special status as a Cuban, was arrested twice for fraud, and spent less than two months in jail.
America's open-door policy, intended to give refuge to those fleeing the Castro government, has allowed a thriving underground criminal network to take root and expand its reach from South Florida across the nation, the Sun Sentinel found in the first broad look at organized Cuban crime.
These criminals often operate in rings specializing in lucrative crimes that can yield astonishing sums with little risk of stiff punishment: credit card fraud, auto accidents staged to con insurers, cargo theft, Medicare fraud, indoor marijuana farming.
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DocStJohn
1/18/2015 14:50 EST
WOW! What a slanted, prejudiced, attack on Cubans in America.... How did this useless report make it past the ExPat Forum censors?
It made it to press because there are no censors on Ex Pat Forum..... What does this article contribute to enrich our experience of Ecuador?
What do you know of the recent happenings in Switzerland and Russia that soon WILL affect our experience of Ecuador..Check that out... experience
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remoore2001
1/18/2015 19:49 EST
Don't even go there with you smug there is no censorship on this forum. Makes you sound stupid
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DocStJohn
1/19/2015 00:21 EST
You ARE that. You know how to make trouble with half truths but NOTHING of what will truly affect our lives here in Ecuador.
READ what has happened in Switzerland and Russia over the past few days and then say something meaningful about what you think will happen here in Ecuador...Not some BS about some Cuban and his schemes in Florida where they can't even have an effect here Smart Guy. Your story is what it is... NOT VALUABLE and TOTALLY PREDJUDICED ....Doc
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ecuadorjoe
1/19/2015 05:49 EST
remoore201, Just thought it was a good reading material printed in a Florida newspaper. What is the issue with the forum? I think your comment is rather inappropriate. But you have a right to express yourself. And so do I.
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livefreebstrong
1/19/2015 07:28 EST
EcuadorJoe, I think Remoore was addressing Doc.
Doc, How do you think the political situation with Russia and Switzerland will effect life in Ecuador? Curious as to how (specifically) you're connecting them.
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ecuadorjoe
1/19/2015 07:52 EST
LBSTRNG, I am confused, not because I walked the usual 2km. this morning, but I could have swore that remoore wrote to me because it started as ecuadorjoe?? I don't know how about the mix up. But I know how it can be done, but I am not conspiracy theory believer. Your other question I will be happy to answer if you could shine a bit more light at it (be a bit more specific). :-) But later because we are going to La Libertad and possibly the shopping center in Salinas...You have a nice day....
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livefreebstrong
1/19/2015 12:58 EST
EcuadorJoe
No problem. Nice on the 2k walk! I need to get back to some regular exercise myself. My question was to Doc on how the political relationship between Russia and Switzerland might be effecting Ecuador. Doc said it "WILL" affect life in Ecuador (obviously he has a strong hunch) so I was wondering how he was connecting the dots to here.
No big deal..curiousity no mas.
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DocStJohn
1/19/2015 13:32 EST
LFBS~ Check your PM's. I sent you an answer to what you asked about Swiss and Russia as related to Ecuador... Doc
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livefreebstrong
1/19/2015 15:00 EST
Thanks Doc. I will go over your links and info when I get a chance. On the road..
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OceanHideaway
1/19/2015 19:02 EST
Ah the Broward Sun Sentinel vs the Miami Dade Miami Herald...
yeah that's been going on since Pedro Pan days and then of course the boat lift in the 70's and the CSS in the 80's with the benefits for folks from Communist countries exploited into the INS on 79th street...and no benefits from folks from other Caribbean countries. Those wee the old Catholic Charities cases of the late 80's
The joy of the the 5am line ups at INS when I was working for Berkley Associate on Miami Beach as a whee little law clerk... don't bother looking it up Mark has moved on but his niece Elizabeth is rather well known...did some parts on TV and then a really big movie ... I thought it was breakthrough but it was ahead of its time...
Now if you want a taste of Cuba..just like they make in Little Havana and Calle Ocho... try the Cuban place in Marvento Plaza in Salinas,the ropa vieja is perfect melt in your mouth...and all the rest just like it should be. My pork experts were in heaven over the New Years roast with yuca con moho (a type of garlic mole).
Don't ever mistake one expatriate for an entire group -- what if everyone judged all Gringos by say...*insert most egregious example here* ...and not You?
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