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Welcome to the Central America Forum.

You say, "Things are not so different in any other country for that matter."  What is your experience conducting business in any countries?  Or if you don't have experience, at the least, what studies can you cite to support this?

You say, "Nicaraguans, Sandinistas, PLC.. why do you need to lable these people? That's your main problem."  Oh really?  You apparently don't know much about me, or else when you say "you" actually you mean "all Americans" ... in which case, aren't you engaging in the same generalization-thinking of which you accuse me?

You say, "From a Nicaraguan's point of view you're a f....ng Gringo, with too much attitude, self indulged, fat and loaded with money you stole ages ago from his family."  Now who is doing the generatlizing?  You again.  But that's ok with me.  I think generalization can be helpful.  You are the one who claims it's "my main problem."  But, frankly, I agree with the spirit of this statement: in general, many Nicaraguans do have the attitude about most Americans that "you're a f....ng Gringo, with too much attitude, self indulged, fat and loaded with money you stole ages ago from his family".  Then you say, "You don't give him anything to change that perspective."  Wrong.  I gave many Nicaraguans the opportunity to work with me.  I gave them the opportunity to share in goal-setting and to work towards promotion and management, if they wished.  Whenever kids or adults came to my farm, I worked alongside them, be it with machete, weeding, processing harvests.  I ate many of the same foods they ate, I lived in a house a lot like theirs.  I told them that if we did well, that we could have an international center for education, humanity, and ecology.  They had every opportunity to see that my vision and dedication were not arrogance.  Most of them did not take the opportunity.  They had known for their whole lives that anyone with a dream and money to spend could be milked like a cow and would eventually decide to leave, so that there was no point in developing a long-term relationship or taking the vision seriously.  Most Nicaraguans know that in Nicaragua most dreams don't get realized, and only exhaust the dreamer.

[Take this attitude...] "Two guys doing business. You have and he needs. Use that to your advantage. Let him make some money and don't be cheap. At the end you'll both make money and you earned respect."  Nice dream.  Unfortunately, what almost all find out who try to do business in Nicaragua - it doesn't work that way.  Different rules apply to foreigners.  We have a social conscience.  We won't shoot a thief.  We actually feel guilty when someone pulls a guilt trip on us in negotiations.  The neighbors are less willing to tell us who robbed us, or to warn us of potential problems, than to tell one of their own.

You say, "Your obviously no businessman in your home country, what made you think you could be one in Nicaragua?"  Unfortunately, your grammar is a bit sloppy here - are you talking about before I moved to Nicaragua, while I was in Nicaragua, or after?  I have been successful personally and financially in the United States in several businesses in several different fields.  So who is arrogant and labeling in this conversation?  I'm struck by the thought that you appear like a person who seems to be willing to lie, fight and argue to defend your race, right or wrong, true or untrue.  Yes, frankly, I do consider my behavior superior in the respect that I would not do such a thing but that doesn't mean I consider myself overall a superior human being, only that respect of my behavior.  And apparently you consider yourself superior in that you do not respect someone who will openly cherish things about himself that he is proud of.

Feel free to register as an official user on this site, and we welcome you to post some stories that helped you to come to your conclusions.  What are your experiences, where?  Our goal here is to make sense of life and living in Central America.  While sometimes some of us (including me of course) may be wrong, and while sometimes we may have to leave questions open or agree to disagree, nevertheless we are happy to have your participation - open dialogue is a helpful tool in making sense of our lives as fellow humans.

Thanks for your reminder about our common humanity.  I agree - may we all experience peace and happiness.