August 22, 2021
After a June visit to Washington DC with Mrs. Ambassador Mayorga of El Salvador, I was invited on a follow-up trip to El Salvador in August. My wife Lola and I ventured out and spent five days exploring the country and new business opportunities. What follows are the observations of this journey.
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El Salvador is much closer to the United States than most people probably realize. Since we live in South Florida, we were able to catch a direct flight of about 3 hours from Miami to San Salvador. The government was generous with us. We were taken directly from the plane to a special reception area, immigration procedures were processed and suitcases were collected. I have to admit that this level of service was fantastic and foreshadowed the treatment we received throughout our trip. Salvadorans are proud of their hospitality.
Modern and safe
In my 35 years of career I have spent a lot of time traveling internationally and a good part of that has been in the developing world. I have seen some horrible conditions and a rampant poverty. El Salvador’s media coverage has focused on things like Salvadoran refugees on the southern border of the United States looking for a better future, MS-13 gangs terrorizing the population, the scars of the civil war of the 80s and 90s I cannot say that these things are not at least partially true, but I can say that in the San Salvador metro area we did not see any evidence of them. Lola and I also made our own trips to some neighboring provincial areas, and we didn’t see any evidence of these things either.
There is certainly some poverty in El Salvador. On the main entry and exit routes of San Salvador, many people who strive to reach two places sell fruits, nuts and sweets on the road. A percentage of the population lives in slum dwellings in some districts. But the country’s infrastructure is much more developed than I expected and there is a lot of construction going on. Mobile phone service is widely available, although it is often 3G. The internet is frequent, fast and fast. San Salvador is very clean and waste management works well. The traffic is good and the vehicles on the road are in good condition and safe.
A very pleasant surprise was that San Salvador had a very advanced network of restaurants, bars and shops. It was not just an upper-class district of San Salvador, but the entire subway area. The businesses were well managed and very diverse. Prices were fair (similar to the US), but a bit more expensive than I expected.
In the 90s I spent a lot of time in Taiwan. Throughout this decade, the country was transformed from a developing country to a developed country. El Salvador feels like Taiwan did in the midst of this transformation. El Salvador is a country on the rise. People feel it too. While they may not have everything that people in first world countries have, they don’t care about what they don’t have; they simply look to the future.
Money
In 2000 the US introduced the Sacagawea dollar currency in an attempt to increase the use of currencies in trading companies. By the end of the decade, it had failed and disappeared into the darkness. Well, if you’ve ever wondered where all these dollar coins were going, El Salvador is the answer.
The first time I bought something with US dollars and received changes, I had to look twice at what I had received. I mention this because the truth is that, as things stand, El Salvador is a very heavy US dollar economy. Prices in the regions we visited were shown exclusively in dollars. A very small number of commercial establishments even announced that they accepted Bitcoin. It’s true that I was a little disappointed, but there’s good news.
Bitcoin Beach, while quite small, is very real. Stores and street vendors are well versed and comfortable with Bitcoin. You can buy soft drinks, ice cream, artisan soaps, t-shirts, coffee and jewelry with Bitcoin or dollars. Providers don’t care which one you use and if you choose Bitcoin, they feel comfortable in how to do the transaction. If it can happen here, it can happen in San Salvador, and if it can happen in San Salvador, it can happen anywhere in the world.
Lola is about to buy a bracelet at Bitcoin Beach, El Salvador.
Outside of Bitcoin Beach, the people of El Salvador are very excited about Bitcoin, even though their level of knowledge is low and this causes concern. This is perfectly understandable because Bitcoin meant nothing to most people just ten weeks ago. But his desire to learn is very strong and he realizes that this is an important turning point in the future of El Salvador. As we traveled all over the country and people found out we had business in the Bitcoin mining space, they wrapped us up with questions; Saul and Romeo our drivers, Jorge the owner of a boutique hotel, Mario from the reptile farm, Benjamin the lawyer, Napo from the t-shirt factory and many more people were sponges absorbing any knowledge we could pass on.
But the most interesting and exciting part of the whole trip came when we were invited to a small meeting at a new friend’s house on our last day in El Salvador. There were several children there when they were teenagers. Just as they were about to go out for a boat ride, a member of the group named Sarah approached me and asked me if Bitcoin was a good thing for El Salvador. Not wanting to give him a long answer about Austrian economy, geopolitics and the importance of money, I said, “Yes, he was very good to El Salvador and he should be excited and proud of the brave move he was making. your country ”. I thought that would be the end and she would want to continue the boat ride. Well, it turns out I greatly underestimated Sarah. Within minutes, not only Sarah, but a whole cast of young Salvadorans were punching me in Bitcoin. The boat trip was put on hold and we spent the next hour delving deeper as we traversed inflation, monetary policy, world reserve currencies, the government’s separation of money and the mechanics of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin conference of youth of El Salvador
These kids are smart, they are motivated and they will make a difference in the world. They are not infected with preconceived established rhetoric and will not accept anything without completely challenging it.
The country is led by President Nayim Bukele, who has foresight and direction for action. I met with several members of his administration, including members of the Bitcoin implementation team. I can tell you that President Bukele has not surrounded himself with a lot of bureaucrats, but has put together a young, aggressive and innovative team. They function more like a company preparing for a IPO than a government. I can’t help but shake my head at contrasting the quality of the El Salvador team and its ability to execute with the failure in the U.S. Senate on the cryptocurrency part of the infrastructure bill. Although El Salvador is in the midst of a monetary revolution, the United States cannot even reach agreement on some phrases of cryptocurrency legislation because an 87-year-old senator in his sixth term can block the will of another 99 senators.
As Lola and I now reflect on our journey, we are amazed at the stark realization that we were at the zero point of a revolution. Certainly, President Bukele’s leadership and Jack Mallers ’technology have played an important role in El Salvador’s Bitcoin movement, but the true energy to see it will come from the masses and young people who will see a path to a better tomorrow. They are on board and they will make it a reality.
This is a guest message from Bob Burnett. The views expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. o Bitcoin Magazine.