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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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• Latin America 2003
  
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As a result, according to unofficial sources, the move of American, Canadian and European retirees toward the region takes momentum. The first large group of American and Canadian baby-boomers is already on the market in search for better options for living. Some countries seem to be much better prepared for this influx and accordingly are in a position to reap most of the benefits of this expected golden rain.

The good new for foreign retirees is that without exceptions the countries in Central and South America have open their doors for international relocation. All countries allow in one or another forms the foreigners to buy properties. In some countries there are some restrictions regarding the location of the properties for which a special permit should be granted. In other countries foreigners who wish to buy should first be granted residency status. In third using local attorney may be considered as a must, but the bottom line is that small foreign investors and retirees are welcomed everywhere.

The problems that may arise come mainly from matters that aren't directly linked to the legal ability to buy, but to other matters such as the prices on the real estate market, the physical infrastructure in some remote areas that make impossible the easy access to the properties, the security situation in some countries, and the political and social instability.

Almost all countries have at least one special program that deals with foreigners who want to relocate, either as retirees who receive fixed monthly incomes or as investors who receive monthly dividends from their shares and other assets. Only a handful of countries have no such programs, but even there a possibility exists to get residency status and the case will be reviewed individually. The conditions for granting permanent or temporary residency vary from one country to another, but the bottom line here is to be able to show certain financial minimum for the applicant and the dependents, if any, to have clear police record and to be ready sometimes for long bureaucratic procedures that may be shortened hiring good local attorney.

Good not in a sense of bypassing the local laws, but in informing the customer when certain preconditions are more flexible than they may appear on paper. For example, in many countries the conditions to invest certain minimum or to provide proof of certain monthly income seem rock-solid, but in fact in many countries they are not, if the investors or the retirees decide to invest in particular industry considered to be strategic by the local government or to live in particular area. These options are perfectly legal, but only local attorneys may know them all.

Most countries in Central and South America appear to be in competition for foreign small investors and retirees, but in fact some of them have taken a good early start and now are well ahead of the column. Costa Rica perhaps won't be beaten in the years to come, but some newcomers like Panama and Chile may try to change the score by providing the same goods and services much cheaper. Now the number of foreign retirees permanently living in the region is tens of thousands with many more living part-time, from several days to several months per year. When the number of permanent residents sometime from now reaches hundreds of thousands and even millions, the market leaders may be different.

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