U.S. Baby Boomer Gentrification Wreaks Havoc on City in Socialist Ecuador

The small city of Cuenca, Ecuador is struggling to address a growing wave of American “Baby Boomers” who have decided to retire there to take advantage of a socialist welfare state designed for its locals.

U.S. retirees, a recent city study revealed, are also causing conflict in the city, raising real estate prices, demanding English-language service, and threatening to sue locals accustomed to more “casual” business contracts.

In a report this week, the Miami Herald highlights the blissful existence of upper-class white American migrants who have flocked to Cuenca, attracted by retiree blogs and news sites that emphasize the appeal of its temperate weather and inexpensive healthcare and real estate.

Cuenca’s “boomers” are more likely to have been professors before retirement than any other occupations, with “executives” coming in second place. The study delicately notes that many of these individuals “are not interested in being part of a new culture, and are more interested in that the city and its people respond to their needs and demands.”

Paramount among the city’s concerns is that many Americans are demanding Cuencans speak English and creating English-speaking neighborhoods within the city. “There is a large group for which learning a language is outside of their interests and, faced with the frustration of not being able to communicate, express annoyance with Cuencans who do not tend to their demands in English,” the study reads, adding that the city has invested in Spanish and idiomatic dictionaries for the new residents, but this has not solved the problem.

In addition to cultural tensions, the study notes that 65 percent of the native Cuencan population is under 35, and many are frustrated that they must pay taxes and invest in the welfare state that foreign retiree migrants are now abusing.

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