Bedeviled by Debt

ABC News / Go.com ^ | August 15, 2002 | Mike Lee

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Bedeviled by Debt

Unusual Venezuelan Bill Collector Embarrasses Debtors Into Paying

By Mike Lee

C A R A C A S, Venezuela, Aug. 14 —

South America has fallen upon hard times largely because credit has been so easy to get. Governments, and many ordinary people, have been living beyond their means, and now are finding they can't keep up the payments on loans that were supposed to make things right.

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International banks and the U.S. Treasury Department pressure leaders to cut back government spending. But spending equals local votes. So South American governments get bailed out, time and time again, because the rich lender nations are afraid of losing all of their capital and political investment should chaos prevail.

Rodrigo Herrera, who runs a small debt-collection business in Caracas, Venezuela, has no such bail-out policy. His business name is Dr. Diablo, Spanish for Dr. Devil. He is perhaps one of the world's most effective, and most unusual, bill collectors.

Dr. Diablo doesn't break your bones, or shoot holes in your kneecaps. He embarrasses you to death.

Let's say that you are really behind on your car payments. The car dealership hires Dr. Diablo, who shows up at your office, or home, or maybe even your church, dressed as the devil and accompanied by a carload of women in skintight costumes and a vicious dog.

He makes lots of noise with the siren on his SUV, which is painted with hellfire flames. In general, Dr. Diablo makes sure that your neighbors, or your boss, know that you, until now a pillar of the community, are actually a deadbeat.

It's not very discreet. But that's the point.

Humiliation Is Key to a Diablo Raid

"Nobody wants to have me and my little helpers show up at their door step," said Dr. Diablo. "So eight times out of 10 they pay up after one phone call from me, rather than face a Diablo raid."

A raid is something to behold. ABCNEWS went along as Dr. Diablo and his outrageously dressed team descended upon Manuel Gonzoles, a restaurant owner who is surprised and shaken by the unholy visitation.

His family owes $12,000 to Diablo's client. At first, Gonzoles refused to pay. But Diablo and his entourage refused to leave. The local police turned a blind eye.

As they sat down to negotiate, Gonzoles seemed to be clutching his wallet for dear life. But the embarrassment and humiliation became too much, and within 10 minutes he signed a paper agreeing to pay, and even allowed himself to be fingerprinted by a Diablo assistant.

Just how much of this was according to the letter of the law is open to question. In Venezuela, according to Dr. Diablo, the legal system works very slowly. That's why creditors turn to him.

It's also why he can act quickly, before debtors have a chance to hire attorneys or present their version to a judge. After all, a lot of people would rather pay Diablo a small amount each month rather than having the neighbors see a disco model dancing with the devil on their front lawn. Perhaps the International Monetary Fund should take notice.  

From Mike Lee's Notebook

I knew that something was very different about this assignment as soon as I walked into Dr. Diablo's office in Caracas.

It was red, with yellow flames painted on the walls. It also had flames that lit up.

 Scantily clad women came and went, with cups of coffee and smiles. Such ladies are, of course, an important part of his technique of embarrassing, or threatening to embarrass, debtors into paying their bills or face the prospect of this sort of Playboy Club from hell showing up at your front door.

Dr. Diablo is a canny businessman. And publicity hound. The more that people know of his infamous techniques, the more clients he is likely to get.

Dr. Diablo takes no chances when it comes to having provocative photographs available for newspapers and magazines. He shoots his own pictures.

What I did not realize until I was already shooting him shooting his models, is that Diablo is something of a self-styled Austin Powers. I think I heard him say "Yeah, baby!" as he lay on the floor, snapping pictures like a photographer at a modeling shoot.

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I wish I could see the videos at the source URL, but I don't want to pay $4.95 for it.

FWIW, I worked for a company that had a branch in Venezuela. When a payment was due, they would call the customer and remind them, then tell to get the check ready because they would be there to pick it up in two days. Nobody wires payments or, God forbid, send a check through the mail. The bill collector shows up and picks up the check from the customer. But we never thought of using a guy like this.