Colombia and Venezuela A South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby


Colombia and Venezuela

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Transcript


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'I'm on a journey through South America.

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'In this programme, I'm on my way through Colombia and then to Venezuela.

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'My purpose is to get behind the headlines

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'and beyond the stereotypes -

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'find out what these two countries are really like,

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'from life on the range'...

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This has about a one-in-a-thousand chance.

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..'to fishing in the Caribbean'...

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Wow, what a catch!

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..'from the most dangerous slums'...

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I'm with the police on patrol in a barrio

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which is notorious for gang warfare.

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..'to the toll exacted by terrorists.'

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'But I also find happiness, hope and confidence'...

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LATIN-STYLE MUSIC

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..'houses that cost a fortune'...

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..'and inspiring leaders who are genuinely transforming the quality of life'...

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This is basic democracy.

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..'a guerrilla fighter who left the jungle

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'and is now training to become a chef'...

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..'an orchestra which exchanges violence for violins'...

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THEY PLAY CLASSICAL MUSIC

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..'and a guide who naturally knows it all.'

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'One discovery after another.'

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ORCHESTRA PLAYS STIRRING CODA

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HELICOPTER ROTORS THRUM

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I'm flying over a country which has become synonymous

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with words like "kidnap", "murder", "terror" and "drugs",

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the cocaine capital of the world,

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much of which, until very recently,

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was virtually a no-go area,

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a country that you visited at your peril.

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This is Colombia.

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For decades, Colombia has been stricken by a civil war

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which has devastated the nation. Only cocaine barons thrived.

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'But over the last decade, after a merciless campaign by the government,

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'Colombia has changed dramatically.

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'There are still gangs. There's still terrorism.'

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'But an economy that had virtually collapsed

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'has started to thrive. Today, Colombia's growth rate is promising,

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'almost five percent last year.'

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I'm going to meet an estate agent.

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Gracias, senor!

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-Hi, Nancy.

-Hi, Jonathan. Welcome to Colombia.

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-Thank you.

-OK.

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It's nice to be here.

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'Nancy Prieto used to sell property for the likes of Donald Trump

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'in North America. She returned to Bogota six years ago

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'to set up on her own account.'

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Nancy, I notice when I open the window of the car,

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it doesn't open all the way. It doesn't open...

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Ah, no. It's impossible to go down...

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-Why?

-For security.

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-It's an armoured car?

-Yes. It's an armoured car.

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The capital, Bogota, has yet to lose its murderous reputation.

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But while Nancy wants to make fearful foreign clients feel safe,

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the risk of kidnap or worse is, in fact, diminishing.

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Combine this with a strong economic growth,

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and you get a property boom.

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And compared with the other countries in South America -

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-This is the most expensive.

-More than Brazil and Chile?

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-Yes, in South America.

-So you have a very good business.

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Yes, it is a boon for me. Yes.

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'This is one of the houses on Nancy's books.

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'Designed by an eminent architect, it's on the market for 6 million.'

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Nancy, I want you to treat me as a client.

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-Yes.

-OK. Persuade me

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I want to spend 6 million.

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And look at this. It is a big space. It's very comfortable.

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SHE SPEAKS SPANISH

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'In Colombia's aggressively free economy,

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'this mansion will probably be bought by a rich Colombian

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'or a foreign tycoon lured here by tax breaks for big investors.'

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I like to have the drapes. This isn't good for a study.

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And what about the lighting at night?

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-Six million...

-Dollars.

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SHE LAUGHS

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'No wonder Nancy's happy. In less than a decade,

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'house prices have gone up fourfold.

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'But there is another Bogota.

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'In a city with more than seven million inhabitants,

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'half live below the poverty line,

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'which in Colombia is less than seven dollars a day.'

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But London tends to have rain that is not so torrential.

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Yeah, sure.

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'To the poor, Enrique Penalosa is a hero.

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'As mayor of the city a decade ago, he was an innovator,

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'transforming daily life in much of Bogota.

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'This year he's on the campaign trail once again.'

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It's difficult for you to have a ride on a bike. They want to stop you all the time.

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What was it like here before you started this whole project,

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if you were a poor person living in this part of the city?

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Well, in this part of the city, was horrible,

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first of all because it used to flood.

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There were not the pumping stations. Every time it rained,

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it would flood, and there was no pavement.

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Of course, in the city there were no bikeways.

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'The former mayor is a visionary planner

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'of international repute. His overriding priority

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'has been transport, notably bikeways.'

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What difference has it made to people's lives?

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The bikeway not only protects the cyclist

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but it raises the social status of the cyclist. It became a symbol

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that shows that people on a bicycle were not inferior.

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They were, er, citizens who have rights.

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'Cycling is cheap, so the minimum wage goes much further.

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'But Penalosa also put public money

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'into new libraries, parks and schools.'

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And instead of new roads, he established a bendy-bus network

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to compete with city-clogging cars.

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I believe in a city where 80 percent of homes don't have cars.

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What it shows is respect for human dignity.

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Democracy's not just defined that people go vote.

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The first article in every constitution says

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that all citizens are equal before the law.

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If that is true, for example, a bus with 100 passengers

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has a right to 100 times more road space

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than a car with one. This is basic democracy.

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'You have to be wary of politicians promising a better tomorrow,

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'especially when they're after your vote.

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'But Penalosa does seem to be the real deal.'

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-Hello.

-Gracias.

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Has life changed a lot since ten years ago?

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MAN REPLYING IN SPANISH

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'Fans they may be,

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'but Bogota's voters are refreshingly free of deference.'

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WOMAN SPEAKING SPANISH

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I didn't expect that at all.

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I was expecting we would see the route,

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see what's been happening to the infrastructure.

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We stop and people rush around, and the imploring looks on their face.

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"Can he solve the problems we have now?" Some have been solved,

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but there are a lot more. Oh...

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I wouldn't want to be a politician here.

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Bogota is something of a home from home.

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It rains and it rains, which doesn't stop people making the most

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of the city's newfound security and its nightlife.

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When things were really bad here, when kidnappings were rife

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and it was the murder capital of the world,

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those who could afford to fled the country in their thousands.

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They started to come back, and some came back

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before it was really safe, determined to make a go of it.

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And one of them is the guy who owns this restaurant here,

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which is part of a chain which is now very, very successful.

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This is the hot kitchen, the wok section.

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-Right. So, when did you open this?

-This restaurant opened in 2003.

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-And you've got how many now?

-Nine restaurants in Bogota.

-Nine.

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We went up from 120 covers

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to, like, 2,000 covers a day.

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-Wow. From 120 to 2,000?

-Yes.

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Ben Villegas' restaurants offer a gourmet feast

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to Bogota's newly prosperous middle class...

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..the best Asian food for £12 a head.

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And instead of importing his ingredients,

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he pays poor farmers to grow them locally -

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good for the environment, good for jobs.

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This is a project that they substitute cocaine cultivation

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for green peppercorns.

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Because they can make the money out of the peppercorns

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-which rivals the money they would get from the coca?

-Exactly.

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'Ben belongs to a new generation

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'helping to rebuild Colombia's broken society.

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'He's helping run a charitable project

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'which offers an escape from his country's endemic conflict.

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'Once part of a guerrilla army of global notoriety,

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'Nixon is training to be a chef.'

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'Nixon is 23.

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'He was wounded in a gun battle and captured by the army.'

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Once you'd been captured, did you want to try and get back to FARC,

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back to the guerrillas again?

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What's your own ambition now?

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To reach my next destination, I had to fly.

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It was not only the rainy season,

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but the longest and wettest in living memory.

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A huge swathe of the country was under water.

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This is Colombia's coffee country,

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where, in these hills, they produced some of the very best in the world.

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'Don Roja's farm is so remote that you can't get there by road,

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'even in the dry weather. This is the only way up.

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HE SPEAKS SPANISH

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-Ah, the coffee bean.

-Si!

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Si.

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'It has rained almost every day for a year.

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'Climate change or not, this unprecedented deluge

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'has devastated the harvest and caused a slew of avalanches.'

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'And then, for me, an unexpected sight.

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'A reminder that guerrillas are still at large

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'on almost a third of Colombian territory.'

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THEY CONVERSE IN SPANISH

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The soldiers patrol this part of the valley

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to protect it, and to prevent any possible incursion

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from across the other side, which is in another department

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and apparently slightly less secure than this is.

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'What was once an ideological conflict between FARC

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'and an equally murderous gang of paramilitaries

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'has gradually degenerated into a crude struggle

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'to run the cocaine traffic.' Gracias.

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'Caught in their crossfire, some five million people

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'have fled their homes -

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'one in eight of the population.'

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'Only Sudan now has more displaced people than Colombia.'

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-MURMUR OF CONVERSATION

-How long have you been here?

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And why did you move from there?

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And what did it mean to your daily life?

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'This region is renowned

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'for producing some of the very best coffee in all Colombia,

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'the third-largest exporter in the world.'

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'Don Roja uses traditional methods

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'to grow, dry and mill the beans'...

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..'a process that has won an international reputation

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'for the cooperative to which he belongs.

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'The price of coffee globally is soaring,

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'but this small farm still provides an extremely modest living

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'for Don Roja and his family.

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'Coffee-tasting is a ritual which his daughter Yemi explains with touching pride.'

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Oh!

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HE INHALES APPRECIATIVELY

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THEY LAUGH

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I think you should be in charge of sales.

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THEY LAUGH

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It's very, very good.

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THEY LAUGH AND CHATTER

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'The region's coffee capital is the town of Genova.

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'By chance, I arrived in time for a fiesta -

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'the entire community strutting its stuff.

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'Not very long ago, until they were driven out by the army,

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'this was a guerrilla stronghold, the birthplace of FARC's first leader.'

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LIVELY LATIN-STYLE MUSIC PLAYING

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It is quite extraordinary to think that, ten years ago,

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this would have been quite impossible.

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People, as soon as it was dark, went home, locked their doors,

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and didn't go out. They were much too frightened.

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Total transformation.

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CROWD CHEERS

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By road, the journey from Genova to Colombia's second city

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is six hours.

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'This is Medellin, a name that still sends a shiver down the spine,

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'though by all accounts it's changed dramatically

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'over the last few years.

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This city was once the fiefdom of Pablo Escobar,

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the world's most notorious drugs baron.

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When he was killed in the early '90s, the FARC,

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the guerrillas, moved in and controlled large parts of the city.

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They were then driven out by the paramilitaries,

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and about eight, nine, ten years ago,

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the paramilitaries were disbanded, and in their place,

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a large part of the city was given over to gangs.

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And I'm here to see what it's really like now.

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# Politic need votes...

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-GUNFIRE SOUND EFFECT

-# Politic needs your mind

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# Politic needs human beings

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# Politic needs blood #

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I'm meeting a guy called Camillo who happens to be an undertaker,

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and he said I'd recognise him by his car,

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-but I didn't expect this.

-HE LAUGHS

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-Camillo!

-Hi. How are you today?

-Very nice to meet you.

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-What an amazing vehicle!

-Glad you like it.

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-Can I get in?

-Yes, absolutely.

-Thank you.

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-It's the first time I've travelled in a hearse.

-Good.

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-THEY LAUGH

-Wow!

-Like it?

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Is this the only vintage car in your fleet?

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-No. Actually, we have 24.

-24 of these?!

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-24, yes.

-Wow!

-The oldest is a 1938 Packard.

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And do people like the thought of their loved ones going to their rest

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-in one of these?

-Yes. It is becoming very popular.

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'Too many of the corpses his firm has carried to the cemetery

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'are of young men and women killed in violent gun battles.

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'Camillo himself was nearly one of them.'

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I almost got killed 20 years ago. I was shot nine times.

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I was in a nightclub, sitting with some friends of mine,

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and a group of gunmen came into the place,

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and they shot everyone in there, and they shot me nine times.

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I'm so lucky I survived.

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'The gangsters shot 27 people.

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'Camillo was only one of four to survive.'

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The Colombian government and the Americans

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-have the so-called Plan Colombia.

-Mm-hm.

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Billions have been spent on weapons, training,

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attempts to eradicate the coca.

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Yes.

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Has it worked?

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If they keep on investing only on the military side of it,

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it will never work,

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because it's a business, and as long as there's people in the world

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who buy drugs, there's going to be a supplier, all the time.

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And that business makes a lot of money.

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CHURCH BELLS TOLLING

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The cemetery offers dreadful testimony

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to the human price exacted by Colombia's drug wars.

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-Lot of young men you see here.

-Yes.

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There. He can't be - what,

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-more than about...

-Probably he was a gangster.

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I can tell by the clothes and how he wears.

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And it's very common, especially in this cemetery.

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With all that long history of killing and dying,

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how do people now regard the fact of death,

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the fact of the end?

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Well, for some reason, people are trying to avoid rituals,

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trying to stay away from funerals. So now, you see,

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-the ritual is fading, actually.

-So a kind of denial?

-Yes.

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And is that because... In significant measure,

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is that because people have just seen too many people dying,

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-too much violence?

-They have seen so many funerals,

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so they are just fed up with that.

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'Last June, an international commission

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'led by Kofi Annan, the former US Secretary of State George Shultz

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'and the former president of Colombia itself

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'concluded that the global war on drugs can never be won,

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'and that their use should no longer be a criminal offence.'

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Maybe perspective gets distorted,

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but when you are aware of the horror and misery

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that's been perpetrated in this country

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because of the cocaine habit of those in the West,

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those millions of people, you have to wonder

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whether there is not a better alternative,

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that radical alternative. Why not say to those people

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who want to stuff their noses with coke, "Well, do it."

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It's no different than alcohol or cigarettes.

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Immediately that would liberate the people of this country

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from the grip of the drug barons,

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and these graveyards then would not be filled

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with people killed young through violence,

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but with more of them simply dying in a natural way.

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Most of those who die violently in Colombia are poor.

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Many of them live in slums, the barrios

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that hug the hillsides around big cities.

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The barrios became no-go areas - isolated, lawless and dangerous.

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But in Medellin, they're doing something about it.

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This is not any old cable car. It was built as a public service,

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the first in the world, and it's part of an extraordinary experiment

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to try and solve a grave economic and social problem

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in this city - extreme violence in the barrios up here.

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Has this cable car made a difference to your lives?

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The cable car is notably clean and cheap,

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and, as you reach the barrio, you pass an impressive landmark -

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a new cultural centre.

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The barrio also offers a great view over the city.

0:24:400:24:43

'A tourist spot in the making, it provides a new opportunity

0:24:430:24:47

'for enterprising tour guides.'

0:24:470:24:50

Oh, buenos. Hola.

0:24:510:24:52

Si.

0:24:530:24:54

Goodbye.

0:25:350:25:37

In English, goodbye. Hasta luego.

0:25:370:25:39

-Hasta luego.

-Hasta luego.

0:25:390:25:42

-Hasta luego.

-Hasta luego.

-Hasta luego. Bye-bye.

0:25:420:25:45

-HE LAUGHS

-So enchanting!

0:25:450:25:48

Santo Domingo has changed.

0:25:500:25:52

But the past is still very much alive in the present.

0:25:540:25:58

There's a mural here which tells the whole ghastly story,

0:25:580:26:01

a cartoon that says, "We must stop taking the lives

0:26:010:26:04

of so many of our innocent people."

0:26:040:26:07

And then, further down, "an end to sexual violence",

0:26:070:26:10

and above that, the landmines.

0:26:100:26:13

Apparently this country has more landmines than any other

0:26:130:26:16

except for Afghanistan. And then right here, the centrepiece,

0:26:160:26:19

a homage to the victims of the conflict in this commune,

0:26:190:26:23

the dove of peace, and the lives that have been lost

0:26:230:26:27

between 1992 and 2001.

0:26:270:26:31

And then, at the end here,

0:26:310:26:33

the continuing problems of the kidnappings.

0:26:330:26:36

"I was born free," she says.

0:26:360:26:38

And above that, the displaced people - three million, four million,

0:26:380:26:42

maybe five million people, and the whole thing is called

0:26:420:26:46

"a story that must never be repeated".

0:26:460:26:50

Unhappily, Santo Domingo is an exception.

0:26:570:27:01

Other barrios are still no-go areas, controlled by gangs and drugs.

0:27:010:27:07

'But here at least, the atmosphere is easy and calm.'

0:27:070:27:10

A splash of paint, new walkways, cafes and shops,

0:27:120:27:15

the building blocks of civic life.

0:27:150:27:18

And then there is music and dance.

0:27:190:27:22

THEY RAP IN SPANISH

0:27:230:27:25

The Crew Peligrosos in rehearsal -

0:27:250:27:28

20 breakdancers who are stars here in the barrio,

0:27:280:27:32

and downtown and abroad.

0:27:320:27:34

They're the ones who painted the mural,

0:27:340:27:37

and their leaders run dance workshops for schoolchildren as well.

0:27:370:27:40

LATIN-STYLE RAP MUSIC PLAYS

0:27:400:27:43

-Oh!

-THEY SHOUT AND CHEER

0:27:460:27:48

JONATHAN LAUGHS

0:27:480:27:50

Senor...

0:27:540:27:55

JONATHAN LAUGHS YOUNG MAN SPEAKS SPANISH

0:27:550:27:58

-I'm watching this...

-HE SPEAKS SPANISH

0:27:580:28:01

-Boom!

-THEY LAUGH

0:28:010:28:03

Tell me about this place.

0:28:030:28:05

LATIN-STYLE RAP MUSIC

0:28:210:28:24

THEY CHEER RAP MUSIC CONTINUES

0:28:570:28:59

Flow, flow, flow! Flow.

0:29:070:29:09

HE LAUGHS

0:29:110:29:13

-HE LAUGHS

-I am far too brilliant,

0:29:130:29:16

-far too young, to be in your class.

-THEY LAUGH

0:29:160:29:20

-I... I must go.

-OK.

0:29:210:29:23

Gracias!

0:29:250:29:27

It's progress, and it's impressive.

0:29:280:29:32

But Colombia is still violent. There are still killings,

0:29:320:29:35

and that won't stop until the drugs war is over.

0:29:350:29:38

As yet, there's little sign of that.

0:29:380:29:41

Over the Andes and across the border from Colombia is Venezuela.

0:29:460:29:51

'Like so much of South America,

0:29:530:29:56

'Venezuela is blessed with an entrancing landscape -

0:29:560:29:59

'and in this case, a landscape that conceals untold wealth.'

0:29:590:30:03

Its capital is Caracas,

0:30:040:30:07

where, once again, the best view is from the cable car.

0:30:070:30:10

If Colombia is defined by cocaine,

0:30:120:30:15

then, Venezuela is defined by oil -

0:30:150:30:18

unbelievable quantities of it,

0:30:180:30:20

the fifth-largest exporter in the world,

0:30:200:30:22

and reserves that rival anywhere else on the planet.

0:30:220:30:27

Caracas was once a cosmopolitan city

0:30:290:30:32

much favoured by European travellers.

0:30:320:30:35

An oil bonanza half a century ago led to rapid growth,

0:30:380:30:42

a magnate capital, in South America.

0:30:420:30:45

At first glance, Caracas still seems to be booming.

0:30:490:30:52

But the appearance is deceptive.

0:30:520:30:55

The slogan promises "socialism or death" -

0:30:560:30:59

on the face of it, a rather stark choice.

0:30:590:31:02

Politically, Venezuela is about one man - Hugo Chavez,

0:31:040:31:08

who was elected in 1998

0:31:080:31:10

and says that he wants to run again and again until 2030.

0:31:100:31:14

He's a man of extraordinary charisma,

0:31:140:31:16

a magnetic personality. He's funny, and he uses a rhetoric

0:31:160:31:19

that really reaches out to the masses.

0:31:190:31:22

LIVELY MUSIC PLAYS THEY SING IN SPANISH

0:31:220:31:26

'A rally of the faithful - public-sector workers,

0:31:270:31:30

'beneficiaries of what Chavez calls socialism for the 21st century.

0:31:300:31:36

'In the last few months, however,

0:31:370:31:38

'their leader has started to modify his rhetoric,

0:31:380:31:41

'talking less about socialism and more about success.

0:31:410:31:45

'Nonetheless, the United States is still in the firing line.'

0:31:460:31:49

THEY CHATTER AND SING

0:32:030:32:06

It's a measure of Chavez's political genius

0:32:060:32:09

that he can inspire his loyal followers

0:32:090:32:12

to come out here to protest against Yankee imperialism

0:32:120:32:16

at a moment's notice,

0:32:160:32:18

while at the same time, Venezuela's main trading partner

0:32:180:32:21

is...the United States.

0:32:210:32:24

LIVELY MUSIC

0:32:250:32:27

By now, oil should have made Venezuela rich beyond compare.

0:32:270:32:31

Instead, the economy is sluggish, and the nation is crippled

0:32:320:32:36

by inflation at almost 30 percent.

0:32:360:32:39

'There are free schools, free universities, free hospitals

0:32:410:32:44

'and subsidised food for all, which have made a real difference

0:32:440:32:48

'to millions of people.

0:32:480:32:50

'But though there's greater equality than a decade ago,

0:32:500:32:53

'the government's own statistics show that quarter of the population

0:32:530:32:57

'still lives below the poverty line.'

0:32:570:32:59

The president's revolution seems barely to touch the lives

0:33:080:33:11

of those two million citizens who live in the ever-growing barrios.

0:33:110:33:15

Caracas is at the top of an unenviable league table.

0:33:220:33:26

With over 17,000 homicides last year,

0:33:260:33:29

it's the murder capital of the world.

0:33:290:33:32

In this barrio, Ojo de Agua, the police patrol in force.

0:33:340:33:38

I'm with the police on patrol in a barrio

0:33:490:33:52

which is notorious for gang warfare and a very high rate of murder.

0:33:520:33:58

And they're coming through here, sweeping through,

0:33:580:34:01

checking people,

0:34:010:34:03

seeing if they can find anyone who's got drugs,

0:34:030:34:08

who's got guns. The place is filled with guns

0:34:080:34:12

and filled with drugs.

0:34:120:34:14

It's also pretty dangerous for the police.

0:34:150:34:19

Here?

0:34:190:34:21

SHOUTING AND CHEERING

0:34:210:34:24

There is a history - I'm right, isn't there -

0:34:450:34:48

of the police being very brutal in this country.

0:34:480:34:51

-Yeah?

-Yes.

0:34:510:34:54

The problem is knowing who is and who isn't a criminal.

0:35:160:35:19

THEY CONVERSE IN SPANISH

0:35:190:35:22

The police stop-and-search neglects the niceties.

0:35:220:35:27

SHOUTING

0:35:270:35:29

SEVERAL VOICES PROTESTING

0:35:400:35:43

In this case, the couple was released without charge.

0:35:500:35:54

It looks pretty heavy-duty, mob-handed, pretty fierce.

0:35:550:36:02

But you have to remember that, in this area last year,

0:36:020:36:07

eight police officers were killed.

0:36:070:36:10

'Many of them died in these almost impossibly narrow alleyways,

0:36:100:36:14

'which are death-traps in a gun battle.'

0:36:140:36:18

'Commander Enrique Rodriguez, who runs this patch,

0:36:180:36:22

'is himself lucky to be alive.'

0:36:220:36:25

How many times?

0:36:330:36:36

-Seven times?

-Seven time, yes.

0:36:370:36:40

'The commander is not a cardboard-cut-out cop.

0:36:420:36:46

'He seems genuinely to care about the predicament of the barrios.

0:36:460:36:49

'Though international statistics show

0:36:500:36:53

'that the proportion of those living in poverty

0:36:530:36:56

'has fallen sharply over the last decade,

0:36:560:36:58

'he is unconvinced.'

0:36:580:37:00

Poverty and gangs - it's a lethal combination.

0:37:230:37:26

What else to expect?

0:37:300:37:32

No jobs, no money,

0:37:320:37:35

no hope.

0:37:350:37:37

It doesn't say much to me about the success

0:37:370:37:40

of socialism in the 21st century.

0:37:400:37:42

It was something of a relief to leave Caracas

0:37:530:37:56

for the space and grandeur of Venezuela's vast rural hinterland.

0:37:560:38:00

When Christopher Columbus reached Venezuela,

0:38:050:38:09

he said, "This is an earthly paradise."

0:38:090:38:12

And he was right.

0:38:120:38:14

This country is massively blessed with wildlife of all kinds,

0:38:140:38:18

plants, flowers, trees,

0:38:180:38:20

insects, birds, mammals.

0:38:200:38:23

It's a biodiversity, shared with much of South America,

0:38:230:38:27

that is of vital importance to the planet.

0:38:270:38:30

In Venezuela's case, that's because the topography and climate

0:38:300:38:33

ranges from the high Andes to the Amazonian rainforest

0:38:330:38:37

to the Caribbean, and that's where I'm heading now.

0:38:370:38:42

'Venezuela's Caribbean coastline runs for 1,700 miles.

0:38:500:38:53

'It's not only dazzling, but productive as well,

0:38:530:38:57

'which matters greatly to Dixon,

0:38:570:38:59

'a fisherman from the village of Chuao.'

0:38:590:39:02

As on so many other coasts,

0:39:040:39:06

the great industrial trawlers used to come in here

0:39:060:39:09

and literally scrape the bottom of all the fish in the sea,

0:39:090:39:12

with the result that fishermen here, like Dixon,

0:39:120:39:16

were virtually on the floor so far as their own business was concerned,

0:39:160:39:20

because there weren't any fish. And then Chavez, the president,

0:39:200:39:23

said, "Right, we're going to stop that,"

0:39:230:39:25

and he's actually banned all industrial fishing boats

0:39:250:39:28

from fishing inshore - with the approval of the United Nations.

0:39:280:39:33

Has the fishing for you got better recently?

0:39:370:39:40

Goodbye! Hasta luego!

0:40:040:40:07

'That may be a touch exaggerated,

0:40:070:40:09

'but these fishermen certainly do bless the president.

0:40:090:40:12

'Thanks to him, they've got new boats and gear worth 35,000,

0:40:120:40:16

'all bought with soft loans from the government -

0:40:160:40:19

'a largesse which, according to the critics,

0:40:190:40:22

'is often wasted on idlers.'

0:40:220:40:24

Chavez has spent a lot of money. Does it all go to the right people?

0:40:250:40:30

The fishermen of Chuao belong to a cooperative,

0:40:460:40:49

and they fish as a team, encircling the shoal,

0:40:490:40:52

their nets strung between the Chavez boats.

0:40:520:40:55

MAN SHOUTS IN SPANISH

0:40:550:40:57

It's a delicate operation. The fish often break free of the noose

0:40:570:41:01

and escape. Dixon went in to check progress.

0:41:010:41:05

What sort of catch?

0:41:050:41:07

A thousand kilos is worth, on average, 1,600,

0:41:120:41:17

a haul which they share out between them.

0:41:170:41:19

It's not a bad living.

0:41:190:41:21

No wonder the fishermen of Chuao are Chavistas to a man.

0:41:210:41:26

Wow, what a catch!

0:41:340:41:38

Good God!

0:41:380:41:40

It's refreshing water, because the temperature here...

0:42:050:42:08

I don't know what it is. It's very hot and very humid,

0:42:080:42:12

so I'm up to my knees like a granddad, and it's wonderful.

0:42:120:42:17

'With subsidies bestowed like manna on this community,

0:42:170:42:20

'you might expect every voice to be as one.'

0:42:200:42:23

But at the beach cafe, there was a distinctly discordant note

0:42:230:42:27

from the boss, when I asked him about the president.

0:42:270:42:31

What do you... What do you think of Chavez?

0:42:310:42:34

Why?

0:42:380:42:39

Really? But this is a free country. You can say what you like.

0:42:440:42:48

You think if you speak freely... What will happen?

0:42:500:42:53

If you want to do good business and have your livelihood,

0:42:590:43:02

you have to be careful that you don't make unnecessary...

0:43:020:43:05

er, enemies, with those who have power or authority in the area?

0:43:050:43:10

-Senor, could I have something to eat? Pescado?

-OK.

0:43:120:43:17

Gracias.

0:43:170:43:19

That is so interesting.

0:43:200:43:22

On the surface it's all easy, free. You can say what you like.

0:43:220:43:27

But in reality, you have to be just a little bit careful

0:43:270:43:31

if you want to get on.

0:43:310:43:33

And in this very complicated country,

0:43:330:43:36

which is so difficult to penetrate,

0:43:360:43:39

I think that's one of the key factors.

0:43:390:43:41

'Chuao is not only known for its fish.

0:43:450:43:48

'The surrounding jungle is no less precious and productive

0:43:480:43:51

'than the sea.'

0:43:510:43:54

This land all round here is famous for producing

0:43:540:43:58

what is said to be the very best cocoa in the whole world.

0:43:580:44:02

The cocoa bean in question is the Criollo,

0:44:030:44:06

and it's only found in this unique microclimate.

0:44:060:44:10

And because it produces chocolate to die for,

0:44:100:44:13

it costs four times as much as other, lesser cocoas.

0:44:130:44:16

This plantation is unique in the entire world.

0:44:170:44:22

This is a quality of cocoa

0:44:220:44:25

every fine chocolate-maker dreams of.

0:44:250:44:29

'Kai Rosenberg has spent the last 20 years

0:44:310:44:34

'recovering the original rootstock of the Criollo bean.

0:44:340:44:37

'It's been his passion. But his vision is now in tatters.

0:44:370:44:40

'His land and his house have been seized by the government.'

0:44:400:44:44

It's a truly Kafkaesque Venezuelan story.

0:44:460:44:49

Kai bought this land, has the property deeds.

0:44:490:44:53

He was given permission to grow the cocoa.

0:44:530:44:55

But it's on the national park, and so he grows on a little area,

0:44:550:44:59

and there's the wild jungle beyond that up into the mountains.

0:44:590:45:03

20 years on, suddenly the state says to him,

0:45:030:45:06

"You shouldn't be growing cocoa there. It's national park."

0:45:060:45:09

He says, "Well, actually, it's mine."

0:45:090:45:12

"You gave me the permission." No good.

0:45:120:45:14

He's told the land is confiscated. "You must leave."

0:45:140:45:18

What was your feeling about that?

0:45:190:45:21

Well, absolute disbelief,

0:45:210:45:24

because we fulfilled every condition to be protected by the government.

0:45:240:45:29

We have agricultural activity, we create employment,

0:45:290:45:33

we respect the environment.

0:45:330:45:36

My impression is that the state

0:45:370:45:39

systematically confiscates emblematic enterprises

0:45:390:45:44

because they cannot allow that good things come from the private sector.

0:45:440:45:49

'On another side of the mountain, another side of the cocoa story.

0:45:550:45:59

'In Chuao village, there's a cocoa cooperative.'

0:46:000:46:03

Like the fishing, it's been subsidised by the state.

0:46:030:46:06

-Few doubts about Chavez here.

-WOMAN SINGING

0:46:060:46:10

SHE SINGS IN SPANISH

0:46:100:46:13

Can you tell me what your song was,

0:46:160:46:18

while you're preparing the cocoa bean?

0:46:180:46:20

And how many days do you have to leave it out here to dry?

0:46:250:46:30

Let's see whether I can. OK, so... I do it like that first?

0:46:350:46:39

SHE SPEAKS SPANISH

0:46:390:46:41

It is satisfying. I want to now get a perfect circle.

0:46:450:46:48

Uh-huh!

0:46:480:46:50

Si.

0:46:500:46:52

They look like stone sculptures, but in fact...

0:46:540:46:58

..this is pure cocoa bean.

0:46:590:47:04

Aha!

0:47:080:47:10

-Shall I try it?

-Mmm.

0:47:100:47:13

Mmm, it's immediate!

0:47:150:47:18

Rich, deep, dark... chocolate flavour,

0:47:180:47:22

with a slight bitterness.

0:47:220:47:24

Amargo?

0:47:240:47:26

What you would have to do with this is take the shell off,

0:47:260:47:29

put it in a very fancy box, and it's the best chocolate you could buy.

0:47:290:47:33

I believe you. I really do. Do you eat chocolate a lot?

0:47:380:47:41

THEY LAUGH

0:47:420:47:44

-Si!

-THEY LAUGH

0:47:460:47:49

Where do I go, Leila? Leila, tell me where to go.

0:47:530:47:57

'The story of cocoa in this community

0:48:010:48:04

'reflects the deep divisions provoked by Venezuela's president.

0:48:040:48:07

'One thriving cooperative, one dispossessed entrepreneur.'

0:48:070:48:12

'You are never far from the presence.

0:48:160:48:19

'The president permeates the life of the nation.

0:48:190:48:22

'And you are constantly reminded of how he does it.

0:48:240:48:28

'Just pull into a service station and see what you pay for.

0:48:280:48:32

'Yes - subsidised fuel.

0:48:320:48:34

'Petrol in Venezuela costs about two pence a litre.'

0:48:390:48:43

So, I'm full up. 39 and a half litres.

0:48:490:48:53

3.8 bolivars.

0:48:530:48:55

Senor, gracias.

0:48:550:48:56

'That's about 55 pence to fill half a tank -

0:48:560:49:01

'the cheapest petrol in the world.'

0:49:010:49:04

I'm driving down into a region of Venezuela known as The Plains.

0:49:090:49:14

It's a vast area, roughly the size of Italy.

0:49:140:49:17

But for many Venezuelans, it contains the soul, the essence,

0:49:170:49:22

of the nation.

0:49:220:49:24

This is cattle country on the grand scale.

0:49:310:49:34

'The llaneros, real-deal cowboys,

0:49:340:49:36

'herd their animals from pasture to pasture

0:49:360:49:40

'on vast ranches in a wild land.'

0:49:400:49:42

For me it's very enjoyable doing this, but it's your job every day.

0:49:540:49:58

What's it like for you?

0:49:580:49:59

-HE LAUGHS

-That's kind of you.

0:50:160:50:18

But there's a lot of skill involved too,

0:50:180:50:21

because you have to get in exactly the right place.

0:50:210:50:24

THEY SHOUT AND WHISTLE

0:50:330:50:36

If they break through, they're gone.

0:50:380:50:41

'This way of life has barely changed for generations.

0:50:550:50:59

'The llaneros are tough.

0:51:010:51:03

'That great liberator of South America, Simon Bolivar,

0:51:030:51:07

'was in awe of them.

0:51:070:51:10

'They work on low wages for big landowners,

0:51:100:51:12

'but remain proudly independent,

0:51:120:51:15

'handing on their skills from father to son -

0:51:150:51:18

'but, er, not to me.'

0:51:180:51:20

-Si.

-Si?

0:51:200:51:22

OK. This has about a one-in-a-thousand chance.

0:51:240:51:28

LLANERO SHOUTS

0:51:300:51:32

JONATHAN LAUGHS

0:51:320:51:35

I told you one in a thousand. It's actually one in ten thousand.

0:51:350:51:39

CALF MOOS

0:51:390:51:41

You get a flavour of a life.

0:51:410:51:43

You're not living the life, but you do get a real flavour,

0:51:430:51:47

because it's hot and it's humid, and you're doing this every day,

0:51:470:51:51

out there rounding up cattle. It is a very harsh life.

0:51:510:51:55

No wonder Simon Bolivar said that the llaneros,

0:51:560:52:00

the people here, were his bravest, toughest fighters,

0:52:000:52:03

as he drove the Spanish out.

0:52:030:52:06

I wouldn't have been much good.

0:52:070:52:09

Land reform is at the heart of the socialist revolution in Venezuela.

0:52:100:52:14

To this end, millions of acres have been forcibly expropriated -

0:52:140:52:19

ostensibly taking from the rich to give to the poor.

0:52:190:52:23

'In parallel, however,

0:52:230:52:26

'though Venezuela should easily feed itself,

0:52:260:52:28

'two thirds of the nation's food is now imported from abroad.'

0:52:280:52:32

You've heard about the farms that are being expropriated.

0:52:320:52:37

So what do you think will happen

0:52:540:52:56

if more and more of the land is expropriated in this way?

0:52:560:52:59

What will happen?

0:52:590:53:01

That seems to me to say so much about Venezuela -

0:53:240:53:27

apparent tranquillity on the surface,

0:53:270:53:30

seething underneath. Uncertainties, fears, resentments,

0:53:300:53:34

frustrations, no sense of what the future's going to be like.

0:53:340:53:38

And absolutely no feeling that there's any harmony.

0:53:380:53:42

Come on, then.

0:53:450:53:47

But you can find harmony, and in the most unlikely places -

0:53:580:54:03

for example in Guarenas, an impoverished township

0:54:030:54:06

outside Caracas.

0:54:060:54:09

Nor can any politician claim the credit

0:54:090:54:11

for a remarkable project for which Venezuela is renowned

0:54:110:54:14

across the world.

0:54:140:54:16

El Sistema was established in 1975,

0:54:190:54:22

its purpose to offer music as an alternative to violence and crime.

0:54:220:54:26

Today, the programme embraces 350,000 children

0:54:260:54:31

in a nationwide network of music schools.

0:54:310:54:34

Sujasis is a teacher at the Guarenas music school.

0:54:350:54:38

She began there as a young child playing the viola.

0:54:380:54:42

Has El Sistema made a difference to your life?

0:55:030:55:07

Sujasis teaches the very youngest children.

0:55:270:55:30

THEY PLAY "TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR"

0:55:300:55:33

Some of these little ones will go on to become fine musicians,

0:55:360:55:40

and all of them will benefit from the social harmonies created by El Sistema.

0:55:400:55:44

El Sistema is now envied and copied by those in other countries

0:55:470:55:51

who know the power of music to heal wounds and restore hope.

0:55:510:55:55

It's wonderful that everywhere there's something happening,

0:55:550:55:59

in all these rooms. It's a very energetic place, isn't it?

0:55:590:56:02

Yes, because here we have kids from maybe three years old,

0:56:020:56:06

till maybe 28 years old.

0:56:060:56:08

They study the whole day, the whole week. They have classes.

0:56:080:56:12

'Andres Gonzalez is the musical director.'

0:56:120:56:15

And also right now we have about 2,600 kids studying here.

0:56:150:56:20

-That's a lot! 2,600?

-Yes.

0:56:200:56:22

Are many of them from very poor backgrounds?

0:56:220:56:25

Yes, a lot of them.

0:56:250:56:28

Here they have the possibility to be someone important.

0:56:280:56:31

Do you feel that you're helping people escape the gangs, crime...

0:56:320:56:37

Yes. You know, there was a kid - maybe he was just nine years old,

0:56:370:56:41

-so he came with a gun.

-Bringing his gun with him?

0:56:410:56:45

Yes. And we say, "You know, you cannot bring the gun here."

0:56:450:56:48

"No, but this is my gun. I have to take it with me."

0:56:480:56:52

And, after maybe two month,

0:56:520:56:55

he just stopped bringing here the gun,

0:56:550:56:58

and, you know...

0:56:580:57:00

Because he felt he didn't... By that time he felt he didn't need

0:57:000:57:04

to have the gun in order to demonstrate that he was a big man.

0:57:040:57:07

And right now he's playing a lot.

0:57:070:57:10

ORCHESTRA TUNING UP

0:57:100:57:12

'Andres created this orchestra by bringing together the young

0:57:130:57:17

'from two hostile neighbourhoods - a remarkable achievement.'

0:57:170:57:21

THEY PLAY STIRRING CLASSICAL PIECE

0:57:300:57:33

'It is at once clear, as they rehearse Tchaikovsky's Serenade For Strings,

0:57:440:57:48

'that they play with all the panache

0:57:480:57:51

'of the world-famous Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra,

0:57:510:57:54

'which is itself a product of El Sistema.

0:57:540:57:56

'For me, this was a glorious moment'...

0:57:560:58:00

..'a vivid reminder of the talent, the energy and the humanity,

0:58:020:58:07

'which, whatever the challenges and tribulations,

0:58:070:58:10

'reverberate across this continent.'

0:58:100:58:13

Next week, the South American giant, Brazil.

0:58:330:58:37

THEY PLAY LIVELY CLASSICAL PIECE

0:58:370:58:40

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:530:58:57

E-mail [email protected]

0:58:570:59:01

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0:59:010:59:01

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