0:00:02 > 0:00:04'I'm on a journey through South America.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08'In this programme, I'm on my way through Colombia and then to Venezuela.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11'My purpose is to get behind the headlines
0:00:11 > 0:00:13'and beyond the stereotypes -
0:00:13 > 0:00:16'find out what these two countries are really like,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18'from life on the range'...
0:00:18 > 0:00:21This has about a one-in-a-thousand chance.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24..'to fishing in the Caribbean'...
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Wow, what a catch!
0:00:27 > 0:00:30..'from the most dangerous slums'...
0:00:31 > 0:00:34I'm with the police on patrol in a barrio
0:00:34 > 0:00:37which is notorious for gang warfare.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40..'to the toll exacted by terrorists.'
0:00:45 > 0:00:48'But I also find happiness, hope and confidence'...
0:00:48 > 0:00:50LATIN-STYLE MUSIC
0:00:51 > 0:00:55..'houses that cost a fortune'...
0:00:56 > 0:01:01..'and inspiring leaders who are genuinely transforming the quality of life'...
0:01:01 > 0:01:03This is basic democracy.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05..'a guerrilla fighter who left the jungle
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'and is now training to become a chef'...
0:01:11 > 0:01:16..'an orchestra which exchanges violence for violins'...
0:01:16 > 0:01:19THEY PLAY CLASSICAL MUSIC
0:01:19 > 0:01:22..'and a guide who naturally knows it all.'
0:01:29 > 0:01:31'One discovery after another.'
0:01:31 > 0:01:34ORCHESTRA PLAYS STIRRING CODA
0:01:37 > 0:01:41HELICOPTER ROTORS THRUM
0:01:47 > 0:01:50I'm flying over a country which has become synonymous
0:01:50 > 0:01:55with words like "kidnap", "murder", "terror" and "drugs",
0:01:55 > 0:01:57the cocaine capital of the world,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00much of which, until very recently,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02was virtually a no-go area,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05a country that you visited at your peril.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10This is Colombia.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15For decades, Colombia has been stricken by a civil war
0:02:15 > 0:02:19which has devastated the nation. Only cocaine barons thrived.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24'But over the last decade, after a merciless campaign by the government,
0:02:24 > 0:02:27'Colombia has changed dramatically.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30'There are still gangs. There's still terrorism.'
0:02:30 > 0:02:32'But an economy that had virtually collapsed
0:02:32 > 0:02:37'has started to thrive. Today, Colombia's growth rate is promising,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40'almost five percent last year.'
0:02:41 > 0:02:43I'm going to meet an estate agent.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Gracias, senor!
0:02:50 > 0:02:53- Hi, Nancy. - Hi, Jonathan. Welcome to Colombia.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55- Thank you.- OK.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57It's nice to be here.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10'Nancy Prieto used to sell property for the likes of Donald Trump
0:03:10 > 0:03:13'in North America. She returned to Bogota six years ago
0:03:13 > 0:03:16'to set up on her own account.'
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Nancy, I notice when I open the window of the car,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25it doesn't open all the way. It doesn't open...
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Ah, no. It's impossible to go down...
0:03:27 > 0:03:30- Why?- For security.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- It's an armoured car? - Yes. It's an armoured car.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40The capital, Bogota, has yet to lose its murderous reputation.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44But while Nancy wants to make fearful foreign clients feel safe,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47the risk of kidnap or worse is, in fact, diminishing.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Combine this with a strong economic growth,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53and you get a property boom.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56And compared with the other countries in South America -
0:03:56 > 0:03:59- This is the most expensive. - More than Brazil and Chile?
0:03:59 > 0:04:03- Yes, in South America. - So you have a very good business.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Yes, it is a boon for me. Yes.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09'This is one of the houses on Nancy's books.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14'Designed by an eminent architect, it's on the market for 6 million.'
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Nancy, I want you to treat me as a client.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21- Yes.- OK. Persuade me
0:04:21 > 0:04:23I want to spend 6 million.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29And look at this. It is a big space. It's very comfortable.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:04:39 > 0:04:41'In Colombia's aggressively free economy,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45'this mansion will probably be bought by a rich Colombian
0:04:45 > 0:04:50'or a foreign tycoon lured here by tax breaks for big investors.'
0:04:50 > 0:04:53I like to have the drapes. This isn't good for a study.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55And what about the lighting at night?
0:04:55 > 0:04:58- Six million...- Dollars.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00SHE LAUGHS
0:05:00 > 0:05:03'No wonder Nancy's happy. In less than a decade,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06'house prices have gone up fourfold.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'But there is another Bogota.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19'In a city with more than seven million inhabitants,
0:05:19 > 0:05:21'half live below the poverty line,
0:05:21 > 0:05:25'which in Colombia is less than seven dollars a day.'
0:05:28 > 0:05:32But London tends to have rain that is not so torrential.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Yeah, sure.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36'To the poor, Enrique Penalosa is a hero.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40'As mayor of the city a decade ago, he was an innovator,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42'transforming daily life in much of Bogota.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46'This year he's on the campaign trail once again.'
0:05:46 > 0:05:50It's difficult for you to have a ride on a bike. They want to stop you all the time.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54What was it like here before you started this whole project,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57if you were a poor person living in this part of the city?
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Well, in this part of the city, was horrible,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02first of all because it used to flood.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05There were not the pumping stations. Every time it rained,
0:06:05 > 0:06:10it would flood, and there was no pavement.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Of course, in the city there were no bikeways.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17'The former mayor is a visionary planner
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'of international repute. His overriding priority
0:06:20 > 0:06:23'has been transport, notably bikeways.'
0:06:23 > 0:06:27What difference has it made to people's lives?
0:06:27 > 0:06:30The bikeway not only protects the cyclist
0:06:30 > 0:06:34but it raises the social status of the cyclist. It became a symbol
0:06:34 > 0:06:36that shows that people on a bicycle were not inferior.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40They were, er, citizens who have rights.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50'Cycling is cheap, so the minimum wage goes much further.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54'But Penalosa also put public money
0:06:54 > 0:06:57'into new libraries, parks and schools.'
0:06:59 > 0:07:03And instead of new roads, he established a bendy-bus network
0:07:03 > 0:07:06to compete with city-clogging cars.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11I believe in a city where 80 percent of homes don't have cars.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14What it shows is respect for human dignity.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Democracy's not just defined that people go vote.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20The first article in every constitution says
0:07:20 > 0:07:23that all citizens are equal before the law.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28If that is true, for example, a bus with 100 passengers
0:07:28 > 0:07:31has a right to 100 times more road space
0:07:31 > 0:07:34than a car with one. This is basic democracy.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39'You have to be wary of politicians promising a better tomorrow,
0:07:39 > 0:07:41'especially when they're after your vote.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44'But Penalosa does seem to be the real deal.'
0:07:44 > 0:07:47- Hello.- Gracias.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Has life changed a lot since ten years ago?
0:07:50 > 0:07:52MAN REPLYING IN SPANISH
0:08:15 > 0:08:17'Fans they may be,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20'but Bogota's voters are refreshingly free of deference.'
0:08:20 > 0:08:22WOMAN SPEAKING SPANISH
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I didn't expect that at all.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42I was expecting we would see the route,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45see what's been happening to the infrastructure.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49We stop and people rush around, and the imploring looks on their face.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52"Can he solve the problems we have now?" Some have been solved,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55but there are a lot more. Oh...
0:08:55 > 0:08:58I wouldn't want to be a politician here.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Bogota is something of a home from home.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12It rains and it rains, which doesn't stop people making the most
0:09:12 > 0:09:15of the city's newfound security and its nightlife.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21When things were really bad here, when kidnappings were rife
0:09:21 > 0:09:23and it was the murder capital of the world,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26those who could afford to fled the country in their thousands.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29They started to come back, and some came back
0:09:29 > 0:09:33before it was really safe, determined to make a go of it.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36And one of them is the guy who owns this restaurant here,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39which is part of a chain which is now very, very successful.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41This is the hot kitchen, the wok section.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46- Right. So, when did you open this? - This restaurant opened in 2003.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50- And you've got how many now? - Nine restaurants in Bogota.- Nine.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52We went up from 120 covers
0:09:52 > 0:09:55to, like, 2,000 covers a day.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58- Wow. From 120 to 2,000?- Yes.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Ben Villegas' restaurants offer a gourmet feast
0:10:04 > 0:10:07to Bogota's newly prosperous middle class...
0:10:09 > 0:10:12..the best Asian food for £12 a head.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16And instead of importing his ingredients,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18he pays poor farmers to grow them locally -
0:10:18 > 0:10:21good for the environment, good for jobs.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25This is a project that they substitute cocaine cultivation
0:10:25 > 0:10:28for green peppercorns.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Because they can make the money out of the peppercorns
0:10:31 > 0:10:35- which rivals the money they would get from the coca?- Exactly.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38'Ben belongs to a new generation
0:10:38 > 0:10:41'helping to rebuild Colombia's broken society.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43'He's helping run a charitable project
0:10:43 > 0:10:47'which offers an escape from his country's endemic conflict.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50'Once part of a guerrilla army of global notoriety,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54'Nixon is training to be a chef.'
0:11:09 > 0:11:11'Nixon is 23.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15'He was wounded in a gun battle and captured by the army.'
0:11:15 > 0:11:19Once you'd been captured, did you want to try and get back to FARC,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22back to the guerrillas again?
0:12:07 > 0:12:10What's your own ambition now?
0:12:32 > 0:12:34To reach my next destination, I had to fly.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37It was not only the rainy season,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39but the longest and wettest in living memory.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42A huge swathe of the country was under water.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48This is Colombia's coffee country,
0:12:48 > 0:12:53where, in these hills, they produced some of the very best in the world.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59'Don Roja's farm is so remote that you can't get there by road,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02'even in the dry weather. This is the only way up.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- Ah, the coffee bean.- Si!
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Si.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23'It has rained almost every day for a year.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27'Climate change or not, this unprecedented deluge
0:13:27 > 0:13:31'has devastated the harvest and caused a slew of avalanches.'
0:14:03 > 0:14:06'And then, for me, an unexpected sight.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11'A reminder that guerrillas are still at large
0:14:11 > 0:14:14'on almost a third of Colombian territory.'
0:14:14 > 0:14:16THEY CONVERSE IN SPANISH
0:14:18 > 0:14:21The soldiers patrol this part of the valley
0:14:21 > 0:14:24to protect it, and to prevent any possible incursion
0:14:24 > 0:14:28from across the other side, which is in another department
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and apparently slightly less secure than this is.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36'What was once an ideological conflict between FARC
0:14:36 > 0:14:38'and an equally murderous gang of paramilitaries
0:14:38 > 0:14:42'has gradually degenerated into a crude struggle
0:14:42 > 0:14:44'to run the cocaine traffic.' Gracias.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47'Caught in their crossfire, some five million people
0:14:47 > 0:14:50'have fled their homes -
0:14:50 > 0:14:52'one in eight of the population.'
0:14:52 > 0:14:57'Only Sudan now has more displaced people than Colombia.'
0:14:58 > 0:15:02- MURMUR OF CONVERSATION - How long have you been here?
0:15:08 > 0:15:10And why did you move from there?
0:15:17 > 0:15:20And what did it mean to your daily life?
0:16:02 > 0:16:05'This region is renowned
0:16:05 > 0:16:08'for producing some of the very best coffee in all Colombia,
0:16:08 > 0:16:12'the third-largest exporter in the world.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:15'Don Roja uses traditional methods
0:16:15 > 0:16:18'to grow, dry and mill the beans'...
0:16:19 > 0:16:23..'a process that has won an international reputation
0:16:23 > 0:16:25'for the cooperative to which he belongs.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31'The price of coffee globally is soaring,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'but this small farm still provides an extremely modest living
0:16:34 > 0:16:37'for Don Roja and his family.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42'Coffee-tasting is a ritual which his daughter Yemi explains with touching pride.'
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Oh!
0:16:45 > 0:16:47HE INHALES APPRECIATIVELY
0:16:57 > 0:16:59THEY LAUGH
0:17:02 > 0:17:04I think you should be in charge of sales.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06THEY LAUGH
0:17:11 > 0:17:13It's very, very good.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15THEY LAUGH AND CHATTER
0:17:19 > 0:17:22'The region's coffee capital is the town of Genova.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26'By chance, I arrived in time for a fiesta -
0:17:26 > 0:17:29'the entire community strutting its stuff.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33'Not very long ago, until they were driven out by the army,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37'this was a guerrilla stronghold, the birthplace of FARC's first leader.'
0:17:38 > 0:17:41LIVELY LATIN-STYLE MUSIC PLAYING
0:17:46 > 0:17:50It is quite extraordinary to think that, ten years ago,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52this would have been quite impossible.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55People, as soon as it was dark, went home, locked their doors,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58and didn't go out. They were much too frightened.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Total transformation.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08CROWD CHEERS
0:18:18 > 0:18:21By road, the journey from Genova to Colombia's second city
0:18:21 > 0:18:23is six hours.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31'This is Medellin, a name that still sends a shiver down the spine,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34'though by all accounts it's changed dramatically
0:18:34 > 0:18:36'over the last few years.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39This city was once the fiefdom of Pablo Escobar,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42the world's most notorious drugs baron.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45When he was killed in the early '90s, the FARC,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48the guerrillas, moved in and controlled large parts of the city.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51They were then driven out by the paramilitaries,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53and about eight, nine, ten years ago,
0:18:53 > 0:18:57the paramilitaries were disbanded, and in their place,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00a large part of the city was given over to gangs.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03And I'm here to see what it's really like now.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05# Politic need votes...
0:19:05 > 0:19:09- GUNFIRE SOUND EFFECT - # Politic needs your mind
0:19:09 > 0:19:12# Politic needs human beings
0:19:12 > 0:19:14# Politic needs blood #
0:19:14 > 0:19:18I'm meeting a guy called Camillo who happens to be an undertaker,
0:19:18 > 0:19:20and he said I'd recognise him by his car,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23- but I didn't expect this. - HE LAUGHS
0:19:24 > 0:19:28- Camillo!- Hi. How are you today? - Very nice to meet you.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30- What an amazing vehicle! - Glad you like it.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32- Can I get in? - Yes, absolutely.- Thank you.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- It's the first time I've travelled in a hearse.- Good.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38- THEY LAUGH - Wow!- Like it?
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Is this the only vintage car in your fleet?
0:19:52 > 0:19:54- No. Actually, we have 24. - 24 of these?!
0:19:54 > 0:19:59- 24, yes.- Wow! - The oldest is a 1938 Packard.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03And do people like the thought of their loved ones going to their rest
0:20:03 > 0:20:05- in one of these? - Yes. It is becoming very popular.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12'Too many of the corpses his firm has carried to the cemetery
0:20:12 > 0:20:16'are of young men and women killed in violent gun battles.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18'Camillo himself was nearly one of them.'
0:20:18 > 0:20:22I almost got killed 20 years ago. I was shot nine times.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I was in a nightclub, sitting with some friends of mine,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28and a group of gunmen came into the place,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32and they shot everyone in there, and they shot me nine times.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34I'm so lucky I survived.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37'The gangsters shot 27 people.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42'Camillo was only one of four to survive.'
0:20:42 > 0:20:44The Colombian government and the Americans
0:20:44 > 0:20:47- have the so-called Plan Colombia. - Mm-hm.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Billions have been spent on weapons, training,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54attempts to eradicate the coca.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55Yes.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Has it worked?
0:20:58 > 0:21:01If they keep on investing only on the military side of it,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04it will never work,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07because it's a business, and as long as there's people in the world
0:21:07 > 0:21:11who buy drugs, there's going to be a supplier, all the time.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13And that business makes a lot of money.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16CHURCH BELLS TOLLING
0:21:18 > 0:21:21The cemetery offers dreadful testimony
0:21:21 > 0:21:25to the human price exacted by Colombia's drug wars.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29- Lot of young men you see here.- Yes.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32There. He can't be - what,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34- more than about... - Probably he was a gangster.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37I can tell by the clothes and how he wears.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40And it's very common, especially in this cemetery.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48With all that long history of killing and dying,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52how do people now regard the fact of death,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54the fact of the end?
0:21:54 > 0:21:59Well, for some reason, people are trying to avoid rituals,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02trying to stay away from funerals. So now, you see,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06- the ritual is fading, actually. - So a kind of denial?- Yes.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09And is that because... In significant measure,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12is that because people have just seen too many people dying,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15- too much violence? - They have seen so many funerals,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18so they are just fed up with that.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'Last June, an international commission
0:22:22 > 0:22:26'led by Kofi Annan, the former US Secretary of State George Shultz
0:22:26 > 0:22:29'and the former president of Colombia itself
0:22:29 > 0:22:32'concluded that the global war on drugs can never be won,
0:22:32 > 0:22:36'and that their use should no longer be a criminal offence.'
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Maybe perspective gets distorted,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44but when you are aware of the horror and misery
0:22:44 > 0:22:46that's been perpetrated in this country
0:22:46 > 0:22:51because of the cocaine habit of those in the West,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54those millions of people, you have to wonder
0:22:54 > 0:22:56whether there is not a better alternative,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59that radical alternative. Why not say to those people
0:22:59 > 0:23:02who want to stuff their noses with coke, "Well, do it."
0:23:02 > 0:23:05It's no different than alcohol or cigarettes.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Immediately that would liberate the people of this country
0:23:08 > 0:23:11from the grip of the drug barons,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14and these graveyards then would not be filled
0:23:14 > 0:23:16with people killed young through violence,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20but with more of them simply dying in a natural way.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Most of those who die violently in Colombia are poor.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Many of them live in slums, the barrios
0:23:31 > 0:23:34that hug the hillsides around big cities.
0:23:36 > 0:23:42The barrios became no-go areas - isolated, lawless and dangerous.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47But in Medellin, they're doing something about it.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51This is not any old cable car. It was built as a public service,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55the first in the world, and it's part of an extraordinary experiment
0:23:55 > 0:23:59to try and solve a grave economic and social problem
0:23:59 > 0:24:03in this city - extreme violence in the barrios up here.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10Has this cable car made a difference to your lives?
0:24:29 > 0:24:32The cable car is notably clean and cheap,
0:24:32 > 0:24:37and, as you reach the barrio, you pass an impressive landmark -
0:24:37 > 0:24:40a new cultural centre.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43The barrio also offers a great view over the city.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47'A tourist spot in the making, it provides a new opportunity
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'for enterprising tour guides.'
0:24:51 > 0:24:52Oh, buenos. Hola.
0:24:53 > 0:24:54Si.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Goodbye.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39In English, goodbye. Hasta luego.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42- Hasta luego.- Hasta luego.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45- Hasta luego.- Hasta luego. - Hasta luego. Bye-bye.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48- HE LAUGHS - So enchanting!
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Santo Domingo has changed.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58But the past is still very much alive in the present.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01There's a mural here which tells the whole ghastly story,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04a cartoon that says, "We must stop taking the lives
0:26:04 > 0:26:07of so many of our innocent people."
0:26:07 > 0:26:10And then, further down, "an end to sexual violence",
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and above that, the landmines.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Apparently this country has more landmines than any other
0:26:16 > 0:26:19except for Afghanistan. And then right here, the centrepiece,
0:26:19 > 0:26:23a homage to the victims of the conflict in this commune,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27the dove of peace, and the lives that have been lost
0:26:27 > 0:26:31between 1992 and 2001.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33And then, at the end here,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36the continuing problems of the kidnappings.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38"I was born free," she says.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42And above that, the displaced people - three million, four million,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46maybe five million people, and the whole thing is called
0:26:46 > 0:26:50"a story that must never be repeated".
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Unhappily, Santo Domingo is an exception.
0:27:01 > 0:27:07Other barrios are still no-go areas, controlled by gangs and drugs.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10'But here at least, the atmosphere is easy and calm.'
0:27:12 > 0:27:15A splash of paint, new walkways, cafes and shops,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18the building blocks of civic life.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22And then there is music and dance.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25THEY RAP IN SPANISH
0:27:25 > 0:27:28The Crew Peligrosos in rehearsal -
0:27:28 > 0:27:3220 breakdancers who are stars here in the barrio,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and downtown and abroad.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37They're the ones who painted the mural,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and their leaders run dance workshops for schoolchildren as well.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43LATIN-STYLE RAP MUSIC PLAYS
0:27:46 > 0:27:48- Oh! - THEY SHOUT AND CHEER
0:27:48 > 0:27:50JONATHAN LAUGHS
0:27:54 > 0:27:55Senor...
0:27:55 > 0:27:58JONATHAN LAUGHS YOUNG MAN SPEAKS SPANISH
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- I'm watching this... - HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:28:01 > 0:28:03- Boom! - THEY LAUGH
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Tell me about this place.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24LATIN-STYLE RAP MUSIC
0:28:57 > 0:28:59THEY CHEER RAP MUSIC CONTINUES
0:29:07 > 0:29:09Flow, flow, flow! Flow.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13HE LAUGHS
0:29:13 > 0:29:16- HE LAUGHS - I am far too brilliant,
0:29:16 > 0:29:20- far too young, to be in your class. - THEY LAUGH
0:29:21 > 0:29:23- I... I must go.- OK.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27Gracias!
0:29:28 > 0:29:32It's progress, and it's impressive.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35But Colombia is still violent. There are still killings,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38and that won't stop until the drugs war is over.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41As yet, there's little sign of that.
0:29:46 > 0:29:51Over the Andes and across the border from Colombia is Venezuela.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56'Like so much of South America,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59'Venezuela is blessed with an entrancing landscape -
0:29:59 > 0:30:03'and in this case, a landscape that conceals untold wealth.'
0:30:04 > 0:30:07Its capital is Caracas,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10where, once again, the best view is from the cable car.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15If Colombia is defined by cocaine,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18then, Venezuela is defined by oil -
0:30:18 > 0:30:20unbelievable quantities of it,
0:30:20 > 0:30:22the fifth-largest exporter in the world,
0:30:22 > 0:30:27and reserves that rival anywhere else on the planet.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Caracas was once a cosmopolitan city
0:30:32 > 0:30:35much favoured by European travellers.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42An oil bonanza half a century ago led to rapid growth,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45a magnate capital, in South America.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52At first glance, Caracas still seems to be booming.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55But the appearance is deceptive.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59The slogan promises "socialism or death" -
0:30:59 > 0:31:02on the face of it, a rather stark choice.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Politically, Venezuela is about one man - Hugo Chavez,
0:31:08 > 0:31:10who was elected in 1998
0:31:10 > 0:31:14and says that he wants to run again and again until 2030.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16He's a man of extraordinary charisma,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19a magnetic personality. He's funny, and he uses a rhetoric
0:31:19 > 0:31:22that really reaches out to the masses.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26LIVELY MUSIC PLAYS THEY SING IN SPANISH
0:31:27 > 0:31:30'A rally of the faithful - public-sector workers,
0:31:30 > 0:31:36'beneficiaries of what Chavez calls socialism for the 21st century.
0:31:37 > 0:31:38'In the last few months, however,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41'their leader has started to modify his rhetoric,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45'talking less about socialism and more about success.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49'Nonetheless, the United States is still in the firing line.'
0:32:03 > 0:32:06THEY CHATTER AND SING
0:32:06 > 0:32:09It's a measure of Chavez's political genius
0:32:09 > 0:32:12that he can inspire his loyal followers
0:32:12 > 0:32:16to come out here to protest against Yankee imperialism
0:32:16 > 0:32:18at a moment's notice,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21while at the same time, Venezuela's main trading partner
0:32:21 > 0:32:24is...the United States.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27LIVELY MUSIC
0:32:27 > 0:32:31By now, oil should have made Venezuela rich beyond compare.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36Instead, the economy is sluggish, and the nation is crippled
0:32:36 > 0:32:39by inflation at almost 30 percent.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44'There are free schools, free universities, free hospitals
0:32:44 > 0:32:48'and subsidised food for all, which have made a real difference
0:32:48 > 0:32:50'to millions of people.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53'But though there's greater equality than a decade ago,
0:32:53 > 0:32:57'the government's own statistics show that quarter of the population
0:32:57 > 0:32:59'still lives below the poverty line.'
0:33:08 > 0:33:11The president's revolution seems barely to touch the lives
0:33:11 > 0:33:15of those two million citizens who live in the ever-growing barrios.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Caracas is at the top of an unenviable league table.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29With over 17,000 homicides last year,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32it's the murder capital of the world.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38In this barrio, Ojo de Agua, the police patrol in force.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52I'm with the police on patrol in a barrio
0:33:52 > 0:33:58which is notorious for gang warfare and a very high rate of murder.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01And they're coming through here, sweeping through,
0:34:01 > 0:34:03checking people,
0:34:03 > 0:34:08seeing if they can find anyone who's got drugs,
0:34:08 > 0:34:12who's got guns. The place is filled with guns
0:34:12 > 0:34:14and filled with drugs.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19It's also pretty dangerous for the police.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21Here?
0:34:21 > 0:34:24SHOUTING AND CHEERING
0:34:45 > 0:34:48There is a history - I'm right, isn't there -
0:34:48 > 0:34:51of the police being very brutal in this country.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54- Yeah?- Yes.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19The problem is knowing who is and who isn't a criminal.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22THEY CONVERSE IN SPANISH
0:35:22 > 0:35:27The police stop-and-search neglects the niceties.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29SHOUTING
0:35:40 > 0:35:43SEVERAL VOICES PROTESTING
0:35:50 > 0:35:54In this case, the couple was released without charge.
0:35:55 > 0:36:02It looks pretty heavy-duty, mob-handed, pretty fierce.
0:36:02 > 0:36:07But you have to remember that, in this area last year,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10eight police officers were killed.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14'Many of them died in these almost impossibly narrow alleyways,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18'which are death-traps in a gun battle.'
0:36:18 > 0:36:22'Commander Enrique Rodriguez, who runs this patch,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25'is himself lucky to be alive.'
0:36:33 > 0:36:36How many times?
0:36:37 > 0:36:40- Seven times?- Seven time, yes.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46'The commander is not a cardboard-cut-out cop.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49'He seems genuinely to care about the predicament of the barrios.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53'Though international statistics show
0:36:53 > 0:36:56'that the proportion of those living in poverty
0:36:56 > 0:36:58'has fallen sharply over the last decade,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00'he is unconvinced.'
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Poverty and gangs - it's a lethal combination.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32What else to expect?
0:37:32 > 0:37:35No jobs, no money,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37no hope.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40It doesn't say much to me about the success
0:37:40 > 0:37:42of socialism in the 21st century.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56It was something of a relief to leave Caracas
0:37:56 > 0:38:00for the space and grandeur of Venezuela's vast rural hinterland.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09When Christopher Columbus reached Venezuela,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12he said, "This is an earthly paradise."
0:38:12 > 0:38:14And he was right.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18This country is massively blessed with wildlife of all kinds,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20plants, flowers, trees,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23insects, birds, mammals.
0:38:23 > 0:38:27It's a biodiversity, shared with much of South America,
0:38:27 > 0:38:30that is of vital importance to the planet.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33In Venezuela's case, that's because the topography and climate
0:38:33 > 0:38:37ranges from the high Andes to the Amazonian rainforest
0:38:37 > 0:38:42to the Caribbean, and that's where I'm heading now.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53'Venezuela's Caribbean coastline runs for 1,700 miles.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57'It's not only dazzling, but productive as well,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59'which matters greatly to Dixon,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02'a fisherman from the village of Chuao.'
0:39:04 > 0:39:06As on so many other coasts,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09the great industrial trawlers used to come in here
0:39:09 > 0:39:12and literally scrape the bottom of all the fish in the sea,
0:39:12 > 0:39:16with the result that fishermen here, like Dixon,
0:39:16 > 0:39:20were virtually on the floor so far as their own business was concerned,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23because there weren't any fish. And then Chavez, the president,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25said, "Right, we're going to stop that,"
0:39:25 > 0:39:28and he's actually banned all industrial fishing boats
0:39:28 > 0:39:33from fishing inshore - with the approval of the United Nations.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40Has the fishing for you got better recently?
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Goodbye! Hasta luego!
0:40:07 > 0:40:09'That may be a touch exaggerated,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12'but these fishermen certainly do bless the president.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16'Thanks to him, they've got new boats and gear worth 35,000,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19'all bought with soft loans from the government -
0:40:19 > 0:40:22'a largesse which, according to the critics,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24'is often wasted on idlers.'
0:40:25 > 0:40:30Chavez has spent a lot of money. Does it all go to the right people?
0:40:46 > 0:40:49The fishermen of Chuao belong to a cooperative,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52and they fish as a team, encircling the shoal,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55their nets strung between the Chavez boats.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57MAN SHOUTS IN SPANISH
0:40:57 > 0:41:01It's a delicate operation. The fish often break free of the noose
0:41:01 > 0:41:05and escape. Dixon went in to check progress.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07What sort of catch?
0:41:12 > 0:41:17A thousand kilos is worth, on average, 1,600,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19a haul which they share out between them.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21It's not a bad living.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26No wonder the fishermen of Chuao are Chavistas to a man.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38Wow, what a catch!
0:41:38 > 0:41:40Good God!
0:42:05 > 0:42:08It's refreshing water, because the temperature here...
0:42:08 > 0:42:12I don't know what it is. It's very hot and very humid,
0:42:12 > 0:42:17so I'm up to my knees like a granddad, and it's wonderful.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20'With subsidies bestowed like manna on this community,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23'you might expect every voice to be as one.'
0:42:23 > 0:42:27But at the beach cafe, there was a distinctly discordant note
0:42:27 > 0:42:31from the boss, when I asked him about the president.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34What do you... What do you think of Chavez?
0:42:38 > 0:42:39Why?
0:42:44 > 0:42:48Really? But this is a free country. You can say what you like.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53You think if you speak freely... What will happen?
0:42:59 > 0:43:02If you want to do good business and have your livelihood,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05you have to be careful that you don't make unnecessary...
0:43:05 > 0:43:10er, enemies, with those who have power or authority in the area?
0:43:12 > 0:43:17- Senor, could I have something to eat? Pescado?- OK.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19Gracias.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22That is so interesting.
0:43:22 > 0:43:27On the surface it's all easy, free. You can say what you like.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31But in reality, you have to be just a little bit careful
0:43:31 > 0:43:33if you want to get on.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36And in this very complicated country,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39which is so difficult to penetrate,
0:43:39 > 0:43:41I think that's one of the key factors.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48'Chuao is not only known for its fish.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51'The surrounding jungle is no less precious and productive
0:43:51 > 0:43:54'than the sea.'
0:43:54 > 0:43:58This land all round here is famous for producing
0:43:58 > 0:44:02what is said to be the very best cocoa in the whole world.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06The cocoa bean in question is the Criollo,
0:44:06 > 0:44:10and it's only found in this unique microclimate.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13And because it produces chocolate to die for,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16it costs four times as much as other, lesser cocoas.
0:44:17 > 0:44:22This plantation is unique in the entire world.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25This is a quality of cocoa
0:44:25 > 0:44:29every fine chocolate-maker dreams of.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34'Kai Rosenberg has spent the last 20 years
0:44:34 > 0:44:37'recovering the original rootstock of the Criollo bean.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40'It's been his passion. But his vision is now in tatters.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44'His land and his house have been seized by the government.'
0:44:46 > 0:44:49It's a truly Kafkaesque Venezuelan story.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53Kai bought this land, has the property deeds.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55He was given permission to grow the cocoa.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59But it's on the national park, and so he grows on a little area,
0:44:59 > 0:45:03and there's the wild jungle beyond that up into the mountains.
0:45:03 > 0:45:0620 years on, suddenly the state says to him,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09"You shouldn't be growing cocoa there. It's national park."
0:45:09 > 0:45:12He says, "Well, actually, it's mine."
0:45:12 > 0:45:14"You gave me the permission." No good.
0:45:14 > 0:45:18He's told the land is confiscated. "You must leave."
0:45:19 > 0:45:21What was your feeling about that?
0:45:21 > 0:45:24Well, absolute disbelief,
0:45:24 > 0:45:29because we fulfilled every condition to be protected by the government.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33We have agricultural activity, we create employment,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36we respect the environment.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39My impression is that the state
0:45:39 > 0:45:44systematically confiscates emblematic enterprises
0:45:44 > 0:45:49because they cannot allow that good things come from the private sector.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59'On another side of the mountain, another side of the cocoa story.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03'In Chuao village, there's a cocoa cooperative.'
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Like the fishing, it's been subsidised by the state.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10- Few doubts about Chavez here. - WOMAN SINGING
0:46:10 > 0:46:13SHE SINGS IN SPANISH
0:46:16 > 0:46:18Can you tell me what your song was,
0:46:18 > 0:46:20while you're preparing the cocoa bean?
0:46:25 > 0:46:30And how many days do you have to leave it out here to dry?
0:46:35 > 0:46:39Let's see whether I can. OK, so... I do it like that first?
0:46:39 > 0:46:41SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:46:45 > 0:46:48It is satisfying. I want to now get a perfect circle.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Uh-huh!
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Si.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58They look like stone sculptures, but in fact...
0:46:59 > 0:47:04..this is pure cocoa bean.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10Aha!
0:47:10 > 0:47:13- Shall I try it?- Mmm.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Mmm, it's immediate!
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Rich, deep, dark... chocolate flavour,
0:47:22 > 0:47:24with a slight bitterness.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Amargo?
0:47:26 > 0:47:29What you would have to do with this is take the shell off,
0:47:29 > 0:47:33put it in a very fancy box, and it's the best chocolate you could buy.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41I believe you. I really do. Do you eat chocolate a lot?
0:47:42 > 0:47:44THEY LAUGH
0:47:46 > 0:47:49- Si! - THEY LAUGH
0:47:53 > 0:47:57Where do I go, Leila? Leila, tell me where to go.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04'The story of cocoa in this community
0:48:04 > 0:48:07'reflects the deep divisions provoked by Venezuela's president.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12'One thriving cooperative, one dispossessed entrepreneur.'
0:48:16 > 0:48:19'You are never far from the presence.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22'The president permeates the life of the nation.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28'And you are constantly reminded of how he does it.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32'Just pull into a service station and see what you pay for.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34'Yes - subsidised fuel.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43'Petrol in Venezuela costs about two pence a litre.'
0:48:49 > 0:48:53So, I'm full up. 39 and a half litres.
0:48:53 > 0:48:553.8 bolivars.
0:48:55 > 0:48:56Senor, gracias.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01'That's about 55 pence to fill half a tank -
0:49:01 > 0:49:04'the cheapest petrol in the world.'
0:49:09 > 0:49:14I'm driving down into a region of Venezuela known as The Plains.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17It's a vast area, roughly the size of Italy.
0:49:17 > 0:49:22But for many Venezuelans, it contains the soul, the essence,
0:49:22 > 0:49:24of the nation.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34This is cattle country on the grand scale.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36'The llaneros, real-deal cowboys,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40'herd their animals from pasture to pasture
0:49:40 > 0:49:42'on vast ranches in a wild land.'
0:49:54 > 0:49:58For me it's very enjoyable doing this, but it's your job every day.
0:49:58 > 0:49:59What's it like for you?
0:50:16 > 0:50:18- HE LAUGHS - That's kind of you.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21But there's a lot of skill involved too,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24because you have to get in exactly the right place.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36THEY SHOUT AND WHISTLE
0:50:38 > 0:50:41If they break through, they're gone.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59'This way of life has barely changed for generations.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03'The llaneros are tough.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07'That great liberator of South America, Simon Bolivar,
0:51:07 > 0:51:10'was in awe of them.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12'They work on low wages for big landowners,
0:51:12 > 0:51:15'but remain proudly independent,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18'handing on their skills from father to son -
0:51:18 > 0:51:20'but, er, not to me.'
0:51:20 > 0:51:22- Si.- Si?
0:51:24 > 0:51:28OK. This has about a one-in-a-thousand chance.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32LLANERO SHOUTS
0:51:32 > 0:51:35JONATHAN LAUGHS
0:51:35 > 0:51:39I told you one in a thousand. It's actually one in ten thousand.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41CALF MOOS
0:51:41 > 0:51:43You get a flavour of a life.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47You're not living the life, but you do get a real flavour,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51because it's hot and it's humid, and you're doing this every day,
0:51:51 > 0:51:55out there rounding up cattle. It is a very harsh life.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00No wonder Simon Bolivar said that the llaneros,
0:52:00 > 0:52:03the people here, were his bravest, toughest fighters,
0:52:03 > 0:52:06as he drove the Spanish out.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09I wouldn't have been much good.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14Land reform is at the heart of the socialist revolution in Venezuela.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19To this end, millions of acres have been forcibly expropriated -
0:52:19 > 0:52:23ostensibly taking from the rich to give to the poor.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26'In parallel, however,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28'though Venezuela should easily feed itself,
0:52:28 > 0:52:32'two thirds of the nation's food is now imported from abroad.'
0:52:32 > 0:52:37You've heard about the farms that are being expropriated.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56So what do you think will happen
0:52:56 > 0:52:59if more and more of the land is expropriated in this way?
0:52:59 > 0:53:01What will happen?
0:53:24 > 0:53:27That seems to me to say so much about Venezuela -
0:53:27 > 0:53:30apparent tranquillity on the surface,
0:53:30 > 0:53:34seething underneath. Uncertainties, fears, resentments,
0:53:34 > 0:53:38frustrations, no sense of what the future's going to be like.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42And absolutely no feeling that there's any harmony.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47Come on, then.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03But you can find harmony, and in the most unlikely places -
0:54:03 > 0:54:06for example in Guarenas, an impoverished township
0:54:06 > 0:54:09outside Caracas.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11Nor can any politician claim the credit
0:54:11 > 0:54:14for a remarkable project for which Venezuela is renowned
0:54:14 > 0:54:16across the world.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22El Sistema was established in 1975,
0:54:22 > 0:54:26its purpose to offer music as an alternative to violence and crime.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31Today, the programme embraces 350,000 children
0:54:31 > 0:54:34in a nationwide network of music schools.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38Sujasis is a teacher at the Guarenas music school.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42She began there as a young child playing the viola.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07Has El Sistema made a difference to your life?
0:55:27 > 0:55:30Sujasis teaches the very youngest children.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33THEY PLAY "TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR"
0:55:36 > 0:55:40Some of these little ones will go on to become fine musicians,
0:55:40 > 0:55:44and all of them will benefit from the social harmonies created by El Sistema.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51El Sistema is now envied and copied by those in other countries
0:55:51 > 0:55:55who know the power of music to heal wounds and restore hope.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59It's wonderful that everywhere there's something happening,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02in all these rooms. It's a very energetic place, isn't it?
0:56:02 > 0:56:06Yes, because here we have kids from maybe three years old,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08till maybe 28 years old.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12They study the whole day, the whole week. They have classes.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15'Andres Gonzalez is the musical director.'
0:56:15 > 0:56:20And also right now we have about 2,600 kids studying here.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22- That's a lot! 2,600?- Yes.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Are many of them from very poor backgrounds?
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Yes, a lot of them.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31Here they have the possibility to be someone important.
0:56:32 > 0:56:37Do you feel that you're helping people escape the gangs, crime...
0:56:37 > 0:56:41Yes. You know, there was a kid - maybe he was just nine years old,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45- so he came with a gun. - Bringing his gun with him?
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Yes. And we say, "You know, you cannot bring the gun here."
0:56:48 > 0:56:52"No, but this is my gun. I have to take it with me."
0:56:52 > 0:56:55And, after maybe two month,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58he just stopped bringing here the gun,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00and, you know...
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Because he felt he didn't... By that time he felt he didn't need
0:57:04 > 0:57:07to have the gun in order to demonstrate that he was a big man.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10And right now he's playing a lot.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12ORCHESTRA TUNING UP
0:57:13 > 0:57:17'Andres created this orchestra by bringing together the young
0:57:17 > 0:57:21'from two hostile neighbourhoods - a remarkable achievement.'
0:57:30 > 0:57:33THEY PLAY STIRRING CLASSICAL PIECE
0:57:44 > 0:57:48'It is at once clear, as they rehearse Tchaikovsky's Serenade For Strings,
0:57:48 > 0:57:51'that they play with all the panache
0:57:51 > 0:57:54'of the world-famous Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra,
0:57:54 > 0:57:56'which is itself a product of El Sistema.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00'For me, this was a glorious moment'...
0:58:02 > 0:58:07..'a vivid reminder of the talent, the energy and the humanity,
0:58:07 > 0:58:10'which, whatever the challenges and tribulations,
0:58:10 > 0:58:13'reverberate across this continent.'
0:58:33 > 0:58:37Next week, the South American giant, Brazil.
0:58:37 > 0:58:40THEY PLAY LIVELY CLASSICAL PIECE
0:58:53 > 0:58:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:57 > 0:59:01E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:59:01 > 0:59:01.