All language subtitles for Caribbean With Simon Reeve S01E03

I'm just off the beautiful coast
of Nicaragua,

and I'm beginning the third leg of
my journey around the Caribbean Sea.

Nicaragua's a former Spanish colony,
but the British were in this area,

and many people along
the Caribbean coast speak English.

A local called Harley Clair

was taking me back
to the area where he lives -

a village called Monkey Point.

What a beautiful-looking community.

Who's this gentleman? Hello, sir.
Lovely to meet you.

Lovely to meet you, too.
- How are you?
- Fine.

Are you the head man
- in the community?
- Yeah...

- No, no, in this area.
- In this area.
This area, he's the head man.

You're the head man?
- You didn't say that.
- Yeah!

I will be something like
a big chief, you know.

In the next world,
you would say the big boss.

LAUGHTER

The people here are Rama and Creole.

They're the descendants
of the original tribes

who inhabited this coast
for thousands of years,

and former slaves
brought here by the British.

The community at Monkey Point
have a reputation

as some of the best seafarers
in the area.

Are you a community
- of fishermen, then?
- Yes.

This is the main thing we do here,
like, job, you know?

Main job. Fishing.
Yeah, the main job is fishery.

Harley took me out to show me
the ropes and give me a lesson.

Do you want to try?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- OK. Grab one.
- Right.

- Again.
- Well, I don't want that bit.
- I'll have this bit.
- One.

You just have to hold - everything
you have to hold in one hand.

No, no, no.
- Let go, let go, let go.
- OK.

So, you're going to do like when
you're dancing, OK? This one here.

And like when you love her.
Huh-huh-huhhh.

When you get it this way,
- you let go of everything.
- OK, OK.

But mind your head...
Stay out of the way.

- Go ahead.
- Hide. OK?Yes.

Hooray! You did it better than I!

OK...

Hey, have we got anything?

It's baked beans again tonight.

We've got a fish.
- Got one fish.
- Dinner!

- Whoa.
- Flippin' heck! What's this?

HE LAUGHS

This is a conger eel, man.

- A conger eel.
- It's a sea snake.

Yes. You've caught him
when he's got a fish in his mouth.

Swallowing a fish.
That's extraordinary.

When the fish aren't biting,

life can be tough
along this idyllic coastline.

However, it's a way of life

that Harley and the rest of
the village want to preserve.

But Nicaragua is on the brink
of monumental change.

This community and the entire
country could soon be split in two

by the world's largest
engineering project.

The government has approved plans
to carve a massive canal

running almost 180 miles
across Nicaragua,

linking the Pacific
and the Caribbean.

One end of it
will be right by Monkey Point.

During the past 500 years,

the British, Spanish, Dutch, French
and the Americans

have all dreamt or tried to join
the two oceans through Nicaragua.

There have been more than 70
attempts, but they've all failed.

This is part of an old train.
- No!
- Yes.

Part of a steam engine,
I'm guessing.

Yeah. In the beginning of
the 19th century, maybe... Right.

...they was trying to construct
a dry canal,

and it was going along the way
to the Pacific.

So, this engine dates back
to one of the many attempts

to link the Pacific and
the Caribbean sides of Nicaragua.

In this case, as you said,
for a dry canal,

so running railway tracks
- across the country.
- Yeah.

There have been so many attempts
in one form or another

to do this over the years,
haven't there?

Dozens of them.
So, it can happen again.

WAVES CRASH

The canal is an enormous project,

but ordinary people in Nicaragua

have been left out
of the decision-making process.

There's been nothing like
a pesky public inquiry here.

So, the future for Monkey Point
and for Harley looks very uncertain.

Farewell to Harley.
All right, brother.

Stay safe, all right? Good luck.
Thank you. Thank you.

And good luck to you, too.
Thank you, Harley. Bye-bye, mate.

Let's head north...

...along the Caribbean coast.

With no roads into
or out of Monkey Point,

the only way to travel is by boat.

It's a bit choppy,
and it's about to get worse.

Storm force umbrella!

It was a hair-raising
three-hour journey up the coast

to the town of Bluefields.

Bluefields
is a middle-of-nowhere place,

but it's also
the only port of any size

on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast,

and it's likely to be an operation,
supply and logistics base

for the canal.

Oh.

Ohh! Dry land.

I'm going to get the stuff
off the boat,

and then I think we're going to go
and have a cup of tea.

Nicaragua's the second poorest
country in the western hemisphere,

after Haiti.

Half of the six million people here
scrape by on around a dollar a day.

And the Caribbean region
is the poorest part of the country.

Eight out of ten people
in this town are unemployed.

Oh, gracias.

Enjoy.

And this, actually,
is really interesting.

This is an address given
by the wife of the national leader,

President Ortega.

Apparently, almost every day,
she takes over the TV airwaves

and broadcasts to the nation.

'There's eight
national TV stations here,

'and seven are reportedly owned by
the President's family and friends.

'The First Lady
uses her weekday address

'to promote government policies
and projects like the new canal.'

Is she on every day?

Does she talk about the canal?

The President said
if the canal come out positive,

there will be jobs
for a lot of families.

That's the key for you, is it,

that it'll bring jobs
to the people here?

Bring jobs for the people
here in the region.

Because that is what we need - jobs.

So, you think the canal
could transform life here?

Super-transform it.
- Super-transform?
- Super-transform.

Thank you. The food was lovely.

'President Daniel Ortega
was a hero of the 1979 revolution

'which overthrew
an American-backed dictatorship

'that had ruled here
for more than 40 years.'

- All right, lads?
- Yeah.

'He then battled the Contras -
American-backed guerrillas.'

But now Ortega's dogged
by allegations of corruption.

He's said to be one of
the richest men in the country,

yet his government claims the canal

will bring an economic boom
to this poor nation.

I went to meet Johnny Hodgson,

a member of Ortega's ruling
Sandinista Party.

Johnny, what's your view
about the proposed canal?

Do you think it will...?

Presumably,
coming from the ruling party,

you think it's going to benefit
the country?

Yes, I am convinced of that.

It is a historical aspiration

for the people
of the Caribbean coast

to have something
that can generate jobs,

you know, jobs for the people
to make a living.

It's an income that
they will get for ever, you know?

So long as we have the canal,
and it is working,

the people
will be getting these incomes.

Let's let these... Oh!

People have got their daily chores
to do.

Yes, and the streets are very
- narrow.
- Yes, indeed.

You call this a street.
It's interesting.

Yes, this is the way
of getting to places, isn't it?

You see how a lot of things
- need to be changed.
- Yes.

But we don't have...
we don't have the money.

We need investment.

Our main objective
is to escape from poverty,

and we are searching
for that opportunity,

and we think we find it.

The cost of the canal

will be more than three times
the size of the Nicaraguan economy.

It's a huge investment,

but not everyone here
thinks they'll see the benefits.

Where are you from, sir?

From Britain.

- Eh?
- Britain.

Where is that?

Well, England is part of Britain.
OK.

I like Chelsea, you know?
- Chelsea?!
- Yeah.

That's what you know about England,
is football.

The Premier League. You understand?

How is business for you
here in Bluefields?

Yeah, well, not so good, you know?
What are we doing?

The money is very hard.

Who's this?

So, we were just asking,

before you stopped
to pick up another passenger,

what is your view about the canal?

Do you think it's a good idea or
- a bad idea?
- No, no, no.

- Why?
- Why?

So, you think the people

who will work on the canal
won't be...

they won't be Nicaraguan,
they'll be foreigners?

He has a point.

Few Nicaraguans
work as civil engineers,

and the consortium
behind the canal project

is apparently planning to import

up to 50,000 Chinese labourers
to build it.

Bye-bye, madam.

Oh, great.

Small airport, no queue.

To continue my journey
around the Caribbean coast,

I flew north across Honduras
to the island of Roatan.

35 miles from the Honduran mainland,

Roatan is the country's
most popular tourist destination.

So, we're on an island
off the coast of Honduras...

...in the Caribbean Sea.

Visitors flock here
from Europe and North America

for a taste of the Caribbean, and
the chance to get into the water.

This was home to the original
Pirates of the Caribbean.

By the mid-17th century,

it's thought that were about
5,000 pirates based on the island.

You would not want to be
sailing past them.

I was here to see a huge coral reef,
the jewel of the Caribbean.

Dr Steve Box is a marine scientist

working for
the Smithsonian Institute.

Steve, what is so special
about this place?

The Mesoamerican Reef is the second
largest barrier reef in the world,

so it's very, very important.

And for the Caribbean,

it's an incredible extension of
reef systems spanning four
countries.

The second largest barrier reef
- on planet Earth is here.
- Yes, it is.

In the Caribbean.

And we're going to dive on it?

We're going to dive
on the southern extent of it.

The Mesoamerican Reef stretches
600 miles around the Caribbean Sea,

from Mexico
to these Honduran islands.

As remarkable
as Australia's Great Barrier Reef,

it's like visiting another world.

It's home
to more than 60 types of coral

that provide habitat and food
for more than 500 species of fish.

But in just the last few decades,

half the reef's coral
has been wiped out.

Like reefs across the tropics,

pollution, overfishing
and climate change

are all killing
this critical ecosystem.

It was upsetting
to see mountains of dead coral.

However, some areas of reef here

still have the highest
concentrations of live coral

found anywhere
on the Mesoamerican Reef.

Steve has been investigating why,

and his research is focused on the
likely saviour - the parrotfish.

Parrotfish can grow
to four foot long.

They're the largest herbivorous fish
in the entire Caribbean.

Scientists have discovered

that areas with healthy populations
of parrotfish

are better able to survive the
problems affecting reefs elsewhere.

It is so still, and the visibility
is just incredible down there.

And we could see
schools of little parrotfish.

I don't think
I've ever seen that before.

It's a fundamental function
on the reef

for those parrotfish to be
taking the algae out of the way.

There are 100,000 people
living on the island of Roatan.

This is a slightly different side
of the island.

Many of them moved here
to escape violence and crime

on the mainland of Honduras.

I went to see someone
who had fled here to work.

Buenos dias.

- So, this is Delores.
- Si.
Delores has a tortilla stand.

Show me how to make tortillas.
Oh, OK.

You've got a couple there. Look
what's happening. They're burning!

Delores, those tortillas
don't look healthy.

Let's make more.

I reckon I can get through
a good half a dozen of these.

Delores, are you from the island,
or are you from the mainland?

So, how dangerous, how violent,

was the neighbourhood
you were living in?

So, you came here because
you were worried, you were terrified

that the gangs were going to force
your son to become a gang member.

And what would've happened
if he'd refused?

Delores and her son
escaped from the mainland

with little more
than they could carry.

The gang took over their house.

As far as Delores knows,
they're still there today.

How are you doing?
- Fine, thank you.
- Gracias.

I was embarking on the most
difficult and dangerous part

of my journey around the Caribbean.

I took a ferry
to the Honduran mainland.

The country is under attack
by gangs and drug cartels,

and it now has the highest
murder rate on the planet.

This is probably the most violent
country I've been to

outside an actual warzone.

- Hello.
- How are you, mate?
- Simon.
- Renato.

Hello, mate. Ah.

'Renato Lacayo
had agreed to be my guide

'for the rest of my journey
through Honduras.'

A few bits and pieces here.

Flak jackets and everything.

Honduras has endured
almost 300 conflicts,

rebellions
and changes of government.

It's the original banana republic.

Until the mid-20th century,

foreign banana corporations
dominated the country,

and helped to keep it poor.

Honduras has since suffered
military rule, natural disasters,

and now violent crime.

It's actually much lighter outside
than it appears from in here.

For safety reasons,
for security reasons,

the vehicle we're in
has got heavily tinted windows,

and even windscreen as well.

It means people can't see
there's foreigners in the vehicle.

Renato brought us the newspapers.

There's just page after page
about crimes and murders.

This is very much everyday news.

It's normal for us,

because we're used to seeing
the same headlines every day,

just different faces.

Are you scared of what's happening
here? Do you get frightened?

You can't help but be afraid.

People you know
have had a brother killed,

they've had their father killed.

And it just seems like
it's catching on, it's adding up,

and at sometime,
it'll catch up to you or your
family,

and that's
a really frightening feeling.

It's not surprising
Renato's worried.

Across Honduras, there's almost
one murder every hour.

We headed to the city
of San Pedro Sula.

It's the deadliest city
on the planet.

We've arrived in San Pedro Sula.

This isn't a great time
to be driving around,

so we're going to find a hotel,

and then tomorrow, in daylight,
we'll have a look around.

San Pedro Sula
is Honduras's second city,

home to just over a million people.

It looks pretty normal, but violent
drug gangs are at war here.

We're going into one of
the most dangerous neighbourhoods

in one of the most dangerous cities
in the world,

so we need to wear body armour.

'Almost 1 in 500 people
are being murdered here each year.

'The police force is corrupt
and unable to stem the violence,

'so the military are being sent in
to confront the gangs

'and reclaim no-go areas.'

There's three military police
officers patrolling

just by the side of the road there.

They're clearly really trying to
project their force into this city.

We were going on patrol
with the military police

as they went into a poor,
gang-controlled area of the city

called Chamelecon.

I think it's astonishing that these
are the lengths we have to go to

to be secure going into one of
the neighbourhoods in this city.

DOG BARKS

This is an extraordinary situation.

We've got, what, 20 heavily armed
soldiers and officers around us.

There's a bloke with a balaclava

who clearly
doesn't want his face seen.

The country's two main gangs

have fought to control
this neighbourhood for years,

using brutal tactics including
extortion, torture and murder.

Colonel, what does this mean?

What sort of size a gang is MS13?

There are thought to be 300,000
gang members in Central America.

MS13's the biggest gang.

It has close ties
with Mexican drug cartels.

It's just completely bare now,

except for
a rather sad toilet there.

If you don't leave, we're going to
kill you - that's what they say.

And people get...

scared.

They'll just pick up their stuff,
anything they can, and just leave.

"We just want your home,"

what, to use to sell drugs
or for somebody to live in,

or... either/or?

And they also use them
to commit crimes.

They call them crazy houses.

They come into people's homes,

they push you out and then
they use it to torture people.

Hundreds of homes
have been abandoned in this area.

There are more than 110,000
gang members in Honduras.

They're tearing the country apart.

'To combat the gangs, the military
police mount regular patrols,

'and set up checkpoints.'

What are you looking for
when you do a stop like this?

'Tattoos often indicate
gang membership.

'Under zero tolerance rules,

'if the police find a tattoo,
these boys face arrest.'

I think he's got a bullet wound
on his chest, look at that.

Huge quantities of cocaine
for use in North America

are trafficked through Honduras.

So, it's almost inevitable
that that's going to result

in spectacular rates
of violence here.

For me, Honduras and Hondurans

are victims
of America's demand for drugs.

The main cause of the war here
is drugs.

Estimates vary, but up to
£30 billion worth of cocaine

is believed to pass through Honduras
on the way to the US each year.

How bad did things get?

There are some signs

the military are bringing a degree
of security to this neighbourhood.

But they're far
from winning the war.

SIREN WAILS

There was only one way to meet
the gangs tearing Honduras apart.

We're now going to what's said to be

the headquarters
for many of the gangs.

We're going into the city's prison.

It's said the most powerful gangs

are now being run
from inside these walls.

The prison's packed
with more than 2,500 inmates,

but it's not exactly a normal jail.

Buenas tardes.

'The guards here
just control the perimeter.

'It's a dangerous place,

'and I wasn't sure what would
happen inside.'

Flippin' heck!

So, the gentleman
in the white shirt there,

he's the Bishop of San Pedro Sula.

We just had a quick chat
and a meeting with him.

He is helping us... Well,
he is facilitating us being here.

He is effectively
going to be our security,

we think,
in some parts of the prison.

Being with him will hopefully
guarantee that we are safe.

Bishop Emiliani commands respect
in areas of the prison

where the guards don't usually go.

The Bishop's trying to broker
a truce between the government

and the two most notorious
street gangs in Honduras.

OK, we're about to enter
the 18th Street area of the prison,

and the Monsignor
is taking us inside.

The 18th Street gang
has a brutal reputation.

As in the rest of the prison,

the guards have given over
control of this area

to the prisoners themselves.

- Chief of the gang?
- Yes, yes.

HE SPEAKS SPANISH

They want us to put the cameras
- down.
- Cameras down.

After some negotiation,

the gangsters allowed us
inside their wing.

Families were visiting,
and there were no guards in sight.

It was astonishing.

Leaders of the 18th Street
agreed to talk

on condition
we didn't show their faces.

The bishop says the 18th Street gang
and its rivals, MS13,

agreed to the terms of a truce
more than a year ago,

but the Honduran government
is refusing to discuss or negotiate.

Meanwhile, the violence continues.

The bishop took me to another wing
to meet a reformed gang member.

We've got barbed wire, razor wire,
around us. There's a guard up above.

OK?

Monsignor,
how can we understand this?

The gangs will take children
as young as eight years old.

Honduras is a beautiful
Caribbean country

stuck between the drug producers
of South America

and the drug consumers
to the north.

Its location means the government's
fighting a losing battle

against organised gangs
and drug cartels.

Gracias, senores.

THEY RESPOND IN SPANISH

We all felt a huge sense of relief

when we made it back safe and sound
to the main gate.

HE SIGHS

My God, that was...

That was a very intense
and rather overwhelming experience.

It's very hard to really convey...

...anything but a fraction

of the incredible sights
and sounds and senses

that you experience
in a situation like that.

The problems facing Honduras
haven't developed overnight.

And until the river of cocaine
flowing through here is stopped,

it's hard to see an end
to the violence.

I headed on to the last stop

on my journey
around the Caribbean Sea -

the island of Jamaica.

It was somewhere
I'd always wanted to go.

And I was hoping to learn
a bit more about Jamaica

than Rastas and reggae.

The Caribbean...

is a place of real extremes.

The crazy situation in Honduras,

and just extraordinary,
raw, magnificent beauty here.

CHILDREN SHOUT

Morning!

I'm meeting a bloke called Nick
at this restaurant.

Oh, right, very funny, yes.

I was told I was meeting him
in a blue boat.

- Nick, hello.
- Blue boat on the left.
I mean, how can you get that wrong?

- Simon Reeve.
- Nick Davis.
Pleasure. Pleasure.

Lovely to meet you.
How are you doing?

Nick, what are you doing here? Your
accent's not exactly local, is it?

Originally from Derby.

My parents decided that
they were going to move back here

when I was about 16 or 17.

I came back.
So, they're from Jamaica?

They're from here.

I've discovered the Jamaica
they spoke about,

the place which they talked about
when I was growing up.

And that's been a surprise,
a discovery? Revelation?

You know what's been
a real revelation to me?

So, my parents were always like,
you know,

"Jamaica, it's home,
blah-blah-blah."

I get here and people are like,
"Yo, you come from foreign."

Sorry about my bad patois to all
the people who can actually speak
it.

But, you know, basically,
"Do you come from abroad?"

And it was like, "What, really?"
THEY LAUGH

'Nick had suggested meeting here

'because locals
are dealing with a problem

'that's affecting much of Jamaica
and the entire Caribbean.'

What are they doing down there?
- Can we go and have a look?
- Yeah.

They're building gabion baskets,
just wire mesh and rocks.

That's what they hope
will kind of keep back the water.

That's pretty makeshift, isn't it?

'50 feet of this beach
has disappeared underwater

'in just six years,

'and like communities
across the entire region,

'people here are fighting
to save their homes and businesses.'

I mean, this sort of situation
gets worse when you have storms.

And for many years, you know,
especially my dad's generation,

you know,
they had a big storm in the '50s,

then never had a big one
until the '80s.

Now, you fast forward
in recent years,

there's been storm after storm
after storm after storm.

And the beach
just doesn't have time to regenerate

or to basically
just get back to normal.

You know, people are doing
whatever they can, you know,

to try and stop this happening.

Something is going wrong in the
tropics. The weather is changing.

And it's often not wealthy people
who are suffering as a result,

but poorer communities like this.

Our changing climate

is already having a significant
impact around the coast of Jamaica.

Scientists are warning
that climate change

will cause more storms
and hurricanes around the region.

That's one of a number of problems
plaguing this small nation.

It's a fabulous place to come
for a holiday,

but for locals,
life here is still tough.

20% live in poverty,

and the country has one of the
highest national debts in the world.

Nick, where are we going?
So, we're heading to Source Farm.

Issues like high crime, unemployment
and economic mismanagement

have led many of the brightest
and best Jamaicans to emigrate,

mostly to the US.

It's called the brain drain and it's
a huge problem across the Caribbean.

But Nick was taking me
to meet a family who, like his,

have returned to the island
after living and working abroad.

- Oh, right, here we are.
- This is it.

Nicola Phillips sold her restaurant
in Philadelphia

and moved back home
to set up Source Farm.

- This is Simon.
- Hello.
Hi, how are you?

- Lovely to meet you.
- Welcome.

She came back with her brother,
a qualified horticulturist,

her mum, a trained nurse,
and her sister, who's a teacher.

They brought their families,

and now there's a community
of 25 people living here.

It sounds like
you've all come back,

bringing skills into your family,

but into the wider community,
as well.

We just want more people
to be able to think

that you can actually come back
and make a difference.

The debate in Western countries
about immigration

concentrates on
the effect it has on us.

But emigration's a shocking cost
to countries like Jamaica,

which has lost 85%
of university-educated workers.

However, the Phillips clan have
come back to teach local farmers

and help
this heavily indebted country.

We have all these
wonderful microclimates,

that we can grow almost anything.

We were built on agriculture,
in terms of, you know, historically,

and we should be looking back
to agriculture

as a way to get ourselves
out of debt.

That's an idyllic scene.

And sea behind.

It's a beautiful space to work.

One of the things that we do is that
we don't put a crop in the ground

unless we know
where we have a market for it.

and so we are going to be very
selective, cos it's a business.

But we also have the opportunity
to bring in the tech stuff.

It's not just the same old thing
that maybe grandpa did alone,

but we need to integrate
the technology that we have as well.

You've got, obviously,
a passionate desire

to feed Jamaica
and Jamaicans... Yes.

...combined with spreadsheets
to make sure all the numbers add up.

Yes, it always has to add up!
SHE LAUGHS

Jamaica imports nearly a billion
dollars' worth of food a year,

and it needs to come up with ideas

that encourage talented people
to stay in the country.

So, Nicola's project
couldn't be more important.

The next morning, Nick took me
to the capital - Kingston.

In recent decades,

Jamaica's developed a reputation
for violence, crime and corruption.

That's part of the reason

so many locals
have gone to live and work abroad.

But there's some good news -

the crime rate here
is actually going down.

Just a few years ago, Jamaica was
sliding into something of an abyss.

The murder rate here
was rising uncontrollably

to levels only seen
in a country like Honduras.

But since then,
it's started to turn a corner.

Jamaica's murder rate
has fallen by 40% in recent years.

Cases of rape are down by a quarter.

A recent report stated Jamaica

used to be one of the most corrupt
countries in the entire Americas.

Now it's one of the least.

Jamaica has got a long way to go
with reducing down levels of crime,

and corruption as well.

It's actually doing better
than many neighbouring countries.

Things are improving here.

- Inspector. Simon Reeve.
- Hi, Simon.

Very nice to meet you.
- Hello, sir.
- Ainsworth.

Simon Reeve. Nice to meet you.

Inspector Ainsworth Shakes.
He's the chief polygrapher.

- The chief polygrapher?
- Yes.

Goodness me.
You've looked into people's souls.

Oh, yeah, I like that.

THEY LAUGH

Corrupt politicians,
officials and policemen

hold back so many countries
that I visit.

Finally, it was a joy
to see an agency and a government

doing something about them.

This elite squad is tackling
white-collar corruption

and money-laundering.

These are the unsung heroes
who crunch the figures,

and follow the leads and the tracks,

and go through
those complex investigations.

Our focus is on the major players,
the kingpins,

those persons
who have amassed a lot of wealth,

those persons who have reached
controlled wealth

and can fund their illicit lifestyle
and other criminal activities.

Now the Jamaican authorities
are going after

hundreds of millions of pounds'
worth of criminal assets.

The motto of this agency is,
"No-one's above the law".

Have a seat right there, please.
Goodness.

The video here, CCTV.

Least of all me.

We have here the cardio cuff.

It looks at changes in your
heart rate as you are polygraphed.

Now, I'm going to give you
one of these cards.

On the underside, there's a number.
- Don't let me see it.
- OK.

Each time I ask you
if you had picked a number,

I want you to answer "No",

even when I ask you the number
- you have under your hand.
- I see.

Did you pick the number 16?

No.

Did you pick the number 15?

No.

Did you pick the number seven?

No.

Did you pick the number eight?

No.

And open your eyes.

This instrument is indicating

that you have the number eight
under your hand.

So, now I know what it looks like
when you're lying, right?

AINSWORTH CHUCKLES

All right.
That's an ominous laugh, Inspector.

AINSWORTH CHUCKLES
Oh, yes.

What the polygraph does - if there's
any deviation from the truth,

ANY deviation, there will be
a reaction to the question.

Who do you get in here?

The bulk of our examinees
have been police officers,

because one of our major problems
here in Jamaica has been corruption.

And a number... Police corruption?
Police corruption, I can tell you.

There are persons
who have come here,

and they've given us 99.9%
of the truth, which is still a lie.

So, our job
is to get 100% of the truth out.

To tackle crime,
you have to tackle poverty -

you have to give youngsters
an alternative.

Jamaica's Citizen Security
Justice Programme

works with people
from troubled areas,

giving them an opportunity
to learn a trade and get a job.

Yes, it's on-the-job
skills training,

and what's important
about this aspect of it

is that we are seeking to improve
their employability skills

as well as their technical skills.

Who are they,
and where have they come from?

From some of
our most volatile communities.

Communities where there's a lot of
crime, a lot of violence.

Lots of crime, lots of violence.

And a lot of unemployment.
And high unemployment.

And we do have a motto here,
that we say,

"If you come as a chicken,
you leave as an eagle!"

SHE LAUGHS

That's good. You like that.
Yes, I do!

The project gives people
skills and purpose.

It's a whole raft of measures,
and it's had astonishing results.

Violent crime in some areas
where it's running

has fallen by almost 70%.

Gangsters
have been completely reformed.

That's good work.
Yeah, that's a beam.

That's a good weld.

Using the concave motion.
Using the concave motion.

I would be unfamiliar with that,
but I can see it's a good weld.

'Narado used to carry a gun.

'Now he's a qualified welder,

'and certified to instruct
even the most hopeless student.'

You're travelling too fast.
Slow that down.

Go, move, move with it.

OK.

That was really rubbish.

You're going to have to
chip it all off and start again.

Could the old you have ever imagined

that the new you
would be doing this?

No, never.

Never.

And what's really lovely to see

is the pride you've got
in your work, as well.

And you're a really good teacher.

Get you!
HE LAUGHS

Jamaica's showing
that it is possible

to tackle even appalling
rates of crime.

But to do that,
you have to go after the big fish

in parliament or the police force,

as well as giving street criminals
an alternative and a future.

I was coming to the end
of my adventure.

What had surprised me most

were the utter extremes of life
I'd seen around the Caribbean...

...from Barbados to Honduras,
and from Haiti to Venezuela.

When we were first talking about

making this journey
around the Caribbean region,

I never imagined for one moment

I would find myself on the gang wing
of a Honduran prison,

or hunting venomous fish,

or going up in the sky
in a flying dinghy.

It's been incredible.

I ended my journey
the same way I began.

On a beautiful Caribbean beach.

This is a region
with serious problems

with poverty and corruption,

and there are enormous
environmental challenges here.

But they're not insurmountable.

And this place is home to some
of the warmest people on the planet.

And I'm finishing my journey
in a time-honoured way.

For me, anyway.

Getting my boots wet.

It's the Caribbean!