Caribbean with Simon Reeve (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Nicaragua, Honduras & Jamaica - full transcript

I'm on a journey
around the Caribbean Sea,

with its thousands
of beautiful islands.

And an incredible mainland coast,

home to millions
of extraordinary people.

It's a vast area
spanning a million square millions,

with a rich and brutal history.

And some of the most dangerous places
on the planet.

(GUNFIRE)

It's one of the most vibrant
and exciting regions on Earth.

It's the Caribbean.

On this final leg of my journey
around the Caribbean Sea,



I travel from the coast of
Nicaragua, north through Honduras,

to finish my journey in Jamaica.

On one of the world's greatest
coral reefs

I join a research mission and
explore the coral kingdom at night.

That was absolutely incredible.

In the deadliest city on the planet

I witness the brutal results
of gang warfare.

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

Before ending my adventure...
Oh, my goodness.

...on one of the Caribbean's
most stunning beaches.

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 headman in the community?
- Yeah...

No, no, in this area.
This area, he's the headman.

- You're the headman? 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.

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...
- Stay out of the way.

- Go ahead. Yes.
- Hide. OK?

Hooray! You did it better than I!

OK...

Hey, have we got anything?

It's baked beans again tonight.

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

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

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. Yes.
- No!

Part of a steam engine,
I'm guessing.

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

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.

This time,
a Chinese-backed consortium

have been granted the right to build
a channel a third of a mile wide

to rival
the neighbouring Panama Canal.

The Nicaraguan Interoceanic Canal
will take supertankers

and a new generation
of giant container ships

that won't fit through
the 100-year-old Panama Canal.

The ?32 billion Nicaraguan scheme

was approved
without a public consultation

and with very little debate.

And, of course,

the project will have a colossal
impact on the environment.

Look at this.

Within just a few feet,
we are in this extraordinary forest.

It's beautiful.

Hundreds of thousands of acres
of wetlands and forests like this

will need to be cleared
to make way for the canal.

It will take away the habitat

of creatures
that are already endangered.

I think they might just end up

destroying a huge area
of pristine wilderness.

The Interoceanic Canal
will divide Nicaragua.

Communities living near the canal
will be changed for ever.

Can we ask some of you here
what your view is about the canal?

Nobody has come here
and said to you,

- "This is what's going to happen"?
- No. No.

- No-one?
- No.

What's happened,
we hear it on the news.

We put on the radio and we hear it.

They not even take the kindness

and inform us in our language
what's going to take place

on the radio broadcasting station.

It doesn't sound as though you think

the canal
will really benefit your people.

Look, I love my community,
how it sits.

And tomorrow,

I see just drastically
my community change,

and probably everything cut down,
you know?

- I think... - That's the future you see
for you community here?

- Yes. Yes. - Of a devastated...
living on a devastated land?

The Nicaraguan people
look at us around here,

look at indigenous
and African descendants,

like, oh,
we're like second-class people.

We would be, like,
having our girl, young girls,

like, prostituting,

and for a man,
doing the worstest of the job

to get some food to carry home
for the children, you know?

So, you think that if jobs
do come to you from the canal

that they'll be very basic jobs
and there'll be enormous problems

with social problems like
prostitution as well as a result?

Yeah, yeah. Totally.
Totally change. Totally change.

It's going to be a new...
Nearly like being a new life, almost.

- Yeah. - Going to be like a new life
we're going to have.

Tens of thousands of people

will need to be resettled
away from the canal.

But new laws mean
people displaced by the project

will receive just minimal
compensation for their homes.

Phew, what a long day.

And it's the room on the right.

And there's beds.

(WAVES CRASH)

That's all right.

I think I'll bag this one.

By the sound of it,

I'll have a great sea view
in the morning.

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.

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?

(SHE SPEAKS IN ENGLISH)

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.

(SPEAKS IN ENGLISH)

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.

So, they're like a team of cleaners.

Kind of like a flock of sheep
moving around,

taking the algae off the reef.

Keeping the grass short.

Keeping the grass short

and allowing everything else
to grow up around it.

Steve thinks the parrotfish
is absolutely essential

to the health of the coral reef.

He's trying to learn more
about their behaviour

to work out
how best to protect them.

To do that, Steve's taking samples
from parrotfish

to track their movement
around the Caribbean.

The best time to catch
and study them is at night.

The parrotfish,
when we see them during the day,

they're up in and the reef,

which actually makes them
really hard to catch.

Whereas at night,

they go and find a nice
little crevice to fall asleep in.

And so we're going to go down
with the torches,

look for where we see them sleeping.

And once we find them,
we will then move them into the net.

- In the dark. Under the sea.
- In the dark.

I've never done a night dive.

- Is this going to be a tricky procedure?
- It could be, yes.

- It's going to be exciting.
- Great! It'll be fun. - It'll be fun.

It's an eerie experience
to dive into blackness,

but also completely magical.

Finding the sleeping parrotfish
was surprisingly easy.

When he'd caught one in the net,

Steve took clippings from parrotfish
fins to collect their DNA.

The fins grow back
and the fish are unharmed.

Steve's team
are building a DNA database

that's already uncovering
the secret life of the parrotfish.

They're revealing
that many of the parrotfish

floated here as larvae
on ocean currents

from reefs hundreds of miles away.

So, Steve's research shows us
that to save the Mesoamerican Reef,

marine-protected areas
need to span the region.

His work is helping to persuade
Caribbean nations

to set up national parks in the sea

and ban fishing practices
that harm parrotfish.

That was absolutely incredible.

Aagh!

The colours are just so vibrant.

- A bag of water.
- Goldfish.

A bag of water
with this tiny fin clip.

- That's all we need.
- That's it?

It's amazing to be able to work out
in the field like this

and then take
these tiny, tiny samples back

and be able to do
such amazing science.

Hopefully, what you're doing

is going to make a really profound
positive difference

to life in our seas.

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 d?as.

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

Show me how to make tortillas.
Oh, OK.

IN TRANSLATION:

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? Gracias.
- Fine, thank you.

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 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?

IN TRANSLATION:

What sort of size a gang is MS-13?

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

MS-13'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?

IN TRANSLATION:

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?

IN TRANSLATION:

There are some signs

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

But they're far
from winning the war.

(SIREN BLARES)

A few hours later, we got a call

saying there'd been an incident
on the outskirts of the city.

We raced to the scene.

?Prensa, prensa!

Commissioner, can you tell us
what's happened?

IN TRANSLATION:

Two police officers
have been targeted?

It's like a...
it's like an assassination.

51 police officers
have been killed in this area?

Yes, that's right.

That is unbelievable.

Are things getting better
or worse here?

It'll take a long time
for things to get better.

This is...
The wounds are so deep.

You spoke to the workers
from the morgue, I believe.

Did they say how many bodies
they've collected today?

They've collected eight bodies
already--

seven homicides and one suicide.

- Seven murders in one day.
- In one day.

And it's still 9 o'clock at night,
so we could have more.

These are the consequences
of the drugs trade--

violence, corruption
and a failing state.

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 bishops try 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.

HE SPEAKS IN ENGLISH:

- Chief of the gangs?
- 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.

IN TRANSLATION:

The bishop says the 18th Street gang
and its rivals, MS-13,

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?

IN TRANSLATION:

Monsignor,
how can we understand this?

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

IN TRANSLATION:

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, se?ores.

(THEY RESPOND IN SPANISH)

The bishop took me away
from the gang wings.

As we headed towards
the guards at the gate,

we entered the main area
of the prison.

Here we have...
Here are the people working.

Wow.

This is incredible.

You can see there's shoe soles
here being cut out.

There's some people up here
working away.

I was still inside the jail.
The inmates are in control here.

Everybody is working,
everybody's doing something.

They hand out the food,
keep keys to the cells

and decide who gets a decent bed
or a punishment.

It felt like a combination
of sweatshop and market,

with cafes and shops.

This is astonishing.

- This is like a town.
- Yes. Yes, like a town. Yes.

Apparently, there is 80% employment
inside the prison.

That's not only impressive
in most countries,

it's a hell of a lot higher than it
is outside in the rest of Honduras.

Everyone was busy,
but this isn't a safe zone.

One of the prisoners in charge here
reportedly took control

after beheading his predecessor
and feeding his heart to a dog.

I have never seen anything
like this.

We're inside a prison.
I have to keep telling myself that.

Despite the turmoil created by
hundreds of murderers and criminals

being thrown together
in a tiny space,

there's a bizarre sense of order
inside the prison.

It only highlights the failure
of the Honduran state outside.

Gracias, se?or.

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.

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.
- 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?"

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

and they 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% life 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. Simon Reeve.
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.

How lucky are you, Mum,
to have everybody here?

I don't call it luck.
I think I'm blessed.

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.

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!

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.

(ALL 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 figure

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 Jamaica 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 7?

No.

Did you pick the number 8?

No.

And open your eyes.

This instrument is indicating

that you have the number 8
under your hand.

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

(HE CHUCKLES)

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

(HE 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.

Why is tackling corruption
so important?

It's important
because corruption has...

one, it has tarnished the image
of the Jamaican Constabulary Force,

it has tarnished the image
of Jamaica.

It has depleted our economy.

It has driven investors away.

We realise that we have a job to do

and we're going to do whatever
it takes to tackle corruption,

to tackle criminality.

And this is just one of the tools
that we are going to use.

By polygraphing cops and officials,

Jamaica's strengthening
all of its key public institutions.

That means better policing
and public services.

Jamaica's emerging
as a rare success story

in the battle against crime
in the Caribbean.

The results are also being felt
on the streets.

Nick took me into a tough Kingston
neighbourhood called Southside.

Once upon a time,
you'd talk about Southside,

it was only known for gang culture.

Now people are coming in,
people are coming into the community.

There are little restaurants opening.

And things like that,
they wouldn't have happened before.

So, now, slowly but surely,
this kind of community,

it's reinventing itself,

and that makes a huge difference
to people who live here.

Nick had arranged for us
to meet a man

with first-hand experience
of Southside

before life began to improve.

Narado Bell
was a feared gangster and enforcer.

Were you armed?
Were you carrying a gun?

- Mm-hm.
- Oh, yes, you're saying.

- Is that how it was?
- Yeah. That's how. Kill or be killed.

What was the moment for you when
you thought, "This has got to stop"?

Narado took us to see a project

that he believes
helped turn both his fortunes

and the fortunes
of his community around.

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.

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!

- 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!

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!

Original Air Date:
April 5th, 2015