Simon Reeve's South America (2022-…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Peru to Bolivia - full transcript

Are you wondering how healthy the food you are eating is? Check it - foodval.com
---
I'm on a huge journey.

I'm travelling the length
of the Americas,

the two continents that
together form

more than a quarter of Earth's
land surface.

On this adventure, I'm travelling
down through South America.

We're in such a remote part
of planet Earth.

It's a journey of more than
4,000 miles,

through some of the world's
greatest landscapes.

Encountering spectacular wildlife.

The cat is on the move.

From its iconic cities



to the Andes Mountains,

it's a continent
of dramatic extremes.

Down.

EXPLOSION

Along the way,
I meet the inspiring...

Yolanda!

SHE GREETS HIM

..and the surprising people...

These guys are Mennonites.

..who make South America
so extraordinary.

THEY WHOOP

There's Wi-Fi here.

Nowhere else for
miles around, apparently.

We do our own thing.
We're happy here, man.



The Andes Mountains.

On this part of my journey,
I'll be up at altitude

with the people of the Andes
in Peru and Bolivia.

I'll be exploring among the peaks

that stretch for thousands of miles
down the length of South America.

They're the spine of the continent.

I'm high up in the Andes Mountains
in Peru,

and I'm beginning this leg
of my journey at one of

the great remaining wonders
of the world -

Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu was built more than
500 years ago

by what was once the most powerful
civilisation in the Americas -

the Inca.

Now, the Inca ruled what was,
at the time,

the greatest empire
on planet Earth,

bigger than Ming Dynasty China,

bigger than the empire
of any European state.

The Inca empire spanned
32 degrees of latitude.

If that was transplanted to Europe,
it would be the equivalent

of an empire ruling
from Stockholm to Cairo,

covering every
conceivable ecosystem.

No-one's certain why the Incas
built Machu Picchu

a mile and a half above sea level

on a ridge in the middle
of the jungle.

Perhaps it was a place of worship
or an emperor's pleasure palace.

Either way, I found it stunning.

And Machu Picchu is a complete
triumph of engineering,

especially for a civilisation

that didn't have draught animals
like horses,

didn't have cement,
didn't even have the wheel.

Trying to build this place
without the wheel

is like trying to build the
Eiffel Tower without a crane.

But the Incas did it.

I think this is the Sacred Stone,

and I'm looking for a bloke
in orange.

Local mountaineer Alex Estrada
had agreed to be my guide.

Hey! Hello, mate. Simon.
How are you, Simon?

It's very lovely to see you.
What do we do? Do we do this?

Do this, yes. Can we do
a little bit of this now?

We can do this. We're free of Covid,

so don't worry about it.

Thank you, mate, for waiting here
for us. This is the Sacred Stone?

This is the Sacred Stone, yeah.

This is a very special place
for me, actually, Machu Picchu.

I'm really connecting with this
history, basically,

you know, by Inca,
seeing all this stuff.

Like, I cannot believe this is my
country, you know?

Not just your country,
but your culture.

Oh, yes, I will say my
culture, yes.

Is that fair to say?

Because I think one thing
that strikes me

is we think of the Inca as...

..the Inca civilisation as being
a lost civilisation,

but the people, the Inca people
are still here.

Do you feel yourself
maybe you are one of the Inca?

I... I believe...

..in another life
I'm coming from this,

because I really have
a connection with this culture.

The Inca weren't keen on money
or writing,

and sacrificed children to the gods,

but they created
a sophisticated world.

Their cities were connected
by 25,000 miles of roads

and were as large as
the capitals of Europe,

but better run,
with better sanitation.

Some argue, by building huge grain
stores, they eradicated hunger.

And boy, could they build.

God, look at the...

How did they do this?
HE CHUCKLES

It's so beautiful.

You couldn't even get
a credit card between there.

There we go. There's no cement,
there's no mortar, is that right?

It's because, like, inside here
is pieces like this

and this has like the hole, so
they're gripping here. Oh, really?

The same all these ones.

So, almost like a Lego block,
they've got... There we go.

..pieces on the top. There we go.

When the Earth moves,
they're never getting all of this

getting into this side
nor this side.

They like...
HE CLICKS

You know? They almost dance
when there is an earthquake

and then they settle back down?

Yes. It's like that. Inca Lego.

It's Inca rocks Lego. OK.

After Europeans arrived
in South America,

the Spanish brought guns, steel
and horses here to the Andes.

The Inca were fearsome warriors,

but the Spanish assault on their
empire in the 1500s

became an annihilation, because they
brought strange European diseases

which killed up to
nine out of ten Peruvians.

The great Inca
civilisation collapsed.

Today, Machu Picchu faces
a new invasion.

It's thought 90% of all tourists
who come to Peru come here,

and that's hundreds of thousands of
visitors flocking here every year.

This is very much
a tourist site and...

..they lay on the cliches.

It's a llama.

In the Andes.
With a very itchy nose.

Before the pandemic,

Machu Picchu was getting up to 5,000
visitors a day in peak season.

Tourism here is, again, big business
for Peru,

raking in millions of dollars
each year for the government.

It is rammed with tourists.

I'm quite...taken aback.

Travellers are clearly returning.

And before the pandemic, there were
concerns about safety

and the future of Machu Picchu
because of the thousands

upon thousands of people who were
visiting here every day

and the fear that they were eroding
the paths

and undermining the very stability

of this most famous ruin
on the planet.

Yes, it is very touristy.

Yes, it is quite strict here -

you have to follow
a very specific route,

do not deviate from the path,

but nothing can detract
from what an astonishing,

wondrous place this actually is.

It's impossible to be here

and not be in utter awe of what
the Incas achieved.

All this history still
really matters.

Peru's indigenous people,
many the descendants of the Inca,

have long felt marginalised
by Europeans who colonised

and controlled them for centuries,

and Peru is the country

with the largest indigenous
population in South America.

Right, so we've got to mask-up now.

They're taking Covid very seriously
in Peru.

Peru was hit exceptionally hard
by the pandemic.

In relation to the size
of its population,

it had by far the highest number
of deaths in the world.

Two masks...

..plus this.

The railway here ferries hundreds of
thousands of tourists a year.

My train was running
a couple of hours late,

but they know how to keep
the passengers happy.

TRILLING MUSIC

I've got so many masks on, I have no
idea if you can hear me, but...

..it just got weirder.

HE PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE

The Saqras are humanised parodies
of the Devil,

according to the Mestizo belief.

The word Saqra comes
from the Quechua language

and means "naughty, bouncy,
cheerful and joker".

THEY PLAY LIVELY MUSIC

This is now properly bonkers.

Ah, but we all loved it,

and it was definitely one way of
stopping us passengers

from grumbling, even as our
much-delayed train crawled along

the tracks long into the night.

MUSIC STOPS
CHEERING

It was time to head off
the tourist trail

into some of the more forgotten
corners of the Andes region.

But first, a bed for the night.

So, it's very late

and Alex has brought us
to stay somewhere

which seems to involve getting
dressed up in a harness...

..and wearing a helmet.

Do you see the cable?

Yes, I see the cable. All right.

So, this is called a karabiner,
right? Yes.

Do you have questions?

Yeah...where the hell are we going?

Don't worry about it.

You will love the place
where I bring you to.

Believe me, you'll...
I want you to just believe me.

Whose idea was this?!

ALEX CHUCKLES

God.

Completely bloody bananas.

Amazing.

OK.

I'll go on with Alex.

He's just going to show me
where I'm staying

and, um...hopefully I'll get some
sleep tonight

and, in the morning, I might have
a clearer idea

of where on Earth we are.
HE LAUGHS

Goodnight!

BIRDS CHIRP

Oh, my goodness.

I've pulled the curtains back...

..and it's completely bonkers.

I'm halfway up a mountain,

tethered to the side of the cliff

by pieces of steel string.

This is Starlodge -

a series of cosy aluminium cabins,
more like mini submarines,

which Alex, my guide
and expert climber,

actually helped haul up here.

They certainly offer stunning views
of this valley

at every stage of your stay.

Peru is a vast country

and travellers here tend
to stick to a few of the safer

and wealthier areas, which make
a good income from tourism.

But many regions of Peru struggle

with ingrained poverty
and lawlessness.

I headed to an area
of Peru called VRAEM,

which the state has long struggled
to control.

I'm now heading into quite
a tricky area

on my journey down
through South America.

This region is known
as Peru's cocaine valley.

So it has the acronym VRAEM.

It's a big region. It's roughly
the size of Ireland.

And it's said to have more
production of coca

and cocaine laboratories
than anywhere in the world.

For more than 40 years, the cocaine
trade has ravaged Latin America.

Countries like Colombia, El Salvador
and Honduras

have been pushed close to collapse.

Huge drug gangs
and cartels have emerged.

South America now has some of
the highest rates in the world

for violent crime and murder.

And for cocaine production,
I was heading to ground zero.

Neighbouring Colombia is generally
more associated with cocaine,

but Peru now rivals Colombia
as the world's leading producer

and this area, VRAEM, is plagued
by narco gangs.

Checkpoint.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So that was a group of...

Were they auto-defences?

Auto-defences, exactly.

Um, which is basically
local vigilantes.

Even before narco violence
took hold,

VRAEM suffered from conflict.

For more than 20 years,
the government fought a bitter war

against a terror group called
Shining Path,

which wanted to overthrow
the government

and establish a communist state.

As they battled the army,

horrific atrocities were committed
by both sides

and tens of thousands of innocent
people died.

I'd come to the centre of
the conflict.

Like many indigenous communities
in Peru, it's desperately poor.

There's not much of
a government presence

in this quiet, dusty
little community.

But we've been asked to wait here

to meet the people
who provide security.

Buenas tardes, senor.

Buenas tardes.

Oscar Cardenas is the President of
the Self-Defence Committee here.

Oscar, what are the auto-defences?

Now, I know this region
suffered terribly

during the time of the Shining Path.

What happened here when
Shining Path were attacking?

After years of fierce fighting,

the guerrillas from Shining Path
have been pushed back

to a few isolated jungle areas.

But communities here are now facing
another threat.

The narcos, the drug gangs,
now terrorise communities like this.

Financial muscle and weaponry has
given them a stranglehold

over this poor, forgotten corner
of Peru,

where many communities lack basic
infrastructure like proper roads,

regular electricity, clean water,

and most people earn less
than $10 a day.

After his shift, Oscar offered to
take me to the farm where he works,

which is owned by another member
of his vigilante group.

Oh, wow.

Buenos dias.

So this is a huge pile
of coca leaves drying in the sun.

This is coca, the raw ingredient,

the leaf from which cocaine is made.

And it's the main crop
for almost all farms in the area.

Oscar, what's happening now?

Poverty here seems
to breed contradictions.

Oscar is terrorised
by the drug cartels,

but helps grow coca for them.

Four times a year you can
harvest coca?

That must make a massive difference
to you as a farmer.

When the leaves are ready
for harvest,

the whole community turns out.

Coca's been cultivated in the Andes
for more than 8,000 years

and it's still sacred
to many indigenous people.

It looks like hard work.

You still move with lightning speed.

I hope you don't mind me asking,

but how much money will you get
for picking 28 kilos of the leaves?

That's just over £3.50 for a full
day's work under the baking sun.

The could grow coffee or fruit here,

but that takes more knowledge,
time and money,

and poor roads would make it hard
to get crops to market.

This all helps trap locals
into farming coca.

Some can be sold legally
for traditional medicines,

but it's thought up to 95% of coca
from here...

..goes into the illegal production
of cocaine.

Oscar, with the greatest respect,

do you feel a connection

to what happens as coca is turned
into cocaine?

Do you feel...

Do you have moral doubts about your
connection to cocaine?

Are you saying you don't really
want to grow coca?

This is an appalling situation.
They themselves, in many a way,

have become addicted to growing
this plant

because it offers them something
that other plants do not.

It offers them many more harvests
per year

and, crucially, the buyer will
actually come to their door

to buy it off them. But yet,
it's not making them rich.

There is no great wealth here
in this community.

These are poor, poor farmers
on the very edge of survival.

The Peruvian authorities
have been criticised

for failing to tackle cocaine

and reduce poverty in
indigenous communities.

But the government says it spent
£40 million in recent years

encouraging farmers here to grow
alternative crops to coca.

So far, it's had little impact
on cocaine production.

It's estimated 200 to 400
tonnes of cocaine

are exported from VRAEM each year,

with a potential UK street value

of more than a
staggering £30 billion.

There are fields and fields,

hillsides of coca growing
around here.

In Colombia, just next door,

coca tends to be grown
a little bit further from towns

and a little bit further from roads.

It's something
that's more secretive,

because there are quite
sophisticated eradication efforts.

That doesn't seem
to be happening here.

It's growing by the side of the
road. It's growing near towns.

I think we should go and see
the police.

Neighbouring Colombia has received
billions of dollars

from the United States to fight
drug trafficking

because cocaine from
Colombia goes to the US.

Cocaine from Peru is trafficked
more widely,

including to Europe, the UK.

Compared to Colombia,
drug enforcement efforts here

have been held back by a lack of
funding and also corruption.

The Peruvian army has thousands
of troops station in VRAEM,

but elements in the army
have been accused

of direct involvement
in the drugs trade.

Pretty serious.

There's also several hundred elite
anti-narcotics police here.

I went to their main operations
centre in the valley.

Here's a big new base to tackle
a colossal problem.

Comandante Jorge Barrantes leads
a police unit ready for combat.

Can we just ask, what is the mission
of your base here?

What are you here to do?

HE CALLS ORDERS IN SPANISH

He's saying these four officers
here are just going to provide us

with security, because it's really
needed, apparently.

The other worrying thing he's saying
is that they don't really bother

wearing body armour, flak jackets,

because the people they're up
against have got weapons

firing bullets that will go straight
through most flak jackets.

The moment this police unit sets
foot outside the base,

they're in hostile territory.
I was heading out with them

on what the Comandante called
a search and destroy mission.

Bloody hell.

Many locals support the narcos and
are up to their necks in the trade.

Shoot-outs and sudden attacks
are a constant threat.

They've told us they want
to move quickly

and they're wary of us going slowly
through even urban areas

because they've come under attack
in the past.

That's not to suggest the entire
local population is against them,

but this is a country where
tens of thousands of people,

perhaps as many as two million
people make their living

from the drugs trade.

Comandante, do you still
feel nervous

before an operation like this?

My God, look at all the coca.

Go, go, go.

WHISPERS: There could be a whole
bloody gang,

of narco traffickers just...

..I was going to say ten metres,
it's more like ten feet to one side,

and I wouldn't see them.

Down, down.

Oh, look, there's guys down there.
Over there.

It's almost completely impossible
for them to move through

this sort of terrain without being
seen or heard.

There's people everywhere.
There's dogs.

SIMON GASPS
Blue plastic sheeting,

which I think he's saying might be

part of the first stage
of a cocaine factory.

Go. Go, go, go. Follow me.

OK.

We're going in.

So we're just coming up
on something now.

I think it's the target.
It's hard to tell.

It doesn't look like much...

..but maybe that's the point.

What have we got here?
What on Earth is going on?

So how much cocaine could that
actually be turned into?

But by the time that cocaine
has reached the streets

of the UK, Italy,
wherever it's going, Rio,

it is worth a staggering sum,

more than people here could ever
imagine, I would have thought.

South America, Europe and the UK are
major markets for cocaine from Peru.

Cocaine that fuels teenage gangs
and violence in British cities

starts life right here
in pits like this.

It's just desperate to see this

and to see how difficult it is
for the police to operate here,

but also to know how little
the European Union

and the UK, as well, frankly,
are doing to combat cocaine,

narcotics here at source
in Peru

compared to what the Americans
are doing in Colombia.

These guys are operating
on a relative shoestring.

They don't have the access
to advanced intelligence gathering,

to Black Hawk helicopters,
to as much satellite information.

And combating the narcos
in Peru is bloody hard.

This police unit destroyed
more than 100 jungle labs

and pits like this
in the past year alone.

This is whack-a-mole. It really is.

If that maceration pit could create
a couple of kilos of cocaine

and anything between 200 and 400
tonnes of cocaine

comes out of this area,

that means there must be hundreds
and hundreds of other pits like it.

Two detonations.

EXPLOSIONS

I felt these guys are fighting
a losing battle.

In Colombia,

the authorities intercept up to half
the cocaine produced.

In Peru, just a fraction of
the cocaine is seized.

Some fear for the country's future.

Coca production has increased
dramatically in Peru

over the last decade,
and there are now fears here

amongst senior people
in the government

that Peru is on its way to becoming
a narco state.

I mean, nobody is immune
from corruption,

even at the very highest level.

I headed on south through the lush
jungle of the Andes lowlands.

Wow, that's a fast-flowing river.

Peru has some of
the most spectacular

and varied landscapes
on the planet -

vast tropical river systems,

rainforest,

parched coastal desert,

high grasslands,

and the rugged frozen peaks
of the Andes.

It has almost every climate
and ecosystem.

My journey was taking me
to southern Peru

and towards an indigenous area

that's one of the most extreme
environments in South America.

Peru is really a continent
in a country.

It has some of the highest,
driest, wettest

and most inhospitable terrain
on the planet,

and yet it's been home
to sophisticated civilisation

for thousands of years.

I was back in the mighty Andes.

The Incas were among
the first people

to conquer these colossal peaks,

scaling their heights
to make offerings

and sacrifices to their gods.

This is a harsh environment.

There are savage storms,
freezing temperatures,

and thin air lacking oxygen.

So we've just stopped by the side of
the road at around 5,000 metres up.

That's just over
the height of Mont Blanc,

Western Europe's highest mountain.

We've got three vehicles with us,

partly because we might need
to evacuate one of the team

back down the mountain...

STUMBLES OVER WORDS: ..and we've got
to be prepared.

We've got to be prepared
to do that at any time.

I'm really feeling it in my...in
my head.

Altitude sickness can be dangerous.

We had medication to combat
the effects,

and bottled oxygen in
the vehicles in case of emergency.

But even up here, there are people
eking out a living.

So this is Rinconada.

It is the highest permanent
human settlement on planet Earth.

It's also said to be one of
the very toughest

and harshest towns in the world.

La Rinconada is more than
three miles above sea level.

The first hardy settlers arrived
here 50 years ago,

seeking their fortune.

Today, it's a sprawling ramshackle
home to some 50,000 people.

Rinconada is an informal...

..which basically means sort of
illegal mining settlement

that has sprung up on the edge
or near a gold mine.

Most people aren't registered
to live here

and many tend not to pay taxes,

so the town is largely ignored
by the Peruvian state.

The cables across the road are not
cables. They're water pipes.

There isn't sanitation and sewage
here, really,

the normal elements of a town.

No, people have got to look
after themselves.

There were putrid streams of raw
sewage flowing through the streets.

The smell was overpowering.

The town's only water sources
are contaminated

with a poisonous cocktail of mercury
and cyanide used to process gold.

We're stuck in a Rinconada
traffic jam.

You know what's caused it?

There's been an explosion up ahead.

This place is completely mad.

So you can see the machinery
over there.

They're crushing rock
to look for gold.

While we waited for the road block
to clear,

I wandered into a crushing yard,

and goldminer Felix Esquivies agreed
to chat.

How much rock do you need to crush

to find enough gold to make a ring?

Oh, my goodness.

Can I hold some?

It's heavy!

And even in this form,
I have to be honest,

I do have a bit of a sense of
the allure.

Is it... Is this dangerous work?

Forgive me for asking,

I notice that you've had
perhaps an accident with your ear.

We'd been warned that after dark the
town can become lawless and chaotic.

There's a shocking number
of stabbings and assaults.

La Rinconada is said to have

one of the highest number of murders
per capita in the world.

Despite the conditions and violence,

thousands more people are drawn up
here each year

to the roof of the continent,
lured by Rinconada's gold.

Many because they have no choice.

Of course, for a lot of the people
who work here, this is income,

this is home, this is a car,
this is life.

But I really worry

that every single person
I've seen here

is of indigenous origin,

and it really makes me feel
that the indigenous...

I think the indigenous community,
the people of Peru

have been pushed somewhat
to the margins.

They are the only people who work
up here.

Indigenous Peruvians comprise almost
half the country's population.

Tens of thousands now live and work

in informal, crime-ridden mining
settlements like La Rinconada.

Senna Ochochoque grew up here.

Senna, was it a happy place
to grow up?

Senna suggested taking me high above
the town to the mining area.

Peru is the biggest gold producer
in South America.

Minerals are the country's
leading export

and mining its main source
of foreign currency.

SPEAKS SPANISH

But the unregulated mines around La
Rinconada are incredibly dangerous.

Some are said to be
three miles deep.

Explosions and shaft collapses
kill around 30 miners each year.

A miner's life expectancy here
is just 35 years,

around half the national average.

Senna wanted me to meet some of
the women who work up here

in this brutal environment.

My God.

Look above us. The glacier.

Look at this.

Oh, my God, I can smell sulphur.

It's like the gates
of hell are opening up.

Wow.

Sulphur? Volcan?

Not very good for you, the smoke.

It's not very good.

Even the people here, then, are
saying that isn't good for us.

I could smell sulphur in the air,
volcanic sulphur.

Bowels of the Earth sort of stuff.

Oh, my God.

Look at the ladies working here.

These women are known
as pallaqueras.

Julia Pomalique has worked up here
for 20 years.

What is a pallaquera?
What do you do?

Why are women... Why do you work
out here?

Why don't you work in the mines?

In winter, the temperature out on
this exposed mountainside

can drop to minus
40 degrees centigrade.

Can you give me a rough idea,

how much does one of the women in
your association, on average, make

in a day or a week or a month?

This sounds and it looks like...

..like a tough...a tough life.

There could be up to 100,000
informal goldminers in Peru

and an estimated 15,000 pallaqueras
scraping a living

working through the rocks around
their illegal gold mines.

Senna says she's one of
the lucky few

who managed to escape La Rinconada.

How did you get out
and what do you do now?

Is Rinconada...

Do you think it is a trap
for the people who work here?

VOICE BREAKS

Oh, Senna.
HE SNIFFS

God bless you, Senna.

I'll remember this place
and these people

the next time I think I'm having
a tough day.

You know, I can normally find
the positive

in almost anywhere I've been,
but I really struggle here.

This is...

This is definitely a place I won't
be sorry never to come back to.

As we came down from the mine,
the atmosphere changed.

We've been told unless we go now,

people here are going to really
BLEEP! us up.

We were told it really explicitly.

Some of the miners were angry
with our presence.

It was no longer safe for us
to stay in La Rinconada.

Well, I'm very relieved to say that
we've got out of Rinconada safely.

We need to find somewhere
to overnight,

and then we're going to head
to the Bolivian border.

I travelled south through
the high plains of the Andes

towards the landlocked country
of Bolivia.

We're getting close to the border
between Peru and Bolivia now.

The border's been closed
during Covid,

as have many land borders
in South America,

but we've been given
a special permission to cross.

We have, of course, been fairly
endlessly tested for Covid.

We've all been jabbed and jabbed
and jabbed again.

Is this the border?

That's Bolivia just up ahead.

SHEEP BLEAT

It's still quite rare for people
to cross,

so this gentleman has seized
his business opportunity.

I have to say, in all the world,

I have never seen people having a
football match in no-man's-land.

That's proper bizarre.

And don't forget, they're at nearly
4,000 metres.

MAN PUFFS
You OK?

I feel a bit better if he's
out of breath as well.

Honestly, it's the altitude.

Yolanda!

Hola!

I can't quite believe something
has worked.

SHE GREETS HIM

My guide in Bolivia
was Yolanda Mamani.

Gracias.

Bolivia is home to 12 million
people,

and around 60% have
indigenous heritage -

the highest proportion
of any South American country.

Yolanda took me to Bolivia's
capital, La Paz,

a journey she first made as a child
at the age of ten.

So one of the best ways
of getting around the city

and seeing a bit of it as well
is the cable cars.

Quick fact for your next pub quiz
is that La Paz has the world record

for the largest public transport
cable car system on the planet.

It's also the highest capital city
in the world.

Oh, my good Lord.

That is quite a sight.

HE GASPS

La Paz is in, like, a giant bowl,

and it is occupied and spread

and sprawled throughout this...

..throughout this enormous area.
It looks...

It looks ginormous.

For centuries, La Paz was
a largely white European city.

Indigenous people mostly lived
in the countryside.

Yolanda is among thousands
of indigenous Bolivians

who've migrated here
in the last few decades.

Referred to disdainfully
as "Cholas,"

for generations, indigenous women
had been forced into servitude

and denied a real opportunity to
vote, own land or have an education.

Yolanda, when you came to La Paz,
what did you do? What happened?

Did you experience
racism, discrimination?

What was the reaction from people
employing you as a child cleaner

when you said you wanted
to go to school?

Yolanda fought hard for her right
to go to school

and went on to university.

Bolivian society has been
changing fast,

even electing the nation's
first-ever indigenous president.

Things are far from perfect here,

but after a hard struggle,
more indigenous Bolivians

do now have access to education
and jobs previously denied them.

Yolanda?

What's happening...
What's going on here?

The market mashes up indigenous
traditions, Christianity

and a hefty dollop of consumerism.

You can buy miniature versions
of the things you want in real life,

of just about anything
your heart desires.

How about a surprise for your dodgy
uncle who's been away for a while?

Oh, my goodness!

Here's a certificate

to get your relative out of prison.

Literally a get-out-of-jail card!

It's fun, but serious as well.

A new indigenous middle class
is emerging in Bolivia,

and they've got ambitions,
aspirations and goals.

You've got a house in there, money.

I'm sure there's some science

about the psychology of actually
possessing something

that you want and giving you a
tangible target to aim towards.

I'm sure it must help.

What are you going for?

So this is going to help you get
your degree?

SHE CHUCKLES

It's quite comprehensive, isn't it?

And it comes with a laptop as well.

Indigenous women like Yolanda still
have a long way to go.

Their iconic pollera skirts
and bowler hats, once denigrated,

are becoming a symbol
of national pride.

Cholas are increasingly prominent in
the media, industry and government,

but the battle's not yet won.
They're still facing discrimination.

HORN HONKS

Yolanda took me to see where she
spreads her message of defiance.

Yolanda, do you still work
as a cleaner now?

OK.

Yolanda now has her own
weekly radio show,

as well as being an activist and
campaigner for indigenous rights.

UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

Gracias, Sonia!

I'd come to the end of this leg of
my South American journey.

It had been fascinating
and exhausting.

The high altitude had been brutal.

But it had given me at least
a little insight

into the lives of indigenous people
in the Andes.

I've been quite shocked on this trip
at just how marginalised still

many indigenous people are
in Peru and Bolivia.

Of course, it's been that way
for hundreds of years,

but now many people like Yolanda
are saying

they're not going to take it
any more.

Next time...

There's nowhere else quite like this
on planet Earth.

..I travel through
an alien mirror world

to a remote corner
of little-known Paraguay.

CHILDREN RECITE
Oh, my.