A South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby

From the Andes to the Amazon, in thriving cities, on the slopes of dramatic mountains and in the deepest jungles, Johnathan Dimbleby meets the people who are building the new South America. He looks at the impact the dramatic changes will have on each of the five countries he visits – and on the world at large. Dimbleby discovers striking political, social and economic differences since his last visit 30 years ago.

Episode One: Chile and Bolivia
In Chile, he discovers a nation transformed since the demise of the dictator General Pinochet but still working to heal the scars left by his rule. From Chile, Dimbleby heads for the capital of Bolivia, La Paz. Here he meets child-labourers who have formed a trade union and encounters farmers who - despite fierce pressure from the USA - cultivate the coca plant from which cocaine is derived but which is also the source of coca tea, Bolivia's national drink.

Episode Two: Colombia and Venezuela
On the second leg of his journey Jonathan travels across Colombia and Venezuela, South America’s Caribbean giants, and discovers that they have strikingly divergent modern realities.

Episode Three: Brazil
On the final leg of his journey, Jonathan Dimbleby visits Brazil to investigate the impact of it’s recent economic boom on its 190 million people. Traveling from the Amazon to Rio de Janeiro by air, land and sea, he finds the biggest country on the continent will surely set the tone for the rest of South America to follow.