but strangely enough it's the colombian government that opposes frontino being given to the workers it appeals and manages to overturn all the decisions in favor of the trade unionists. the government at the time is led by president alvaro. he becomes personally involved in the case the frontier no company is over indebted he places it under direct control of the state . to see him down but already. gaith they the president. it was from this region was very preoccupied and. nationality he had managed to resolve the major problems of the country but not those of his own regions. and this was like a thorn in his side for him. been and for all. but elvira rebate has to deal with macaco the local paramilitary leader he names a commission of four experts to advise him on frontino his future according to our investigation three of them have ties with macaco one of them is even his financial advisor rolin day i'm a businessman so here's a man who at the same time advises both the colombian president and a mafia leader as these documents from the chamber of commerce prove at the time the lindy

mountains where the revolutionary armed forces of colombia the fark operate at war with the colombian government for over fifty years no one can penetrate this region without their authorization with the help of divers go betweens we've established contact with the fourth guerrilla fighters they've authorized us to travel through their zone while waiting to receive us. the local economy is based on cocoa plant growing these small green leaves are the raw material of cocaine. after years of anti drug enforcement cocoa farming is going through a crisis more and more pickers are leaving the fields to work in the gold mines. we penetrate into the mining zone in the four controlled mountains we get there by mule a two day journey with a good guide. marie c.e.o. is the president of a local small scale miners association. with and for all that used to be cocoa plantations. and the government has a radical at all the coke on the region. each day dozens of mules amble up and down these paths loaded up with cans of cyanide like mercury it's used to extract the gold from the or. we're in the hea

a true colombian far west that has been brought to life again with a new gold rush. during the weekend alcohol flows freely. and. the girls wait at the bar. in one night the miners spend their entire week's earnings. on here gold is sold in small stones. at this potters a bit pale less spam. at all and i give you two forty for it. to forty but it hit me and. this is to pay my debts with. and i have a few drinks. most of the miners have just arrived in the region they are former cocoa plant growers now it's money they've earned from gold that they bet on the cock fights. it always finishes bad before the cocks and sometimes for the miners to. go but i still watch the headlights they had be careful i saw this man an excavator driver got into a machete fight over money the old his adversary for euro's. the closest hospital is a two day mule ride away while the bar owner takes on the role of doctor. give me a pair of scissors austin neighbors wife i think she has some of them in there in the central core of the yet and richest land in the world and we don't even have a p

chiquita found itself trying to grow bananas in the middle of a war in which the colombian governmentwas of no help. >> these were lands where there was no law. it was impossible for the government to protect employees. >> fernando aguirre, who became chiquita's ceo long after all this happened, says the company was forced to pay taxes to the guerillas when they controlled the territory in the late '80s and early '90s, and when the paramilitaries, known as the a.u.c., moved in in 1997 they demanded the same thing. >> it was a dilemma about having literally a gun pointed to your head, where you have someone who says, "either you pay me, or i'm going to kill you," or, "i'm going to kill your employees." >> did the paramilitaries state, specifically to you, that if you didn't make the payments, your people would be killed? >> there was a very, very strong signal that if the company would not make payments, things would happen. and since they had already killed at least 50 people, the employees of the company, it was clear to everyone there that these guys meant business. >> chiquita only

in this way the small scale miners are considered illegal by the colombian government they live under fork rule most of the time the guerrilla fighters are invisible but they come here regularly to collect their war tax. in order to work you have to pay the guerillas. everyone pays the entire region of the moco and southern. this is the infernal trap the small scale miners are caught him subjected to paying extortion money as a result they're accused of supporting the guerrillas. it's an injustice. if we didn't pay the fox they close down the mine they don't get us work and they kick us out of the region. for decades there were just these galleries dug out in the mountain but not far from here our guide wants to show us some new forms of land exploitation much more destructive. in the heart of the jumbo excavators dig up the river bed and eat away at the forest little by little. the machines dig up thousands of tons of earth which they unload into giant sifters where the gold is extracted using large quantities of mercury. after their passage nothing grows here again and the streams a

and the colombian president, santos, chavez said the colombians were the enemy.for venezuela and the region on, for colombia and me personally. what is going on for all of these act owe ladies? -- accolades. >> unfortunately some of it is just lack of information. the other is political posturing. i mean, the president of colombia is probably doing what he has to do to try to keep the colombian military from again supporting actively the farc guerrillas inside colombia they were doing until the colombian government under uribe, raided a camp in ecuador and found all the evidence in laptops of the guerrilla leader they killed that showed clearly chavez was arming and financing and harboring and assisting the farc. so, but the president of colombia has to do what he has to do to keep the peace. the other people, doesn't surprise me, if you look at books in period leading up to world war ii, the archbishop of canterbury said great britain should ally itself with mr. hitler because he was kind of strong leader. david: that is kind of thing -- >> exactly. american lib

cordillera mountains where the revolutionary armed forces of colombia the fark operate at war with the colombiangovernment for over fifty years no one can penetrate this region without their authorisation with the help of divers go betweens we've established contact with the four guerrilla fighters they've authorized us to travel through their zone while waiting to receive us. the local economy is based on cocoa plant growing these small green leaves.

caribbean mountains where the revolutionary armed forces of colombia the fark operate at war with the colombian government for over fifty years no one can penetrate this region without their authorization with the help of divers go between.

at war with the colombian government for over fifty years no one can penetrate this region without theirauthorization with the help of divers go betweens we've established contact with the four guerrilla fighters they've authorized us to travel through their zone while waiting to receive us. the local economy is based on coca plant growing these small green leaves are the raw material of cocaine. after years of anti drug enforcement cocoa farming is going through a crisis more and more pickers are leaving the fields to work in the gold mines. we penetrate into the mining zone in the far controlled mountains we get there by mule a two day journey with a good guide. marie c.e.o. is the president of a local small scale miners association.

of their previous life in latin america can be found in the households of the old believers this colombian machete is made of very good steel you can see a dove pictured on it others bear pictures of monkeys such for saudis are no good at all. machete is the weapon of south american tribes they have no gums a native picks up a machete. is that here and goes. on you know what i call the machete especially came in handy when they were being deprived of their land they used in a very effective way. of rolling as they locked them all for their machetes intakes of chickens head off and one girl. clothing sends a readily identifiable social signal to community members. they instantly know who's who is the person is from their midst or an outsider. the length of their dresses trousers and shirt sleeves is strictly regimented they should cover most of the body facial hair is another sensitive point no all the believer is supposed to be beardless old believers consider that any deviation from canon is indicative of spiritual weakness they maintain that anyone's appearance should conform to god's in

. >> i was really excited to hear that he is a latin and i am one half colombians. that brought a lot of emotion >> the selection from south america. the region for the church and south america in general. and on the larger oroszko the center of gravity is moving inf south in the catholic church is recognizing that. >> catherine: that was professor harley shaiken of the center for latin american studies at u-c berkeley. he says the tie to latin america is important here in the u-s -- since the latino population is growing rapidly. and what's in a name? the pope's decision to call himself francis seems to be a very symbolic move. he's the first pope to take the name. which comes from two saints. one is saint francis of assisi who gave up his wealth and dedicated his life to helping the poor. he saw his calling as an effort to rebuild the church. and then there was francis xavier, a spaniard who was a founding figure of the jesuit order. the same one to which the pope belongs. the vatican says francis will celebrate his first mass as pope in the sistine chapel tomorro