2:51PM, Nov 20, 2008
It's believed to have more murders per head than any other place on earth.
This week Unreported World are in Venezuela, Caracas to be precise.
And they're taking us into a place where the unspoken rule on the streets is that the one that shoots first is the one that survives.
Any touristy notions of sunny beaches are soon forgotten as you journey along with Channel 4 and presenter Nima Elbagir into the grimy streets and gritty way of life that's become the norm for many Venezuelans.
As is pointed out, in a country meant to be undergoing a Socialist revolution, many are turning to the supernatural for advice and help as they loose faith in the government to control crime.
From a midnight, mountainside ritual, showing thousands in a mass, hypnotic trance to a visit with a medium and keeper of a shrine, the show is an in-depth look at how soaring crime levels have forced citizens to turn to the unconventional for salvation.
As the show gets underway you wonder if President Hugo Chavez's progressive slogans are falling on deaf ears. Because, as Unreported World points out, "Even among the party faithful, violent crime is a reality."
The government feels the rise in the popularity of spiritual populism has nothing to do with the state not being able to reduce violence, but is rather due to a loss of faith among citizens in conventional religions.
One interviewee goes so far as to comment that "The problem of crime is a problem of Capitalism, because people want more materialistic goods."
This show isn't what you'd call light viewing at all, but it is a probing, interesting and brilliantly put together piece.
It's food for thought in more than one way as the ordinary man on the street and the gangsters supreme share one thing in common: a desire to see crime, if not eradicated, then tempered somewhat.
Find out when Unreported World is on TV.
