Our signature stories delve into issues around the world — from the long-term effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam and gang violence in Mexico to discrimination against whites in South Africa and Afghan immigrants in Iran.

Here are the 15 Signature stories most popular with viewers in 2009:

	MOROCCO Moroccan single moms cope with hostility, shame	Young Muslim women who become pregnant out of wedlock face intense pressures. They are often shunned and scorned. Hoda Osman, Rebecca Haggerty, Megan Thompson and Reda Fakhar report on how mothers are coping.
	HAITI Dirt poor Haitians eat cookies made of mud	The cookie recipe — dirt, butter and salt — has been passed down through the generations, despite a lack of nutritional value. Benno Schmidt and Ara Ayer report on how these dirt cookies are managing to keep Haiti’s poor alive.
	JORDAN Oprah brings taboo topics to Middle East	The Middle East’s MBC-4 began airing “The Oprah Winfrey Show” more than four years ago, and the program now reaches about 6 million viewers in the Arab world each day. Kristen Gillespie reports from Jordan on the ”Oprah effect.”
	VIETNAM Agent Orange devastates generations of Vietnamese	During the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped millions of gallons of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant. Generations of Vietnamese civilians have suffered the consequences. Mark Litke and Ara Ayer report on the devastating effects the toxin has left behind.
	MEXICO Gangsters spill blood and spread fear in Tijuana, Mexico	Over the last year, more than 6,000 people have been murdered in Mexico’s drug wars, more than 700 of them in Tijuana alone. John Larson, Bryan Myers, Megan Thompson and Ivette Feliciano report from Tijuana.
	SOUTH AFRICA Poor white South Africans blame reverse discrimination	To some extent, the economic playing field has been leveled since the end of apartheid 15 years ago. Martin Seemungal reports on South Africa’s white community, where poverty has doubled since 1994.
	JAMAICA One island, two Jamaicas and a ‘whole heap’ of difference	A public debate erupted when graphic Dancehall music lyrics and images were banned from Jamaican radio and TV. Lisa Biagiotti, Micah Fink and Gabrielle Weiss report on how the ban highlights the divide that dates back centuries.
	ISRAEL Israeli company builds infrastructure for world’s electric cars	One Israeli company is designing an entire system to service electric cars with battery charging stations. Many other countries are expressing great interest. Michael Greenspan, Yuval Lion and Ara Ayer report from Israel.
	LIBERIA Liberia, “America’s stepchild,” searches for own identity	Liberia was settled by freed American slaves, and now, as Lynn Sherr and producer Megan Thompson report, the nation is trying to re-shape its identity. Liberia, a small country in West Africa, has longstanding ties to the U.S.
	LATVIA Empty stores, offices tell tale of Latvia’s economic fall	Until the global recession, Latvia was experiencing rapid economic growth. During the past year, it has tumbled down, with unemployment around 14.5 percent. Daljit Dhaliwal, Sally Garner and Ara Ayer report on the scope of Latvia’s fall.
	IRAN Afghan immigrants find refuge in oil-rich Iran	Though the West has branded Iran a nuclear outlaw and supporter of terrorism, Iran is a model of stability compared to its neighbors. Three million Afghan immigrants in Iran are low-skilled laborers. Richard O’Regan reports from Tehran.
	DENMARK Taxes curb Danish oil use, promote energy independence	In Denmark, a Ford Focus costs $51,000 — $34,000 of which is in taxes. John Larson explains how taxing energy and subsidizing alternative technologies have reduced the country’s dependency on oil and created thousands of jobs.
	INDIA India’s “untouchables” trudge through sewers	While India has largely transformed into a modernized economy, the country remains strongly tied to the traditions of the caste system, which often governs the jobs that people hold. Martin Himel reports on India’s lowest class of laborers.
	TURKEY Rising Islamist movements challenge secularism in Turkey	Secular critics are branding Turkey’s growing conservative groups as fundamentalist. Gizem Yarbil and Bryan Myers report on how traditional religion and modern democracy are trying to coexist.
	PHILIPPINES Journalists risk their lives reporting in the Philippines	Today in the Philippines, journalism is robust. But more than 70 journalists have been murdered since 1986. Mark Litke and Ara Ayer report on the risks that many reporters face doing their jobs — from Manila to rural areas.

Creer in Cuba website.

The Catholic Church in Cuba launched a new website on Monday that aims to provide a virtual forum for the island’s faithful,  “Creer en Cuba” (Believing in Cuba.)  According to an announcement on the Cuban Catholic Bishops Conference Web site, it is intended to serve as a meeting place for “those who live, dream, work and hope in Cuba and the Cuban community overseas.”

Although Cuba has the lowest internet usage in the Americas, Cuba has seen a surge of dissident bloggers who use the Internet to voice their concerns about the Castro regime. One such blogger, Yoani Sanchez, was named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and recently received a reply from President Barack Obama to questions she posed in a letter.

Earlier today we spoke with Chris Sabatini — the Senior Director of Policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas and the Editor-in-Chief of the Americas Quarterly — about the state of the blogosphere in Cuba.

WORLDFOCUS: What is the state of people’s access to the internet in Cuba today?

SABATINI: Cuba has the lowest levels of internet access in the hemisphere, around 13%–lower than Haiti’s.  The reason is largely because the Cuban government maintains strict limits on the Internet on the island.  Only Cubans with official or government jobs are allowed access to the Internet; and access a number of websites is blocked on the island. Regular Cuban citizens only have access through international hotels but the rate can be as high as $9 an hour–equal to roughly the weekly salary of a Cuban doctor.

President Obama on April 13th announced a change in regulations to allow U.S. companies to increase activities in Cuba to allow for greater communications from the island to the outside world.  Unfortunately, the regulations that were announced continue to place strict limitations on the sale to Cuba of supplies and equipment that is necessary for establishing the necessary infrastructure for providing access on the island. As a result the levels of connectivity envisioned by the President may not happen.

WORLDFOCUS: We’ve seen a surge in dissident bloggers in Cuba, such as the case of Yoani Sanchez.  Why now?

SABATINI: Younger generation Cubans are discovering the Internet as a means of communication with the outside world.  It provides a powerful and modern way for them to tell their stories.  But it comes at a cost.  Yoani herself no longer has access to her blog.  She and many others are forced to type up their blogs and then send them via e-mail from hotel computers to friends overseas who post them for her.  But there is also the risk of repression.  Yoani and a number of her friends were recently picked up by police and beaten in the back of the police car.  Her blogs, though, remain achingly beautiful depictions of the despair and irony of modern-day Cuba and are available in English.

WORLDFOCUS: What is the significance of the Catholic Church starting a blog in Cuba?

SABATINI: The Catholic Church has been active for a long time, often through its parishes and lay members in publishing and disseminating documents related to civic culture, religious freedom, and the like. By their very nature these publications, like the now defunct Vitral, were very strong cracks and challenges to the control over society that the Cuban regime maintains.  The Church’s new blog is an extension of those efforts–but of course with a modern twist.  Of course for the millions of Cubans who don’t have access to the Internet, it will have little direct impact. But it will allow the Church to inform the outside world far more easily than they could through their print publications and provide a channel for the voices of those inside the island who have been held silent for so long.
- Ivette Feliciano

Ivette Feliciano translated the following blog posts from Venezuela and Cuba:

From Profeballa, a Venezuelan blogger: “It’s been 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, when will Venezuela’s wall come down? As I’ve said before, it will fall once more Venezuelans become aware of their rights and knock it down. When they destroy the mental wall that keeps us underdeveloped…”

From Elías Amor Bravo, an anti-communist political writer: “The fall of the Berlin wall 20 years ago is a very important event for all Cubans. We shared in their optimism and were happy to see how families were reunited after decades of communism that separated them. The fall also forced the Cuban government to make changes it never intended to make, due to the absence of political, ideological, and financial resources that formerly came to the Island from the USSR. The period after the fall of the wall allowed for the free circulation of money, the authorization of private activity, although it was under rigorous control, foreign investment, and tourism…It also allowed for Cubans on the island to have more contact with family members abroad, and in turn mobilized many to organize themselves as dissidents and opposed to the government, something formerly unheard of….”

A Berlin Wall commemorative stamp.

The Argentinian website INFOBAE makes note of the Cuban government’s reaction to the date: “The official press in Cuba will ignore the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. They only recognized and celebrated the 92nd anniversary of the October Lenin revolution…”

Gizem Yarbil notes an interesting story from The Wall Street Journal about a red deer called Ahornia refusing to cross the old Iron Curtain. Ahornia inhabits the area along the border that once separated West Germany from Czechoslovakia. This area is now part of Europe’s biggest nature preserve thriving with a lively combination of wild animals that roam freely across the once fortified border. But according to the article, Ahornia is the only species that stops and turns back once it reaches the barrier zone where once an electrified fence and barbed wire used to stand. It quotes a German producer of nature films who has worked in the area says, “The wall in the head is still there.”

Contributing blogger Vadim Nikitin writes about where nostalgia is the strongest for the former Soviet Union — the Global South. Read the full post here:

According to a BBC poll published on the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, “Opinion about the disintegration of the Soviet Union is sharply divided. Europeans overwhelmingly say it was a good thing: 79% in Germany, 76% in Britain and 74% in France feel that way. But outside the developed West it is a different picture. Almost seven in 10 Egyptians say the end of the Soviet Union was a bad thing and views are sharply divided in India, Kenya and Indonesia”.

This despite the fact that India and Indonesia, as well as Russia, have experienced unprecedented levels of economic growth since 1991.

What could explain such nostalgia? One factor might be a general disenchantment with free-market capitalism:

“More than 29,000 people in 27 countries were questioned. In only two countries, the United States and Pakistan, did more than one in five people feel that capitalism works well as it stands. Almost a quarter - 23% of those who responded - feel it is fatally flawed. That is the view of 43% in France, 38% in Mexico and 35% in Brazil”.

Much of the global dissatisfaction with capitalism, the report suggests, stems from that system’s production and exacerbation of income inequality. While economies based on high growth models may produce more wealth as a whole, its distribution is skewed overwhelmingly in favor of a small minority.

A few weeks ago Ivette Feliciano attended an event where Chile’s first female president, Michelle Bachelet, was honored by the Americas Society for her administration’s economic and social achievements navigating the global economic crisis.

She credited her country’s quick recovery after the crisis to her administration’s decision to put away money made when the price of copper was high a few years back. Copper is one of Chile’s main exports.

Watch President Bachelet answer Ivette’s question in the video below:

For more Worldfocus coverage of the Chilean Economy, click here.

Sanchez and her husband used the blog, Generation Y, to provide searing criticism of everyday life in Cuba. She started the blog in 2007, and it receives more than one million hits every month. Here is one of her entries:

“History Ignored,” from October 9th:

“History cannot be ignored, that is why it is so hard to understand that a process accused of betraying revolutionary ideals may be worthy of being on the list of the ones who “kept the banner of socialism aloft”.

“History cannot be ignored. What kind of merit does an army have, other than that of imitating Hitler, in marching at 115 goose steps per minute? How funny is it for a civilian population to conduct itself like a beehive, emulating, along its armed compatriots, the ability to achieve a high level of mass organization?”

In April, I went with a team from Worldfocus to Bolivia. We did a number of pieces on the culture and politics of the country.

While there, we became fascinated with the way many of the indigenous women in the country dressed. These women are called “cholitas” — traditionally-dressed Aymara indigenous women, many of whom occupy the lowest socioeconomic rung in Bolivian society. We saw countless women hurrying about the busy streets in the country’s capital, La Paz, decked out in fringed shawls and traditional multi-layered skirts called polleras.

We became particularly intrigued with the item that completes these outfits: A small felt bowler hat that sits balanced on top of one’s head.

You might not guess it, but these hats — considered by many to be the unofficial national symbol of Bolivia — have their roots in (of all places) Europe. The bowler hat, also known as a derby hat, was designed and created by hat makers in London in the 1800s. They were designed to provide gamekeepers with a hat that would remain atop their heads as they rode horses under low branches. It’s been popular in Bolivia since the 1920s.  For more about the history and meaning of the bowler,  watch our video from Bolivia.

- Ivette Feliciano

For more Worldfocus coverage of Bolivia, visit our extended coverage page: On the Ground in Bolivia.

Chile’s president, Michelle Bachelet, seen in this photo taken in 2006, will be in speaking at an AS/COA Dinner event on September 23rd. Picture by Agencia Brasil.

One of the best aspects of my job as associate producer for Latin American news on Worldfocus is covering Latin American politics.

There are two events I plan to attend next week.  One is a press conference on Wednesday with guest speaker Alvaro Uribe, the president of Colombia.  We were hoping to get him as a guest on our show and to possibly ask him questions regarding the controversy surrounding his decision to give U.S. troops more access to the country’s military bases.  However his schedule will not permit a studio interview, so we’ll try and ask him about the military bases at the press conference.

The other event is a dinner honoring Chile’s first female president, Michelle Bachelet.  Her popularity rate in the country is more than 70 percent right now.  A Worldfocus production team recently went to Chile and did a number of stories on fiscal responsibility in Chile and the country’s copper reserves.  Although we won’t be able to film the event, we’re hoping to get some brief interviews after the event with members of her staff.

- Ivette Feliciano

One of Allan McDonald’s cartoons, courtesy of the artist.

Political upheaval continues in Honduras, after liberal leader Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a military coup in late June.

The military has clamped down on pro-Zelaya channels in the country and blocked the signal of Telesur, a left-leaning television network based in Venezuela.

Ask your questions on media battles in Honduras for our online radio show on Tuesday, July 14.

Honduran political cartoonist Allan McDonald, who had published several cartoons in support of Zelaya, was arrested and detained by the Honduran Armed Forces, who destroyed his materials and cartoons. He joined Worldfocus to describe his experience, and the interview is translated from Spanish below.

Worldfocus: Why did they arrest you and can you describe what happened?

Allan McDonald: Fui detenido en circunstancias complejas, yo me encontraba en mi casa, había dejado la puerta abierta para que entrara un poco de luz, pues se había cortabo la electricidad, y eran ya altas horas de la noche, casi 2 de la mañana, algo así, no recuerdo la hora exacta, porque no sabia donde verla, entro la policia, y dijo que me detenían por que había violado el estado de sitio, que yo tenia la casa con puertas abiertas, esta bien les dije, pero estaba con una nina pequena, asique no podia dejarla, estaba solo.

Así que ellos me dijeron que la dejara con un vecino pero no quise despertar a nadie, menos a esa hora, así que me llave conmigo, no se a donde me llevaron, todo Honduras no había luz, supongo que por la estructura del edificio era un hotel, y alli permaneci 5 horas, no hubo maltratos a nadie.

I was arrested under complex circumstances. They found me in my house. I had left the door open for a little light, but they had cut the electricity and it was already very late at night, almost 2:00 in the morning, something like that (I do not remember exactly because I couldn’t see). The police entered and said they were going to arrest me because I had violated curfew and had left the doors open. Well, I told them that’s fine, but I was with a small girl, and I could not leave her alone.

They told me to leave her with a neighbor but I did not want to wake anyone, especially at that hour, so I brought her with me. I didn’t know where they were taking me, all of Honduras was dark. I thought from the structure of the building that it might be a hotel. I was there for five hours and they didn’t harm anyone.

Political cartoonist Allan McDonald was detained by Honduran armed forces and told he violated curfew.

Worldfocus: What prompted your release?

Allan McDonald: En la detención, tuvo acceso un diplomático, solo el pudo tener eses acceso porque era extranjero y tenia que avisar a sus embajada, era un Venezolano y el aviso, le pedí un mensaje y me cedió su computadora personal y así pude escribirle a una periodista que de inmediato alerto la comunidad internacional, Amnistia Internacional logro la liberación de todos, casi alas 5 de la mañana, o mas tarde, quizá 6 a.m.

In detention, I had access to a diplomat. I only could have this access because he was a foreigner and had to advise his embassy. He was Venezuelan and he said that I could use his personal computer and I was able to write a journalist and immediately alert the international community. Amnesty International won the freedom of everyone. This was at 5:00 in the morning, or even later, maybe 6:00 a.m.

Worldfocus: Is media free and open in Honduras? How is the current government treating journalists?

Allan McDonald: No existe en este momento ninguna libertad de prensa, también existe la autocensura, y al acomodamiento de la prensa frente a los hechos, antes de este golpre ya la prensa estaba polarizada frente a Zelaya, los medios callaron siempre la verdad en este asunto, hay videos e imágenes manipuladas por los medios.

At this moment, freedom of the press does not exist. There are self-censorship and some inaccuracies when it comes to the facts. Before this coup, the press was already polarized and set against Zelaya. The media always silenced the truth in this matter, and manipulated videos and images.

Worldfocus: Where are people getting their information?

Allan McDonald: Esta batalla contra la censura y contra la dictadura y la desinformación se esta librando desde Google, desde allí la genta se informa, otro media sin censura fueron los mesanjitos vía celular, que acá en Honduras todo el mundo tiene uno, mas no todos tiene acceso al Internet.

This battle against censorship and against dictatorship and disinformation is freed by Google. It is here the people get informed. Other media without censorship were cell phone messages. Here in Honduras, everyone has one, but not everyone has access to the Internet.

A cartoon by Allan McDonald paints a dim picture of Honduran democracy.

Worldfocus: What is your opinion about the situation in Honduras? How should the crisis be resolved?

Allan McDonald: El Departamento de Estado hizo o correcto, aca esta totalmente dividido, entre ricos y pobres, no hay ideologías, es lucha de clases, pero los pactos deben ser en us país neutral tal como U.S. hizo, dándole espacio a Costa Rica, creo que alli esta la luz al final del túnel, sin embargo el propio Micheletti desde ahora se opone al regreso de Zelaya, eso va contra lo manifestado de U.S. y su deseo de arreglar este asunto ya demasiado espinoso. Esta es la primera vez que me alegro que intervenga Estados Unidos a un país.

The State Department did right. Here it is completely divided between rich and poor — not between ideologies. This is a class struggle. But it should be resolved by a neutral country, like the U.S. did by asking Costa Rica to take over negotiations. I believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but Micheletti is going to oppose the return of Zelaya, which goes against the declaration of the U.S. and the desire to fix this already too-thorny matter. This is the first time that I am happy the United States intervened in a country.

Worldfocus: Has public opinion at large swayed in favor of or against Zelaya?

Allan McDonald: Si, y es fácil saberlo, sino fuera asi, no habría tanta censura, hasta las cadenas internacionales como CNN les cortan su senal desde acá, ponen cadenas para que nadie se da cuenta que dice el mundo, ahora la población no esta en las calles por Zelaya, sino por la barbarie que hacen, suprimir garantias individuales, toques de queda, censura, y balas, ya el ejercito abre fuego y ya hay 2 victimas comprobadas y centenares de detenidos y amanazados, la prensa no dice nada.

Yes, and it is easy to know — if there wasn’t so much censorship, since even international stations like CNN are cut off from the public. Now, the population isn’t in the streets for Zelaya, but for the barbarism that they do, to suppress individual rights. The curfews, censorship and bullets…already, they have opened fire and already two have been killed (this has been verified), and hundreds of people have been arrested and threatened, and the press does not say anything.

Translated by Katie Combs and Ivette Feliciano.

Have your own memory of Michael Jackson? Share it in the comments section below.

Coca leaves have both a practical and spiritual use in Bolivia.

Ivette Feliciano reported on Bolivia’s coca plant cultivation as part of the signature series “On the ground in Bolivia.” The coca plant is still used to make teas, pastas, shampoos and medicines, in the same way that generations of indigenous Bolivians used coca leaves in years past.

For extended multimedia coverage of the issues facing Bolivia today, go to On the Ground in Bolivia.

One day while heading back to Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, our driver Mauro told me about a use for coca that surprised me. Mauro is an indigenous Aymara Indian, and he told me how dried coca leaves are used by indigenous Bolivian fortune tellers, or brujos, to help guide people in communities like his on their life paths.

Mauro is originally from a town a few hours outside of La Paz.  He said that he and members of his family typically go to see a brujos if they are sick, need guidance on a business decision, or are having trouble in their love lives. The last time Mauro had visited a brujo was a few months before, when he and his wife opened a new liquor store. They wanted to make sure that an offering was made to the Pachamama, or mother earth.

Mauro took me to a neighborhood in La Paz high in the hills that seemed isolated from the other bustling La Paz neighborhoods. There were about 40 or 50 small blue shacks, and if you peaked inside one, you might see a fortune teller saying a prayer or breaking down an altar they had prepared for a previous customer.

We walked into two different shacks and had our fortunes read by two brujos.  The first brujo was in his late 70s.  He said he’d been born into the tradition. His grandfather was a brujo, as was his father.  He’d been practicing coca leaf fortune telling for 33 years. He explained that for most people in his profession, you were born into the tradition. But some people received the calling later in life, like a man he knew who’d been struck by lightening and survived — and from then on had the gift of being able to read coca leaves.

He performed a simple reading. There was a crucifix on the table along with dried coca leaves. On the walls were pictures of Catholic saints and indigenous war heroes. He asked what question I’d like to ask, and then proceeded to say a prayer using both Spanish and Aymara words. After a few minutes of prayers, he began tossing the leaves around the crucifix and observed the pattern they formed as they fell, and then answered the question I had asked. His price was a little less than a dollar, and the entire experience lasted about 10 minutes.

The second brujo said he wanted to perform a cleansing ritual on me after reading the coca leaves. He built an altar that included grass, incense, walnuts, confetti and of course coca leaves.  After saying a ten minute prayer, he burned the altar and placed a string bracelet on me.  This was meant to rid me of fear. This ritual cost close to fifty dollars.

On our way back to hotel after going to see these two men, Mauro told me he thought the second brujo was very good. He also expressed how happy he was that I was able to experience the sacred uses of coca.

- Ivette Feliciano

For more Worldfocus coverage of Bolivia, visit our extended coverage page: On the Ground in Bolivia.

Morales’ policies have won him praise in some circles, but he’s also made some powerful enemies. Recently, his government said he was the target of an assassination plot.

Morales joins Worldfocus’ Ivette Feliciano to discuss the assassination plot, why he chose to expel U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg and the future of U.S.-Bolivian relations. 

For more Worldfocus coverage of Bolivia, visit our extended coverage page: On the Ground in Bolivia.

Worldfocus’ Ivette Feliciano, Bryan Myers and Ara Ayer venture to the “Salar de Uyuni” — the largest salt flat in the world, and one that may turn out to be the key to Bolivia’s future economic growth.

For more on how Bolivia and other developing countries might leverage their resources, listen to our online radio show on resources in the developing world.

For more Worldfocus coverage of Bolivia, visit our extended coverage page: On the Ground in Bolivia.

It’s a proposal that has left many landowners unhappy. Worldfocus’ Ivette Feliciano, Bryan Myers and Ara Ayer report from Santa Cruz, where many of Bolivia’s largest landholders — ranchers, cattlemen and industrial farmers — live. 

For more Worldfocus coverage of Bolivia, visit our extended coverage page: On the Ground in Bolivia.

But Bolivia’s leftist leader, Evo Morales — himself a former coca farmer — recently expelled U.S. drug enforcement agents from the country. As Worldfocus’ Ivette Feliciano, Bryan Myers and Ara Ayer discovered, many impoverished Bolivians depend on the coca plant for their livelihood.

Also, pass through a drug checkpoint in Bolivia’s mountains (web original video).

For more Worldfocus coverage of Bolivia, visit our extended coverage page: On the Ground in Bolivia.

Americans used to flock to the city, but now largely avoid it. In 2005, a banner year for tourism, some four million people visited Tijuana.  Last year, the number dropped to around 400,000. Residents, too, are fleeing in fear. 

Worldfocus correspondent John Larson, producer Bryan Myers and field producers Megan Thompson and Ivette Feliciano explore Tijuana, beginning in a hospital that not only treats the victims of drug violence, but that operates in fear that its own people will get caught in the battle.

While many Mexicans would be revolted by the grisly murders, there is also a popular subculture that celebrates this sort of violence.

Worldfocus correspondent John Larson, producer Bryan Myers and field producer Ivette Feliciano report on “narco” culture. Megan Thompson shot the piece.

One Tijuana business owner who refuses to be named, pictured or recorded without voice modification tells the story of how he was kidnapped by organized crime and ransomed to his family.

There is also the growing problem of people simply vanishing. Known as the “disappeared,” Mexico’s kidnapping victims are often never heard from again — 97 percent of the country’s kidnapping cases go unsolved by police.

Worldfocus correspondent John Larson, producer Bryan Myers and field producers Megan Thompson and Ivette Feliciano report from Tijuana.

Teodoro Eduardo García Simental, “El Teo,” is a major player in Tijuana’s drug war, a larger-than-life figure who has escaped the law and left gruesome corpses in his wake.

Worldfocus correspondent John Larson, producer Bryan Myers and field producers Megan Thompson and Ivette Feliciano spend five days in Tijuana, where life in El Teo’s reach is surrounded by death.