The first part begins in Colombia. Medellin, once the most dangerous city in the world, is trying to transform from Pablo Escobar's cocaine capital into a hip, hip tourist metropolis. Marietta Slomka meets courageous politicians who have cable cars and award-winning architecture built in the slums, optimistic entrepreneurs who believe in a better future - but also victims of the drug mafia that still rules parts of the city.
Bolivia is the first stop in the second part of the report. Marietta Slomka takes the notorious Death Road to the Yungas, the growing region for coca leaves. The raw material for the drug cocaine can be grown legally in the poorest country in South America. In La Paz, Marietta Slomka meets a young politician who represents a whole new generation of indigenous representatives.