Reporter Fernando Lucena gets immersed in San Pedro Sula's most violent neighbourhood, to witness first-hand the brutality with which the Honduran gangs operate. The same brutality that is causing the migration of thousands of Hondurans, who cannot withstand living in what their country has turned into, courtesy of the mass deportations of gang members carried out by the United States.
Institutional documentary made by FL Films for the NGOs CBI (USA) and CREER (Colombia).
While making an analogy with the preparation of a typical Colombian sancocho, we reflect on the best ways to promote dialogue and coexistence between the different actors of Colombia’s Cesar Mining Corridor.
This four-part series looks into the wave of violence that is sweeping El Callao, a port city with more than double the murder rate of the rest of Peru.
Accompanying both law enforcement officials as well as some of the most violent criminals in town, reporter Fernando Lucena is faced with contract killings, common crime and the rampant drug abuse that is affecting this small port city – the epicentre of the multi-million drug trade that places the Callao port as the main exit point for cocaine in the whole world.
Reporter Ade Adepitan goes undercover to reveal the shocking scale and brazen nature of the illegal trade in protected wildlife in Peru’s amazon jungle.
Producer: Fernando Lucena
As illegal gold mining in Peru’s remote Amazon ramps up, ramshackle brothels are sprouting up to cater to labourers with money to spend.
In some instances, young girls are being lured to these camps with promises of regular work, only to be forced into selling themselves for sex. A sting operation by the authorities reveals the extent of these deplorable conditions.
Peru is the number one producer of counterfeit US dollars in the world. In 2015, just over 16 million forged bills seized in the US were of Peruvian origin, according to the US Secret Service.
The forged dollars are finished by hand, giving them an exceptional quality. And for the criminal gangs counterfeit money is cheaper to produce than cocaine.
Fernando Lucena goes undercover for VICE News to expose the illegal trade in counterfeit money and gets rare access to the criminal forgers who show us how these bills are made.
Episode 3 of a FL Films’ series on Pablo Escobar’s legacy of violence. Looks into the Peruvian government’s current struggle against drug production in the Huallaga Valley – a region that first became associated with cocaine back in the 1980s, when it supplied most of the raw material for the Medellin Cartel’s merchandise.
A FL Films’ production broadcast by VICE to promote the Golden Globes’ nominated NETFLIX series “Narcos”.
Episode 2 of a FL Films’ series on Pablo Escobar’s legacy of violence. Looks into the spillover of the hit-man culture developed by the Medellin Cartel and now affecting the slums of Lima, Peru.
A FL Films’ production broadcast by VICE to promote the Golden Globes’ nominated NETFLIX series “Narcos”.
In the fourth episode in our series of films about US intervention in sovereign Latin American nations, we look into the two historical US invasions of the Caribbean island while also analyzing how the West still holds a firm grip over the exploitation of the Dominican resources.
EARTHRISE travels to Peru’s Andean region, to witness how a network of stone canals dating back to the seventh century could be a solution to the capital’s water crisis.
Produced and Directed by Fernando Lucena.
Reported by Juliana Schatz.
In 2013 the United Nations confirmed that Peru had overtaken Colombia as the world’s top coca and cocaine producer.
Vice News travels to the heart of Peru’s coca-producing region, to witness how the government is waging a war on drugs with the aim of putting an early end to the country’s reign as the world’s new king of cocaine. From first hand we witness the government’s campaign of crop eradication and efforts to destroy narco runways, which have yet to prove successful in curbing Peru’s cocaine output, while they risk further igniting a social conflict.
While witnessing the drug production process in a remote jungle laboratory, reporter Fernando Lucena gets a close shave at the hands of local traffickers.
In the first episode in a series of films about US intervention in Latin America, we see how Washington’s policies influenced the rise of paramilitarism in Colombia, while analysing the social consequences of the “War on Drugs”.
In the second episode in a series of films about US intervention in Latin America, we recoup the history and persecution of the pro-independence movement in Puerto Rico, the “last colony in the Americas”.
In the third episode in a series of films about US intervention in Latin America, we go through the events that led to the 1989 US invasion, and the consequences it still bears on Panama. A hundred years after the opening of the Panama Canal, we analyse the importance and effects it has had on the tiny Central American nation.
EARTHRISE – Al Jazeera’s award-winning environmental series - travels to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, to witness how scientists and local farmers are working hand-in-hand to safeguard the genetic diversity of one of the world’s favourite crops.
Produced and directed by Fernando Lucena.
Reported by Russell Beard.
Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s iconic and charismatic president, died from cancer earlier this year. Chavez had always been a controversial figure, wildly popular with some, the object of outright loathing from others. With the backdrop of the first elections in a hugely polarized post-Chavez Venezuela, this film tries to answer the one question that was uppermost in the minds of Chavez’ supporters, opponents and the wider world: Will “Chavismo” live on without Chavez?
Miami, an international metropolis associated with beaches, tourism and a distinctive Latin feel. But not many associate present-day Miami to the biggest terrorist centre in the whole world, which is how this city was described during the 1960s. Ruthless terrorist attacks against Castro’s Cuba were planned and executed from Miami, many times with the help of the CIA.
We’ll hear unprecedented testimonies from the perpetrators themselves, the very same people responsible for dozens of civilian murders, which now enjoy comfortable lives in the U.S, protected by their bosses in Washington.
EARTHRISE travels to Lima, the world’s second largest desert city, to see how the residents of the arid hillsides surrounding Peru’s capital are using simple fog nets to catch moisture in the air, and use it to turn the desert green.
Produced and directed by Fernando Lucena.
Reported by Russell Beard.
A story about a group of men from the slums of Peru, who - lured by the promise of a better life - left for Iraq. They expected to fulfil the roles of simple “security guards” but, instead, found themselves in the frontline of America’s war. After the withdrawal of US troops, the guards are still fulfilling the roles that the US servicemen left behind. While those who sent them got rich beyond belief, the guards are gradually being replaced for even cheaper workers from poorer countries.
After defying death by surviving spectacular attempts on his life carried out by his powerful enemies, Victor Carranza - known as the “Emerald Tsar” - is now terminally ill. Could the impending death of the controversial ‘godfather’ of Colombia’s emerald industry trigger a violent gang war? Through unprecedented access we bring to the screen this remarkable profile of who might arguably be the most powerful man in Colombia.
After a harrowing and dangerous journey through Peru’s “Emergency Zone” in the most remote and inhospitable part of the Amazon jungle, we meet the remnants of the Shining Path – the subversive group responsible for a conflict that claimed 70,000 lives. At their secret base camp, reporter Fernando Lucena interviews its notorious leaders – men who’ve never been seen on film before. And the very same men for whose capture the US government have recently offered a 5-million dollar reward.
According to the UN, Peru is now the world’s leading producer of coca leaf, the source plant for cocaine. The Peruvian government partly blames this on the protection given to coca growers by remnants of the Maoist Shining Path insurgency. It also claims that the group have now become hired guns for the drug lords. To investigate this claim we follow Peru’s Counter-narcotics Police, visit cocaine laboratories and hear shocking testimonies from those living in Peru’s “Emergency Zone” – a region where drug lords, security forces and insurgents co-exist. Not entirely peacefully.
This dramatic independent film, shot throughout a 3-year period, captures the agonising process of organizing an “illicit departure” from Cuba. We meet Yosbel, who struggles to support his entire family and has attempted to escape to the US nine times. With his friend Carlos, they have put together an improvised boat crew and will attempt the crossing once more. Six months later we meet up with Yosbel in Manhattan, and hear his first impressions of life in his “dreamland”.
NOMINATED: AL JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2011
A delegation of rabbis travelled from Israel to the Andes and, after a 30-minute test on Jewish traditions, converted hundreds of native South Americans to orthodox Jews. The new converts enjoy generous housing and government benefits. Many also serve in the Israeli Defence Forces. But more significant is their newfound belief in their God-given right to live in the West Bank settlements and the absolute conviction that the Palestinians have no right to this same land.
After getting the go-ahead by the Peruvian government, international oil companies have started to detonate “seismic lines”, looking for oil throughout vast portions of the Amazon Basin. Many of these seismic lines run across areas that had previously been allocated to reserves for the un-contacted tribes – people who have chosen to live in voluntary isolation, as their ancestors did. While oil executives and the Peruvian President himself deny their existence, we see evidence of how these vulnerable Amazonians are now fleeing their traditional habitat.
The Peruvian government approved a set of controversial laws that set off the adjudication of vast hydrocarbon concessions in the Amazon basin. The result was a harsh clash with the rights of native Amazonians who have inhabited this part of the country since ancient times. The ensuing insurgency lead by the indigenous Amazonians tragically saw 24 policemen and 10 natives dead.
The film juxtaposes the stories of the many Cubans who have hope in the recent economic reforms implemented in the communist island, with those of other Cubans who are desperate to risk their lives and escape Cuba in search of the “American dream”.
This film tells the story of an undercover agent from the United States ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement), who infiltrated one of the most notorious Mexican drug cartels in Cuidad Juarez. In the most dangerous city in the Western hemisphere, he went significantly beyond the call of duty and actively participated in 13 gruesome executions with the explicit knowledge of his seniors in ICE. When the story surfaced, ICE, the DEA and the US Department of Justice made every possible effort to ensure it remained unreported. We tell it here.
In a country characterised by a policy of complete censorship, a new generation of young Cubans aided by the internet, have created an underground network to disseminate information that the authorities would rather not release. A confrontation showing students grilling the president of the National Assembly was stored on memory sticks. This was passed from one person to another, sparking debate and outrage amongst Cubans. On the other hand, winds of change seem to be slowly spreading across the island, with many hoping for the coming reforms to the traditional socialist structure.
The small Caribbean island of Dominica has joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) headed by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. The Dominican and Venezuelan governments then announced plans to build an oil refinery in the island. In a country that thrives on its image as “the Nature Island of the Caribbean”, the oil-related project has sparked a wave of protests and threatens to divide the population.
The film follows Fernando Lugo, a former Bishop of Paraguay, on his presidential campaign trail. He’s promising to bridge the ever-increasing gap between rich and poor by implementing a neo-socialist government in place of the ruling Colorado Party. The latter has been in power for the past 60 years, leading one of the most corrupt and repressive regimes in the world, and is set to use any means to keep Lugo away from the Presidential seat. A month after broadcast, Lugo was elected President of Paraguay. He is the first former Catholic Bishop to become a Head of State.
An initiative of the US government encouraged the “outsourcing” of the War on Terror to private security contractors. As a consequence, young men from poor countries are being hired for $30 a day to guard British and American bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. And their duties are only marginally different to those of a soldier. Many who have been injured or disabled as a result, are denied aftercare and legal compensation. Produced and filmed by Fernando Lucena, and reported by Newsnight’s Paul Mason.
After a series of murders of young black people in south London, Tony Blair said that the spate of gun attacks was part of a “distinctive black culture” rather than about poverty and deprivation. Do you know what a “shank” is? If you don’t, then this disturbing film from Hackney will tell you about the nastiest side of London’s youth culture – where violence, drugs and hopelessness prevail amongst young men.
In 1988, a 2000 year old, golden headdress that once belonged to a Lord from the ancient Moche culture was looted from a tomb in the desert of northern Peru – and subsequently disappeared. Unravelling a story of murder and intrigue, this film follows the trail of a dangerous mafia of archaeological traffickers. We travel from Peru to Spain to Germany and eventually end in London where the headdress is seized by detectives from Scotland Yard and finally returned to where it belongs – in a museum in Peru.
A dazzling collection of art works from the masters of the Impressionist movement – Cezanne, Degas, Renoir and Matisse – vanished from the National Art Gallery in Buenos Aires. At the time Argentina was ruled by a ruthless military junta responsible for the torture and ‘disappearance’ of thousands of members of the opposition. This complex story, which involves shady figures in the junta’s feared secret police, takes us from Buenos Aires to Taiwan and ends up at London’s Sotheby’s Gallery.
WINNER: TV DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR – ONE WORLD MEDIA AWARDS 2007
Fernando Lucena: Associate Producer
In 2005, 12 year old Claudia was imprisoned in her native Bolivia for trying to smuggle a kilogram of cocaine. This occurred under an anti-narcotic law drafted by the US that judges people guilty until proved innocent. This Draconian measure is the focus of new left-wing Bolivian leader Evo Morales’s campaign against “US colonialism”. The film questions this harshest of laws, taking us from raids on cocaine laboratories to the day-to-day realities inside a women’s prison. A full picture of the poorest end of the drug trade chain.
Fernando Lucena: Associate Producer/ Undercover Reporter
Dispatches looks at the state of meals provided in UK hospitals in terms of their content and nutrition. Through extensive undercover reporting, we reveal unhygienic practices at a factory providing frozen meals for hospital use. One of the subsidiaries of food giant Sodexho made several attempts to block this film from airing. All of which were rejected by the British Courts, thanks to the thoroughness with which the evidence had been gathered by the undercover reporter.
Other undercover investigations carried out for the BBC between 2004/2005 could not be included on this list due to security concerns.