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Episode details

Radio 4,29 Oct 2015,30 mins

The Comedian President

From Our Own Correspondent

Available for over a year

Guatemalans, united by anger against violence and a political system riddled with corruption, have chosen a comedian to be their next president. Jimmy Morales is riding on a wave of excitement - but his people want change. And they want it fast. There's another election this coming weekend -- it's in Turkey and the voting takes place amidst fears that the country could find itself sucked into the vortex of the seemingly endless war in neighbouring Syria. Russia's involvement in the conflict in Syria has its opponents outside the country but within Russia, few oppose President Putin's foreign policy. In this programme we meet a Russian war veteran who's defying public abuse and saying: those who launched this military operation don't know how dangerous it is, or how it will end. We travel to Patagonia in the south of Argentina to see how a Welsh community there is faring in the shadow of the snow-capped Andes. And the tastebuds are tingling in the American state of Oregon where a rather special kind of beer, only available at this time of year, is nearly ready!

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