A country that was once a model of independence and Africa's fastest growing economy is now in a treacherous decline of hunger, poverty and fear. FRONTLINE/World chronicles a country trapped in shadows and lies.

A country that was once a model of independence and Africa's fastest growing economy is now in a treacherous decline of hunger, poverty and fear. Zimbabwe's 82-year-old President Robert Mugabe, once hailed as a great liberation hero, has become Africa's longest standing dictator. Opposition politicians and reporters have been jailed, beaten and tortured, and all foreign journalists have been expelled. Posing as tourists, FRONTLINE/World reporters Alexis Bloom and Cassandra Herrman travel undercover to meet secretly with leaders of the opposition and other dissidents to chronicle a country trapped in shadows and lies. Interviewing people at safe locations, using a hidden camera, and filming from a car with tinted windows, the FRONTLINE/World team taps the network of those brave enough to speak to the press. They also hear from people struggling to survive in the rural areas - a population Mugabe keeps carefully hidden from foreign eyes.