Italian-American businessman Marco Venieri flies to Colombia after getting word that his older brother, Luca, has committed suicide. Once a member of the Italian terrorist group Red Brigade which was responsible for killing many civilians and government officials in the 1970s, Luca Venieri served two years in jail but was released after turning in other terrorists. At the Italian embassy in Bogota, staffer Irene Costa tells Marco they are handling the paperwork, but he will need to identify Luca’s body. Irene reports the secret service helped keep Luca hidden since his arrival in Colombia several years ago, but he seemed to have a hard time living in hiding. Marco says that Luca always acted on impulse and constantly wanted to be the center of attention. Marco takes a bus to the seaside town of Buenaventura where he meets with a Ministry of Justice staffer named Mario Anderson who explains there are dangerous, “off-limits” zones in town that he should avoid. They are designated by a painted red line on the ground. Anderson reports Luca was staying in a fleabag hotel in an off-limits zone when a maid found him in lying in bed in a pool of blood after shooting himself in the mouth. Anderson gives him Luca’s personal effects, but says there was no suicide note. Anderson takes Marco to a fish market where they have been keeping Luca’s body on ice, awaiting identification. Even though the face was badly disfigured by the bullet, Marco confirms that it is his brother and takes the wedding ring off his brother’s hand. Anderson offers to have the body shipped to Italy, but Marco declines, saying if Luca chose to die in Colombia, he should be buried in Colombia. That night as Marco wanders through town, he senses he is being followed and slips down a side street. Suddenly, he is in the midst of a large group of people who push him further into the off-limits zone. Marco sees the Hotel del Pacifico where his brother was staying and asks to see Luca’s room. There, he spots a bullet hole in the wall by the bed and digs the bullet out. Marco goes back to the fish market and takes fingerprints from the body. The next day, Luca is buried, but the priest will not bless the body because it was a suicide. Upon his return to Bogota, Irene says the fingerprints are not Luca’s and the bullet used came from a thirty-eight caliber gun, the type police use. Because he found newspapers from there in Luca’s belongings, Marco rents a car and drives to the coastal resort of Santa Marta in northern Colombia. When he stops at a restaurant, a waiter tells him Luca was a regular there, but he has not seen him in a year. The waiter suggests that Luca was in the drug business. Marco buys cocaine in a bar and indicates he is interested in larger quantities. The young drug dealer takes him to a building where a cockfight is in progress. However, police soon break up the cockfight and arrest Marco and the rest of those watching. In jail, Marco’s cellmates tell him about an Italian drug dealer who goes by the name of “Venecia” and works for Ruben Diaz. “Venecia” disappeared recently with a shipment of cocaine and with everyone’s money. Once released, Marco takes a small plane to Brazil and hires a taxi to take him to the border town of Leticia. There, he inquires about Ruben Diaz at the fancy Hotel Colonial. The clerk claims to know nothing, but suggests he return in the morning to talk to the owner. Marco goes to the docks where he hires a boat owner named Werner to take him across the river. They interact with children along the river’s edge and Marco is touched by their innocence. That night at the Hotel Colonial, Marco enjoys a midnight swim in the pool when hotel owner Roberto Carrasco comes to chat with him. Roberto says he knowns nothing about Luca or Ruben Diaz, but invites Marco to come to a reception he is throwing the next evening. In town the next day, Marco is impressed when he sees Roberto showing off an alligator he wrestled. Marco borrows Werner’s Jeep to follow Roberto’s car to the river, where he observes Roberto’s men loading crates of cocaine onto a sea plane. That night at the reception, Roberto honors Senor Mendoza. Irene, the embassy staffer, is also at the reception as she will be travelling to Brazil with Mendoza later. Roberto also shows a film of him wrestling an anaconda snake. Later, as Marco looks at photos of a teenaged Luca, Roberto comes in, snorts some cocaine and offers some to Marco, who declines. Despite Roberto’s attempts at being friendly, Marco says he does not think the two can be friends. The next day, Marco joins Roberto and his men on an excursion into the jungle where they feed a pack of exotic monkeys, then shoot and kill them. Marco is aghast, but Roberto says he does not understand their way of life. That night, Marco gets drunk, passes out, and dreams of Luca’s grave. Roberto comes in and sees the unconscious man, commenting that Marco never could hold his liquor. Marco wakes up and realizes that Roberto is Luca. Roberto says he wanted to forget his old life and to be forgotten. So he had plastic surgery and faked his death. He tells Marco to give the wedding ring to his wife, Francesca, but not let her know he is alive. Marco asks about the body they buried. Roberto says the person was already dead, killed in an accident. They merely used his body to make it look like he committed suicide. The next morning as Marco eats breakfast, Irene drops by his table. She says she likes him, and under different circumstances they might have been lovers. She tells him the dead man at the hotel was Ruben Diaz, kisses him goodbye, and leaves with Mendoza. Marco packs his things and goes to a waiting motorboat, but the boat’s cabin is locked. Marco finds a key to the cabin, but rather than speed away, he returns to the hotel. He goes to Roberto’s room where he pulls a gun on him. He fires about the room, but never shoots his brother.