“We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve, and no concern too small for it to care about.”
So declared democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani upon his election as mayor of New York City.
“It’s hard to find an American journalist who, one, cares about Venezuela and, two, doesn’t come from the typical, ‘It’s all the fault of America and the sanctions.’”
For Americans still basking in the utopian glow of Mamdani’s rise and the promise of democratic socialism, Jim Epstein and Germania Rodriguez Poleo would like a word.
Connecting the dots
The duo’s new project, “Escaping Venezuela,” is a timely tale of what happens when a prosperous nation decides to spread the wealth around. Said wealth quickly vanishes, and trying to leave the country becomes a life-or-death ordeal.
The Reason documentary, debuting today at the IFC Center in New York City, shows how late leader Hugo Chavez attempted a socialist makeover of the oil-rich country and the devastating consequences.
Hunger. Poverty. Corruption. Repression. Crushing media outlets that dare to question Team Chavez.
Epstein, the film’s producer, began thinking of a Venezuela-based documentary in 2019. The nation’s migration crisis, coupled with its economic woes and a crumbling hospital infrastructure, grabbed his attention.
“What are the policy mistakes that could lead this oil-rich country to end up in this place?” Epstein asked himself, telling Blaze Lifestyle that media reports captured the latest, tragic headlines but failed to connect the sizable dots.
“They picked up the last chapter in the story,” Epstein notes. It all led back to Chavez’s dream project, a “grand experiment in socialism.”
“He thought in terms of restoring the socialist movement from the ruins of the Berlin Wall,” he says. “He was going to lead this transformation of the country, then Latin America. ... It went not just wrong, but catastrophically wrong. And it’s such an important story to tell.”
Getting out
The film focuses on Carlos Mora, a Venezuelan entrepreneur whose business got crushed by Chavez’s socialist vision. He began spiriting his fellow Venezuelans out of the country at great personal risk.
His family’s story lies at the heart of “Escaping Venezuela.”
Rodriguez Poleo, the film’s narrator, was one of many Venezuelans who fled the socialist country. She joined the documentary, in part, to help tell a story that’s often distorted in the media.
“It’s hard to find an American journalist who, one, cares about Venezuela and, two, doesn’t come from the typical, ‘It’s all the fault of America and the sanctions,’” Rodriguez Poleo says.
One haunting film segment shows Hollywood rolling out the red carpet for Chavez at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
Literally.
The world leader was on hand to support “South of the Border,” director Oliver Stone’s fawning look at Latin America’s socialist makeover.
“People weren’t really paying attention to the repression that was happening [under Chavez’s watch],” Epstein says. “Chavez was treated like this fun guy that Michael Moore could go drinking with in his hotel room.”
Hard sell
Ironically, Hollywood has shown little interest, either with documentaries or narrative films, in showcasing the devastation wrought by Chavez’s policies and, later, President Nicolas Maduro’s handiwork.
Epstein isn’t surprised.
“Filmmakers are dominated by the left. ... They’re not going to gravitate to a grand experiment in socialism going wrong,” he says.
“Escaping Venezuela” may be a project seven years in the making, but the film arrives when the Democratic Party is fully embracing its socialist underpinnings. New York City’s new mayor is just one of many rising stars on the left who unabashedly want to transform the country into a socialist “utopia.”
“I started working on this film before the rise of DSA. ... The timing is just something we stumbled into,” Epstein says.
Rodriguez Poleo can’t understand why any nation would consider such a shift, especially given tragic examples like Venezuela. She also understands history has seen this kind of blind allegiance before.
“Hey, we did the hard work for you; learn from our tragedy,” she says, noting that her fellow Venezuelans also had to learn a lesson the hard way. “We ignored the Cubans when they warned us [about socialism]. Now, we’ve been ignored. That’s the wheel of history.”
RELATED: The DSA’s history lesson has one big omission
Sarah Rice/Getty Images
Spreading the word
“Escaping Venezuela” doesn’t have a theatrical or streaming distribution plan as of yet. Epstein is open to several options, and he’d love for the documentary to eventually stream on Netflix or Prime Video.
He knows the challenge awaiting most modern documentaries.
“It’s a battle for attention, a battle for eyeballs,” he says. “Getting a deal with Netflix or HBO is like winning the lottery. For a very political film like this one, it’s even harder.”
No matter the plan, Rodriguez Poleo would love to see the film screened on college campuses. That’s often where the loudest proponents of socialism dwell. It’s also a place where violence routinely occurs.
She isn’t surprised.
“Socialism is inherently authoritarian,” she says. “You have people who have their business. They want to run it their way. ... The government tells you, ‘I want your land.’ You’re going to have to get authoritarian to make people give up their rights.”