A filmmaker’s firsthand experience of the US attacks on Venezuela. Her country is at the center of geopolitics—but ordinary people are powerless. A view from Caracas, caught between hope and resignation. In December 2025, the death of her stepfather Nelson brought documentary filmmaker Anabel Rodríguez Ríos home to Venezuela, to mourn with her mother. The country is economically devastated, and the public healthcare system is in crisis. Medical treatment might have helped save her stepfather’s life. But it was too expensive.