HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

The Inmates Are Running Venezuela’s Prisons. They've Created Autonomous Micro-Dictatorships.

Views: 852
The documentary La Causa is a raw look into these self-organized societies, complete with taxes, courts, and a strict "thug code.”

https://www.amazon.com/Causa-Andr%C3%A9s-Figueredo-Thomson/dp/B08KYH3CGB
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/la-causa/id1533691354
------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV?sub...
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magaz...
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
----------------
The inmates have overtaken many prisons in Venezuela, armed with automatic weapons and grenades. They are governed by criminal gangs led by a "pran," or kingpin, who strictly enforces the "thug code" by which all prisoners must abide, or they will be shot in various body parts. It's too dangerous for guards or federal troops to enter, so they patrol the perimeter and train their rifles on any inmate who tries to leave. 

Inside the walls, the prisoners have formed functional, independent societies with open-air bazaars offering everything from Coca-Cola to crack cocaine. Several days a week, they welcome their girlfriends, wives, children, and extended families for visits, birthday parties, and even music festivals.

Communal activities are funded by La Causa, or "The Cause," a tax that the prison's de facto government collects from most inmates to purchase goods that come into the facility. If they don't pay, they are sent to The Church, which acts as both a house of worship and a debtors' prison-within-the-prison.

La Causa, a new documentary from 29-year-old filmmaker Andrés Figueredo Thomson, is a raw look at life inside what was, at the time of production, Venezuela's largest prison. Filmed over the course of eight years, the documentary explores the structure of its self-organized society, where dissenters and those deemed social radicals were treated harshly. LGBT inmates, for example, were cast out and forced to live on the roof of a building. 

Figueredo Thomson was a 19-year-old high school senior in 2010 when he started capturing remarkable footage inside the prison, as the socialist strongman president Hugo Chavez dismantled democratic institutions and seized control of private businesses. With Venezuela sliding further into authoritarianism, Figueredo Thomson's family was soon targeted.

His stepfather, Guillermo Zuloaga, led one of the last independent media outlets in the country after Chavez seized most of the others. He fought escalating government harassment for years as he continued to expose the vast human cost of the Chavez regime's policies. But the year after Figueredo Thomson began production on La Causa, Chavez declared Zuloaga a political enemy of the revolution, forcing his family to flee to the U.S. 

The prison population has exploded in recent years as the regime of Chavez's successor, Nicolas Maduro, has cracked down on mostly poor Venezuelans for alleged petty offenses. La Causa builds to a dramatic finish as the military embarks on a campaign to retake several inmate-run prisons, setting up a showdown in 2016 at the prison where Figueredo Thomson shot most of his footage. 

Produced, written, and edited by Justin Monticello. Audio production by Ian Keyser.

Music: Silent Partner 

Photos: Andrés Figueredo Thomson; CARLOS HERNANDEZ/picture-alliance / dpa/Newscom; EDWIN MONTILVA/REUTERS/Newscom; JORGE SILVA/REUTERS/Newscom; EDWIN MONTILVA/REUTERS/Newscom
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is an Assault on the First Amendment14:06
The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is an Assault on the First Amendment
ReasonVids
993 views
Thumbnail for Moonshine: The American Rebel Spirit7:40
Moonshine: The American Rebel Spirit
ReasonVids
958 views
Thumbnail for Boston's Mayor Instantly Regrets Asking For Feedback On Her Live Video, Panic Sets In1:23
Boston's Mayor Instantly Regrets Asking For Feedback On Her Live Video, Panic Sets In
AOU
1474 views
Thumbnail for Slope 310:00
Slope 3
stumble_bro
434 views
Thumbnail for Stonewall 2011: The Night NY Legalized Gay Marriage2:19
Stonewall 2011: The Night NY Legalized Gay Marriage
ReasonVids
846 views
Thumbnail for Rune Chat #94: Ukraine, Mekraine, We Allkraine for Ice Cream1:19:12
Rune Chat #94: Ukraine, Mekraine, We Allkraine for Ice Cream
RuneChat
803 views
Thumbnail for the beans game | Shut Up & Sit Down11:36
the beans game | Shut Up & Sit Down
invidious
233 views
Thumbnail for E-Cigarettes: Second-hand Smoke, Vaping, and the Price of FDA Regulations6:23
E-Cigarettes: Second-hand Smoke, Vaping, and the Price of FDA Regulations
ReasonVids
958 views
Thumbnail for Joe Trippi: "I don't see Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton having a big fight over the NSA."0:56
Joe Trippi: "I don't see Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton having a big fight over the NSA."
ReasonVids
790 views
Thumbnail for Should We End the Lockdowns? A Soho Forum Debate1:27:43
Should We End the Lockdowns? A Soho Forum Debate
ReasonVids
760 views
Thumbnail for As I Lay Dying - Parallels (OFFICIAL) | Metal Blade Records4:58
As I Lay Dying - Parallels (OFFICIAL) | Metal Blade Records
invidious
283 views
Thumbnail for Georgia Law Enforcement Often Refuses to Report Forfeiture Funds, a Violation of GA Law2:58
Georgia Law Enforcement Often Refuses to Report Forfeiture Funds, a Violation of GA Law
IJvids
893 views
Thumbnail for Drew Dreschel at the 2014 Miami Finals | American Ninja Warrior2:29
Drew Dreschel at the 2014 Miami Finals | American Ninja Warrior
ninjawarrior
966 views
Thumbnail for If you can't feed them don't breed them0:43
If you can't feed them don't breed them
AOU
783 views
Thumbnail for Judge Napolitano: Why Taxation is Theft, Abortion is Murder, & Gov't is Dangerous24:59
Judge Napolitano: Why Taxation is Theft, Abortion is Murder, & Gov't is Dangerous
ReasonVids
822 views
Thumbnail for Real World DC (Health Care Remix)0:53
Real World DC (Health Care Remix)
ReasonVids
861 views
Thumbnail for American (((pagans)))3:12
American (((pagans)))
bestofupgoat
415 views
Thumbnail for She has prepared for this0:52
She has prepared for this
bestofupgoat
369 views
Thumbnail for 3-D Printing DNA: Hacking Life's Code and Creating New Organisms10:33
3-D Printing DNA: Hacking Life's Code and Creating New Organisms
ReasonVids
800 views
Thumbnail for Drew Drechsel at 2013 National Finals Stage 1 | American Ninja Warrior2:22
Drew Drechsel at 2013 National Finals Stage 1 | American Ninja Warrior
ninjawarrior
935 views
Thumbnail for How to Grow a City in Honduras, Part IV: Citizens as Shareholders4:37
How to Grow a City in Honduras, Part IV: Citizens as Shareholders
ReasonVids
924 views
Thumbnail for What do libertarians think about gay marriage?2:07
What do libertarians think about gay marriage?
ReasonVids
906 views
Thumbnail for Abortion Bans Failed in the 19th Century. They'll Also Fail in the 21st.8:44
Abortion Bans Failed in the 19th Century. They'll Also Fail in the 21st.
ReasonVids
946 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian, reason magazine, reason.com, reason.tv, reasontv, andres figueredo thomson, justin monticello, venezuela, prisons, prison life, hugo chavez, nicolas maduro, socialism
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle