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. Meanwhile, in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of Venezuela, the US is stationing warships. US President Donald Trump threatened Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolás Maduro with war, accusing him of "narco-terrorism.” In September 2025, the United States begins ordering strikes on Venezuelan boats without an international legal mandate; the claim is that these are boats belong to drug traffickers. More than 100 people have been killed in these strikes so far.