I Am the People: Venezuela Under Populism (El pueblo soy yo: Venezuela en populismo)

In a world increasingly less transparent, where the shortcut of populism lurks to endanger democracies, I Am The People: Venezuela Under Populism compels us to ask ourselves if any society, however stable, can be considered invulnerable to a populist irruption and its consequences. Populism isn’t an ideology. It’s a way of governing.I Am The People sets out to expose the skillful mechanisms of authoritarian power in the government initiated by Hugo Chávez and continued by Nicolás Maduro. The film uncovers the emergence of the charismatic leader at a time of crisis, and how ‒supported by soaring oil prices– he paved the way to seize institutions, polarize society, silence the media, and dismantle the production apparatus. All this, on behalf of the people.A social historian, director Carlos Oteyza uses archive footage and interviews with experts to create views of the situation; describing the events from Chávez's failed coup to his rise and then the fall of the regime as discontent at economic failure and growing authoritarianism grows.According to Oteyza, the documentary is not a review of the situation in Venezuela, because it is a situation that has not ended. It intends to expose how populism can endanger any democracy.