Downloaded from YTS.MX
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
- Hello. - What's up?
I set it aside for you.
I have the cash with me. My brother gave it to me.
Good, have it ready. How much you got?
I have $200.
Good, good. That's it. I'll call you to arrange delivery.
Now they can be used.
This one too. You'll see.
This one fits in your pocket, five shots.
Small and comfortable.
The person who safeguards these needs me to remove
the serial numbers. - Why?
Because if they catch us he will be in trouble,
because he was supposed to keep these safe.
- Where? - At the police station.
The police give these to me.
We talk every week. Some batches
come on Fridays, some on Wednesdays.
He brings a bag with 20 to 32 guns.
How many did you get this morning?
24.
Why do you have so few left?
Because they sell like hotcakes. Everyone's waiting for them.
When big batches come, around 30 or more,
they're sent to the prison.
They are bought and smuggled inside. Who smuggles them in?
The National Guard. The guards take
their cut and give it to them inside.
These were once used by cops to fight criminals.
Now they'll be used by criminals to fight cops.
Here is another one. Hello?
My passion is visiting prisons.
That's my passion.
Because that's where I come from.
Does it help you see where you are now?
What is it that you want, to help others to change?
Precisely, I want to deliver the message...
to those inside.
To help them see that they can change their life.
So that once they are free they'll have a new mindset.
You can't keep the old mindset.
You have to leave all that behind.
Excuse me, what's the difference between these two entrances?
Everyone walks freely in there.
Well, not freely. Just to where The Pran says they can.
The Pran, that's the boss there.
And is he a good ruler?
Yes, because in other prisons you see dead inmates constantly.
And here you don't see that many?
Every now and then.
And you are part of the ministry?
The Ministry for Prison affairs.
Do the guards ever go inside?
We can only go into the administrative area.
Why can you only go there?
Those are their rules in there.
Good day.
Your ID.
Visitors in the prison!
Watchmen to their post!
No, don't film us man.
Don't film them.
I sell movies and cigarettes to survive in here.
I spent eighteen years in prison
before, and was quickly brought back.
Back then, it was hard for a man to
reintegrate himself into society.
I think that prisons should have been
under our control a long time ago.
You know why? Because now a man can decide his own future here.
Nowadays we're not harassed.
We don't have the persecution we had before.
Today a man can walk freely, he can do whatever he wants.
Look at me, I'm calm here. No one
will come and take my things by force.
Back then, if you had a gold chain, I'd take it from you.
And why doesn't that happen anymore?
Because we have developed a conscience
of what we truly are: a union.
Everything is love, as they say.
We are a brotherhood.
That's all I can say. We've been moving forward.
With this you will go crazy, with this stuff.
Look, one gram of cocaine, the good kind.
- How much does it cost? - $2.
You also sell crack?
Yes, this here, one gram $4.
He was practically born riding a motorbike.
It's his art, what he's good at.
This is how he avoids feeling imprisoned.
He is serving his sentence,
but he's still allowed to practice his sport.
My dear brother, this prison was
originally built for eight hundred people.
We are now eight thousand, and new people arrive daily.
This isn't like any prison in the
United States or any developed country,
where you get your uniform and an assigned cell.
Here, you are first sent to "The Church",
where you spend some time adapting, then
you must search for a place to live.
How do they get up there? Do they climb this way?
Are they the ones you call the
renegades? What do you call them?
- Yes, the renegades. - Why are they up there?
- Due to their lifestyle. - They have problems.
One of the reasons I'm here is because I'm a homosexual.
Homosexuals are up here?
Yes, and we can't live with the others.
We homosexuals can't live down there, so we are sent up here.
Waiting to be transferred out.
What happens if you come down?
- No, we can't. - We just can't.
- Only to leave the prison. - True.
To get down they have to get us out of the prison.
That's what we want, to leave this prison.
- Can visitors come up here? - No.
Only there, where that woman is.
Over there, see? She is visiting one of the boys.
Everyone else has been transferred out.
- Only we remain here. - They put us up here...
to accelerate our transfer.
They took everyone, except us.
Take our picture!
Take our picture, for the TV.
Take a picture of this garden.
This is the kitchen.
That's the butcher.
Have you been sentenced?
- Yes. - How long?
Sixteen years.
I hear many inmates are still awaiting trial.
Me, that's my case.
I've been waiting four years for
my trial hearing and still nothing.
You've been here four years? Can't
you ask for something to be done?
Who am I gonna ask? Only God.
CHURCH OF RESTORATION AND REHABILITATION
ELEVATE JEHOVAH
We're the people in charge of cleaning.
We're "The Baptized," the members of "The Church".
This is the bathroom.
Visiting days, routine days...
While we are here, this is the bathroom.
And we clean it the best we can.
This is crazy.
Tell me what is "the routine"?
“The Routine" is knowing how to walk.
How to behave correctly when you are in prison.
If you don't know you learn from those who do.
We'll teach you, put you on the right path.
Some might try to teach you what's bad,
but we will teach you how to act in here.
How to walk, talk, what you must and must not do.
When someone makes a mistake, we send them to "The Church."
We leave them there for a couple of days to teach them a lesson.
Then we let them out, but you know how it is in here.
You give someone an opportunity and they keep fucking up.
In general, whether you were good or bad in the street,
in here we are all categorized into
"Thugs" "Workers" and "Baptized."
"The Baptized" are those who live in "The Church,"
abiding by God's word.
Thugs like myself, for example, if we incur a debt with someone,
and we don't have the money to pay
them back, we are sent to "The Church."
We must leave the world of thugs and
go live in "The Church" as men of God,
following God's rules, going to prayers every morning, fasting,
doing everything in the name of God,
because you are in "The Church."
However, some men might go to "The
Church" to save their lives, because,
God really does protect people in here.
There are men who've made serious
mistakes, and other inmates don't want
to accept them, because they've done something really bad,
so they seek refuge in God, they become baptized.
No matter what others may think of them,
they always have to act as
someone who is on the path of God.
One, two, three, Tren del Sur!
One, two, three, freedom!
The rules in here must be followed by everyone.
We have one leader, and he has our respect,
and everyone knows we must follow him.
We have more unity among inmates, you understand?
This is one house, under one boss.
The Pran is first boss in line, then?
The Pran, then the second and third in command...
Then the watchmen of high and low rank,
and then the rest of the prison population.
Thugs have a criminal court system.
What's the system? Say someone made a mistake.
That man will be brought before the criminal court.
And he will be judged according to the degree of his fault.
The sentence might be death,
or he might just get shot in the stomach,
or the leg, or the hands.
They shoot you in the stomach,
or in the leg, in any part of it, a nonlethal shot,
Or you must put your hands like this,
and the crime determines where they shoot.
Don't you think it's odd?
Inmates passing judgment on those
who've already been sentenced...?
No, I don't think it's odd.
Because this was created by the government.
What else can a man do with a gun inside a prison?
What? What do you think is being created in there?
You are creating a monster.
Honestly, when people fear us, it fulfills us.
if you arrive and people fear you, you know you made it.
Everything is mine, your music is mine, all mine.
Everyone steps aside, I dance, everyone shuts up.
Only my decisions count.
It's like respect, like saying...
Like when the teacher enters the classroom.
- That's it. - All the students are standing.
The teacher is here. "Sit." Everyone sits.
Anyone will feel great, anyone.
- The best girls, the money. - You're the most famous.
When I first saw that I could steal
and kill and nothing happened,
and I got lots of money, that was it. It was fast.
It's easy.
It's the fastest way to get money, to become famous.
It's the easiest excuse we look for...
An excuse... because...
In my case, I have 5 siblings, My parents gave me...
the opportunity to study but I didn't,
it was easier to just go rob someone...
How do you see yourself at 60 years old?
I'm not gonna live to 60.
I'm not going to.
- Oh! You surprised him! - Yeah.
Real life is different.
It's different than people believe.
Those "good mornings" and "good afternoons," those are lies.
The world belongs to the quick and evil.
While you work, I'm thinking of how to rob you.
It's that simple.
Well, what can I tell you?
My mother gave birth to 18 children.
And one of the main problems I had to face in life
was that I am the product of an infidelity.
My mom was married,
but she fell in love with my dad and cheated.
And when the cat got out of the bag,
that's where life turned rough on me.
All of a sudden, I began to suffer the consequences.
My siblings wouldn't play with me.
They wouldn't even come near me.
So I grew up in isolation.
So I decided to leave home
and head towards Caracas.
When I got to the city, I started
hanging with a bunch of kids like me.
I began by stealing purses, necklaces,
ripping off pockets, sleeping on the sidewalk,
spending nights under bridges.
That was my life. No one protected you.
It was every kid for himself.
When I went back home, I was transformed.
I went back with a gun and a car,
and my mom couldn't talk to me,
my siblings neither. No one could tell me what to do.
There was a Goliath within me
that just kept on telling me "Kill, kill, kill!"
Well, I always wanted to be a doctor.
Since I was a kid, my dad and my family always said:
"He's going to be a doctor one day."
They put that idea in my head and it just stuck.
As a kid, that's all I wanted to be.
You know lots of people feel proud
when they have a relative who's a thug.
At least when that thug has gained respect in a town,
or an entire region.
Many people proudly say: "I'm so-and-so's family"
Nowadays, in this area, thugs are like rockstars.
People admire them. They even revere them.
And that's what kids want nowadays.
The adrenaline, the thug life,
to have a gun and kill.
To feel what it's like to kill someone.
To steal a motorbike...
A piece of advice for those who haven't gotten into trouble yet:
Think twice about it.
Because once you enter, you cannot leave.
Because the people you hurt will always resent you.
We know that we are doing bad things,
things that are seen badly before the eyes of God.
But God has a purpose for all of us, we'd all be dead otherwise.
God has protected us from all that.
Because we've been shot at, and we should be dead,
but miracles from above saved us.
It's not witchcraft or anything, it's miracles from above.
Have you ever felt remorse for the crimes you've committed?
Not one bit. I don't feel anything.
Like I said, what's done is done. What's the point now?
What's done is done. Maybe one day I'll feel something.
We're all insane.
They never saw me stealing or shooting anyone.
They never saw me commit any
crimes. These are all like my kids.
All of them are my children. I saw them born.
So when I see them trapped in this world, it pains me.
But I know they have plenty of opportunities
to leave behind this world.
This is affecting people everywhere,
but more so in Venezuela.
Our country is suffering because of this.
Venezuela is sinking.
Visitors coming up.
How are you?
- God bless you. - Sheep.
Were you here when the guards had control?
Yeah, they used to walk everywhere here.
How was it?
Fuck, it sucked. It was bad.
The government will never be on our side.
We are always against them.
We have to survive on our own here.
Can you explain to me what "La Causa" is?
"La Causa" is what we collect to help ourselves.
With it we buy personal supplies,
anything that is needed,
trash bags, food, whatever...
Do you use "La Causa" to buy weapons?
Weapons...?
Let me put it this way, if we charge
$5 for "La Causa" everyone pays that.
That's how we buy everything here.
Everything you see, everything.
Sports equipment, parties for the
children, gifts for our family,
- Everything. - Weapons too?
- Everything. - So, it's like a tax system?
Exactly, but just among us.
Some say we are making millions from this, but that's not true.
We use it to help each other out.
If the government won't help us, we'll help ourselves.
He's the guy who's filming everything.
- Oh, ok! - What are you doing here?
- We're filling up the piñatas. - Filling up the piñatas
to celebrate Children's Day.
- How many people are coming? - Around 9,000.
We are raffling off motorbikes and home appliances.
They do this by collecting money little by little.
With what is known as "La Causa."
Visitors in the prison!
What's the number? Go grab a number there champ!
- Give it to her. - Let's continue!
Attention: the number is 01729.
Where's our winner? Come on, give her a round of applause!
Clap it up! Clap it up!
She won that television! What a prize!
Who's baby is this?
Come pick your baby up here on the stage, please!
Come to the stage to pick your baby up!
Now, let's see... Five pregnant women please!
Reggaeton! Reggaeton! Reggaeton!
How'd you get high? Why didn't you share?
My daughter asked me once, "why are you in prison?"
I was paralyzed, unable to say anything.
In the end, you always lie to them bro.
You tell them you are away for work, or something.
But eventually they figure it out.
And once they do, their mind changes.
They begin to understand what an inmate is.
And what is an inmate? A social misfit, a criminal, a crook.
That's what she'll hear out there.
And what do you think that does to her?
Fuck man, psychologically, it harms her.
It's something that scars her. When kids are that age...
they're like sponges, they absorb everything.
This is something that has scarred
her, probably for the rest of her life.
Probably.
What's up my peeps? Is it recording?
- Yes. - Yes?
Ok, film us, over here.
This is chapter one of Free Convict.
The Penitentiary General of Venezuela Free Convict.
We have some homies who sing salsa,
like this guy here in 3, 2, 1...
Yo, yo, yo!
- The ugly, the beastly one. - It's the movie, papi.
We're making a reality show.
That's my shelf, and that's my TV.
And this homie films me every now and then.
Tell us bro, what do you think?
Is this your first time meeting Andrés?
That's right, first time.
So tell us, what are your thoughts
on Free Convict? What is it for you?
Well, to me, Free Convict is a bunch of thugs.
- Maniacs. - Maniacs, murderers,
thieves, kidnappers and so on...
who are trying to change their lives,
and do what they like to do.
The culture, hip-hop and its four elements.
I'mma print it first, to see if it's fresh.
Show me.
I want this to be the logo on our shirts.
Does it look good like this?
Let me see.
You know me! This is Free Convict.
This is coming soon. In the near
future Free Convict in the house.
Whenever I have time, I grab my notebook
and vent my feelings into it.
Because I've realized
that all prisoners do is waste time.
And I no longer want to waste time,
knowing that I have a gift that God gave me.
Come see this, come, come.
Come.
Free convict baby! This can only be seen here.
Even though they think it's all about money,
they still gotta respect us. ‘Cause we're from the streets.
Even though we're here in prison
we know we're the good guys. We're the the honest guys.
Life is tough, there's only one. It teaches us in the end.
But don't risk it. Or it's not gonna last
Take care of yourself. So you can live to be an old man
There's only one life.
And you gotta survive. To tell your story.
Time goes on and causes wounds.
I would love for this life to be eternal
Shoot it, shoot it!
This is my world
This is it. This is it.
Where you get shot. And life isn't worth a thing.
This is my world.
This is it.
Daily I see my brother's blood shed.
This is my world.
This is it. This is it.
Where you get shot. And life isn't worth a thing.
This is my world.
This is it. This is it.
Daily I see my brother's blood shed.
This is my world.
Yesterday's problems are here today. Time has the final say.
Another woman crying. Another family member dying.
The devil walks among us. Over cracks in the pavement.
Pulling triggers has become our entertainment.
Where many have died on just their first try.
The remaining step across minefields.
Where you're dead if you don't know how to walk.
Where no one believes you when you talk.
Everyone looks out for themselves.
And fights for what they lack there.
Searching for a chance to leave and walk free.
This is my world. This is my harsh reality.
You've got to accept that this world's gone wrong
And reconsider to keep moving on.
Keep moving on.
We're doing pretty well now. I mean, fuck...
This prison ain't half bad, we're doing well right now.
We have some sort of freedom, even
if we've got tension with the guards.
If you're doing so well then why do you need guns?
Fuck man, we need our guns to keep everything under control.
We can't defend ourselves unless we have our guns.
Do you have enough guns to keep the
guards from taking over the prison?
We have enough to defend ourselves, yes.
Last time, shit got real against the National Guard.
Why?
They just started shooting at us.
We couldn't accept that. They shot a brother in the leg.
How long were we going to keep putting up with that shit?
No way, we weren't having it. We'd had enough!
They have to respect our space, or else...
If we ran down here, the guards would
open fire to keep us from descending.
Look at what they did. Those are bullets holes there. See?
A baptized man was praising God
and he was shot right in the chest.
His last words were "Pastor, they got me."
He was killed by a guard.
The bullets are still in there.
All those are gunshots. They shot at us from every side.
They shot us from the watchtower.
Look... Look at that.
Also that room over there.
That's pretty bad, too.
Shoot!
- Shoot! - Shoot, cocksucker!
Move! Come on!
- Come on! - Major!
- Get on this side. - Major, I dropped a magazine!
Go get it then!
It's not here, go get it!
I'm gonna stop a bit, to rest.
I saw dead inmates every day, constantly.
So, when blood wasn't being spilled it felt more dangerous.
Why?
‘Cause something big was coming.
It was better to have a dead man.
I had already been in prison for some time
and sometimes I would just sit on my bed and cry my heart out.
I'd wonder how my family was doing.
Was I ever going to see them again?
Was I ever going to leave this place?
Because all those I saw leaving the
prison were dead, dead, dead, dead.
And I thought, "Someday I'll also leave as a corpse."
Fruit juice! Fresh fruit juice!
I don't sell juice because I like to.
But it's the only way I know how to make some money
without hurting anyone.
Because if I let myself think only about making money,
I'd go back to stealing, murdering,
because that's what I learned to do.
People say that everyone who is baptized
as a Christian in prison is doing it temporarily,
because they are under pressure or scared,
but not because of conviction.
It was hard for me when I returned to my slum,
where I grew up, even though I became a Christian,
people wouldn't see me as such.
Because they knew me as a criminal since I was a kid.
When they heard I was a Christian,
they said it wouldn't last,
because there are many Christians
who've had that bad reputation.
I converted because I was tired of drugs.
I no longer saw myself living in that world.
Not because I was scared of being killed.
I was under pressure, but that didn't cause me
to convert to the word of the gospel.
All who believe God will grant them freedom, raise your hands!
It's through His Will that all chains are broken.
Nothing is impossible for God. In His Name!
Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, glory be to God.
I feel like a fish in water when I visit prisons.
I feel inspired. It's as if I
can breathe again when I'm there,
because I see what God has done
with me. God's favor in freeing me.
When I see the situations that prisoners have to live through
I look up at heaven and say, "Thank you
Lord for freeing me from this place."
"From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,
and violent people have been raiding it."
That means this is only for those who
are brave, those who really want it.
Amen. If you're going to clap do so with vigor,
don't half clap, because God doesn't half bless!
Today, I ask that you take me with you,
Because today I want to change.
My hardened heart.
With a drop of your blood over me.
These men are taking a brave step this morning.
Because humanity believes
that we, former drug addicts, have no cure.
And let me tell you, this fine morning,
that our cure is in Christ, Hallelujah!
Our cure is in Christ, Hallelujah!
You and me, all of us, let us give our heart to Christ!
I'm going to tell you a small testimony of my past life.
I was living in disobedience and sin.
It was one of the causes that brought
me to this place, to “The Church,"
where I heard the word of God and accepted Christ
as the true and only savior of my life and my soul.
Why are you here today?
To be baptized and to receive divine justice.
As a minister of Jesus Christ, I baptize you
in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen!
Get in on the back.
Say bye to daddy! Say bye!
Say bye to daddy!
Dad!
I devote myself to fishing and to my kids nowadays.
I was living in a different world back then.
Kids get down from there! Get over here!
You know, I never really had a family, Andrés.
I had to figure life out on my own.
I learned nothing while I was in prison.
It wasn't until I was out that I began to learn.
Did The Pran exist when you were in prison?
Of course we had a Pran.
- And what position where you? - I was the Pran, the boss.
"Boss, this man did such and such." Kill him.
Those were my orders. They had to comply or they'd die too.
I was the leader in there. The leader
of that prison. It's called the PGV.
Penitentiary General of Venezuela.
It's the largest prison in the country.
And the one with the most weapons.
Where else have you seen inmates with assault rifles?
With grenades? Where?
We might witness a horrible tragedy there.
Many government officials will die, many inmates will die.
Whenever I look back on that, all I want to do is cry.
The things I did...
Nothing can ever make me go back.
I changed my way, and I'll die on this path.
I am different now. I have my kids, my family.
I'm staying in this world, because it's the one I like.
- Wait. - I’ll wait for you here.
Testing, 1, 2, 3...
People tend to see the product, not the process.
You buy a can of sardines, but you don't see the fisherman.
The process is seldom seen.
I always knew I wasn't going to last selling fruit juice,
or working in a factory from Monday to Friday.
That's what drove me to have the political job I love nowadays,
to become a congressman.
Step forth, Congressman Gilber Caro.
Venezuela, make some noise!
I want to tell you, brothers,
that being here is very important to me.
There's my mom.
Mother, never again will you sit
on a bucket, visiting me in prison.
You now have a seat with my name on it in the National Assembly!
Mother, we will change this country.
I am the proof that it's possible!
I always fled through here.
When the cops came, I'd jump up, and rush to the backstreets.
One time, I tried standing on this
washer here. I was trying to escape.
When suddenly I slipped and fell into a water tank here.
And all my drugs spilled out.
When you've lived through something and know it up close,
you can talk about it with more authority.
All human beings have both good and evil within.
Sometimes that evil might come out, even if only briefly.
We all have evils, I know I do,
whoever says they don't is lying.
But nowadays evil doesn't flourish, because I suppress it,
by doing good deeds, positive thoughts, my projects.
I was the leader of this prison.
I led gangs, I distributed drugs and guns.
I harmed young men.
I taught them how to defend themselves through violence.
But The Lord spoke to me,
He told me His Word seeps through
until it shatters the soul.
And His message seeped through and shattered my soul.
And then said, "Servant, I hereby make you free."
So today, I am here to attest freedom
through Christ. Glory be to God!
Our prisons are simply
a reflection of our society.
In our society a bullet is cheaper than a notebook.
A bullet costs $0.5, a lollipop costs $1.
Candy is more expensive than a bullet.
If weapons trafficking is rampant in the streets,
the prisons will mirror that.
Do that shit again and you will regret
it! You better find a place to hide.
When you're out, you better hide! Do you hear me boy?
This area here feels like being in nature.
It's where the animals come.
It's almost as if we aren't in prison here.
When I wake up in the morning I don't think "I'm in prison,"
because of the calm environment.
So you choose to sleep far away from everything?
Yes, that's it. Everything is quiet here. Just the birds.
How do you wake up in the morning?
With the songs of the birds, those
guys there, they are swallows.
Those holes you see over there,
I make them with a piece of metal.
I make those holes, so they can build their nests there. See?
I was picking up cans on the side of the road,
and came across a reggae cassette,
I'd never heard that stuff before.
All I knew was local music.
This is the best smell here!
This plant was created by God.
I'm going to tell you something. See? It's a seed.
I'm gonna tell you something,
truthfully, I didn't plant any of these.
They just sprouted there! Well, last year I planted some.
But this year the seeds just fell...
and with God's blessing from heaven,
look, they simply popped out!
So, if this is from God, and God put
it on this earth, why is it so illegal?
This is a female because...
of these little hairs.
You gotta nurture your mind, fill it with knowledge,
so that when God calls on judgement day and asks,
"What did I send you to earth for?"
You'll have a better answer than stealing cars, murdering
and doing crazy shit.
In here I've realized that's not the path He set.
Sometimes I think, in all my craziness,
that God brought me here to learn more about this.
About planting, because before
prison I only planted a little bit.
I'd throw a seed on the ground and it grew.
This is my truth, I'm a Rasta,
I love my culture. Look how my plants grow.
I now know my hands were made for this, not for anything else.
What made you enter that world?
What else was I gonna do?
What would you do?
I'd steal from people in the city.
Why?
Because I started working when I was a kid,
and I fell in love with money.
And it was a fast way to get money.
I draw my conclusions and think that was why...
This is your second time in prison,
why did you continue committing crime?
What else am I gonna do?
I'm not gonna do cheap labor, I'm not a doctor.
This is what I know how to do well.
What if you get your freedom
tomorrow? Would you go back to crime?
What else am I gonna do?
You are free, you would go back to kidnapping?
What else am I gonna do?
I mean, I'mma do things different this time,
not as crazy, but I ain't gonna lie...
What do you want me to say? I'm
not gonna change... that's a lie.
You know, people here, and I have seen this personally,
they say, "When I get out I'll do ‘this'..."
But very few people do what they say they will once they are out.
Very few.
You have to be outside and see.
Maximum speed!
You ain't gonna catch me, even if you put it in slow motion.
Time has passed, almost four years here in prison.
I've pleaded with God to keep me calm here.
When I get out, I'm gonna change,
I don't want to be here again.
I have three kids now
Were they born while you've been in prison?
- Two of them. - How did you feel?
Fuck... it's tough man. Not being
with your kids when they are born.
Not giving them your last name.
Not being able to see them or hug them when they are born.
What advice will you give your kids
so they don't fall into this world?
I will give them everything I can.
Pay for their studies, so they avoid trouble.
Talk to them with sincerity and clarity.
So they never get to where we are.
Because I don't want to see them in prison or dead.
This occupies our time productively.
But more importantly, it calms us. It gives us space...
I imagine I'm free, here in the
mountains, with my kid by my side,
painting our little house, this is where I am.
When I am focused.
But when I wake up, well, it's really sad...
But it still helps us, all of us.
I thank God that I don't have any behavioral problems,
but I have friends here who've had a very harsh life,
a very sad life. They were born into horrible circumstances.
So when you hear their stories you feel affection towards them.
In our music group, we've tried to
contribute with our grain of sand,
perhaps only ten people will hear our music,
but at least those ten will open their eyes
to what we are trying to show: this awful fucked up reality,
it's not just affecting the country but the people in it.
I mainly blame the system, the disaster
that Venezuela is going through.
That's what I sing about, I'm tired of this fucked up system.
Of course, not 100% of the fault lies in the system,
I'm no saint, but I'm not a really bad guy either.
People might think that because I'm
in the PGV I must be terrible, not so.
Thank God I will leave this place
without problems with any criminals
that might wanna kill me in the streets,
I know I will walk freely with a
steady step and a clear conscience.
So, tell me.
Well, this little thing right here, this is my kid.
He is only about
five weeks in the making in this picture.
He's due in October.
If he's a boy, we'll name him... I don't know...
And if a girl... not sure either...
But I can't wait to meet her.
Daddy is here, waiting for you.
You are loved!
Looks cool!
- Can you see? - Yes, I can see.
Not having my dad around really affected me.
I felt some sort of emptiness.
Because I saw other kids with their
dads and mine was never with me.
One of my biggest dreams was to become a dad.
So I had my kid while in prison.
I put up some balloons, cleaned up the
cell, put up a sign: "Welcome, son."
Got loads of booze and everything.
It was a big party to celebrate the birth of my second son.
And when my woman came to visit and I removed his blanket,
I was shocked to see straight hair and green eyes,
with hints of grey and blue.
"What's this?" I said.
When I turned around to look at the mother,
she goes, "I know what you're thinking,
but that's yours... I don't know what happened there."
"He's yours!", she said.
People wanted to see him, but I
didn't show him to anyone that day.
He was only 21 days old, an innocent,
helpless child. and I told him, "you're not my son!
Your mom cheated on me with another guy, you're a bastard!"
And that scarred the kid to such an extent,
that even nowadays, that he's a grown man,
we haven't been able to solve our problems.
He grew up saying that I denied him.
That I wasn't his dad, that I preferred my other son.
We've never gotten along. We even tried to kill each other.
We are losing our kids to the other side.
The partying, the drugs, the booze. And
it's happening right in front of us.
We can't say we were blind to what was going on here.
We do see it, it's an exodus. They're going to the wrong side.
But I always hoped that The Lord would transform my son.
Then he suddenly got himself into trouble with the police.
He was involved in homicide, he shot the son of a policeman.
He robbed a store, was recorded by the cameras.
So then I was informed the police were
looking for him, and he had to flee,
I even had to help him escape. I called you that day, remember?
Any updates?
I talked to him. He's at his girlfriend's place.
He's not doing great.
He's gone into hiding?
Yeah, ‘cause the National Guard came looking for him.
Shit, they went to your place?
No, just around the slum. But they're looking for him.
Fuck man.
I want to try to convince him, but
if I tell him to turn himself in now
he's going to think I'm against him. He won't listen like this.
He's got too much on his plate. He needs to go somewhere
he can settle down. I have to wait till he calms down,
he's under a lot of pressure now.
What am I going to do, son?
What am I going to do?
I got here from a life of crime, I
did my time, spent years in prison,
destroying everything in my way, and now
look at me, burying my son like this.
When I left prison, my mission became to help others inside,
but now I realize the problem doesn't lie within our prisons,
but within our communities, it lies within the kids growing up.
Those you see as kids today, are the men of tomorrow.
Your babies will soon grow to be men.
And their values must be shaped at home.
Take care of your children.
Avoid this pain. Avoid this suffering.
- Let us pray. - Amen!
Dear Lord, despite what we're
going through, despite this pain,
I have not denied your name. because you said to me:
"I know that you have little strength,
yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name."
You know we tried to do everything in our power.
Help us!
Blessed be Thy Name, my God.
Blessed be Thy Name, Lord.
That's the one. Right there.
That window there! The one in the middle. See it?
There you go! That's it.
This feels like that movie, "Medal of Honor."
This is what the guards are shooting at us.
This has caused many deaths inside this prison.
Here's evidence.
Get on the floor!
- That's a gunman, that one! - That's a gunman!
Look at him.
When are you leaving?
Not sure, in a couple of days.
Are you scared? Because of what's coming?
We aren't sure. We're scared because of what might happen.
The guards are planning to come in.
And I'm almost out, I did my time man.
But the judges are barely working.
The courts are only opening two hours a day.
I'm practically a free man, but anything can happen now.
It's fucked up, bro!
What if something happens here?
Do you think it's a time bomb?
It's a time bomb and I don't
want to be here when it explodes.
It's going to be very tragic.
After what happened in other prisons, countless dead,
mothers still searching for their
sons, hoping they've been transferred
to another prison, but they are actually
buried in a mass grave somewhere.
It's happened in many prisons.
Imagine the final showdown, here in the PGV.
I don't want to be here when it explodes.
The red light means it's recording!
Turn it off, Ray!
Seriously, I'm interviewing you.
Stop Ray!
All in all, what do you think of me
as a person? Am I worth anything?
- I don't know. - Am I a letdown?
You're giving yourself all the answers.
No, because if I did that, I'd say I'm a great guy
who's grown a lot as a person. I used to be a piece of shit,
like everyone, but I'm improving. What do you think?
Stop it!
Just tell me what you think, am I getting better?
Do I deserve forgiveness?
For what? All the bad things you've done?
Yes.
It's basically a human rights standard throughout the world
that prisoners should have access
to healthcare, culture, sports.
But in our society, our poor communities
don't have access to culture,
to healthcare, or to sports, and
therein lies our first imprisonment.
The city is decaying. It's open sewers,
it's stench, the slums; all that creates a prison within.
I made many mistakes. I committed crimes.
But what matters now is that no one repeats them.
I want to prevent crime. That's what brought me to politics.
I want to help make laws
that are realistic, feasible.
What are you gonna play?
- Some reggaeton. - Put the taxi song.
The taxi?
- This one? - No, the other one.
This one is great, you'll see.
You are one in a million
No comparison
This one is dope!
Let's go Venezuela! Caracas!
They are with me, they're reporters.
Hey, how are you?
How's it going? I met your brother once, right?
- Yes. - Good. Are you a Christian?
- Yes, glory be to God. - Okay...
He told me you saw my testimony.
Yes, I watched an interview on TV.
- Was it a long time ago? - Yes, a while back.
I'm also a Christian, but I've been a bit distanced.
- Yes, I can tell. - Yeah, I've been a bit apart.
I think that beyond any prayer or anything,
I've come here mainly to bring you God's word.
- Amen. - I'm not coming to you for help
what I am here for, is to deliver the message,
I came here on behalf of God to remind you He is with you.
Remember the Parable of the Lost Son.
If you forgot it, I'm reminding you.
Remember that it was God that gave you this strength.
- Yes. - I'm here to tell you that.
Don't forget where God saved you from, Gilber.
When the police came looking for a family member
everyone pointed at me, "That's his dad, let him in."
I didn't want to see him like that.
Shit...there lay my son, full of bullets and faceless.
Shot 70 times.
And it wasn't just that, after I buried him,
when I went back to the slum,
the boys who'd killed my son came looking for me.
They were crying, begging for my forgiveness.
My old friends were also calling me.
The ones who remained criminals and don't believe in God,
they wanted to avenge my son.
But I told them God had changed me.
They said, "Fuck that, let's get those boys."
But thank God I forgave those boys the very moment I saw them.
Why?
Because God forgave me.
Because I was also involved in homicides, I did bad things too.
And God forgave me.
So I understood what it meant to forgive.
Thank you God! Thank you!
Finally!
Andrés, get over here!
The first one.
Thank you Lord, thank you!
Thank you God!