There is a crisis here. Millions of people have fled Venezuela as the country crumbles. Venezuela. Many of
them are coming over this border into Colombia. Here in this border town of Cucuta, you see people with
suitcases full of all their belongings. They don't know where they're going. They just know they need to
get out of their country. If you need proof of how bad it is in Venezuela right now, look at this purse. This
purse is made entirely of the bills of the venezuelan currency, the bolivaris. Inflation is so high that this
money is now completely worthless. And so my friend Jorge over here has gathered a ton of this stuff and
turned it into commodities, into purses, into sculptures. It is worse than it sounds, and it sounds pretty
bad. The country's inflation rate will rise to 1 million%. More than a million Venezuelans have moved into
Colombia in recent years. And in an era of record setting migration, when borders seem to be getting
thicker, harder to cross, Colombia is doing something that you don't see very often. It's opening its doors,
and it's letting people in. The border cris is a shock. It's a real humanitarian crisis. The economic crisis there
is about to get even worse. Is there a point at which Colombia and other countries in Latin America step
in and say, enough is enough? Now, this border town of Cucuta is now totally bustling. This is the very end
of the border, right as people are entering, then the one thing that you'll hear that is a little interesting is
we buy hair to continue on their way to make some money, is the women will sell their hair, basically get
100,000 pesos, which is like $30. I'm eating a venezuelan style hot dog, and the guys are reflecting on how
much this hot dog would cost if they were trying to buy it in Venezuela, with the current economic
situation, 87% of the country's households into poverty, images that we have just never seen in Latin
America before is unfortunately something we're seeing now. The collapse of Venezuela didn't happen
because of a civil war or a natural disaster, but rather the colossal economic mismanagement by the
country's leader, Nicolas Maduro. In just a few years, Maduro grabbed control of most of the government
and then drove the country into an economic disaster worse than the Great Depression and the fall of the
Soviet Union. Of the 2 million people who have left Venezuela in the midst of this crisis, about a million
have come to Colombia, easily more than any other country. The response by most countries in the region
has been to put up new measures to stop migrants from flooding into their country, but not Colombia.
Here, the border stays relatively easy to cross. And even though Colombia already has millions of its own
people in need of humanitarian assistance, the colombian people and politicians continue to let these
migrants in. So I have decided that we're not going to close the border. We have to give them support.
Now we're in the refugee camp is what they're calling it. And here the government provides all sorts of
services to these people. Haircuts and manicures. Today in the camp, they're playing music, some
COLombian, some VeNezuElan, and everyone, locals, migrants start singing and clapping along with the.
The colombian government has given most of these migrants status, allowing them to live in the country,
get health care, work, and study for two years. But it's not just the colombian government opening its
doors. In a neighborhood near the border, people have started taking migrants into their homes
indefinitely and for free. Pero, you are cutting no mail me so say, well, amigos, necessarily deficiency. Pero
perono LUCharAt and yeah, Carlo Domino, you know, temperate. And to understand why these people are
opening up their doors to VeNEzuelans, you have to understand their past. If you go back to the 18
hundreds, Colombia and Venezuela were actually a part of the same country called Gran Colombia. This
country eventually broke up into the modern states we know today. Decades later in the Colombia was
experiencing some of the worst violence in its decades long war with the rebel group called the FARC. This
war displaced more than 7 million people, more than any other modern war. Hundreds of thousands of
those people fled to Venezuela, where the economy was thriving and the Venezuelans took them in. So in
a sense, this is the Colombians way of paying back the Venezuelans for the hospitality they were given
here at the border. You go down the street a little bit and you see this sign that says welcome to Colombia.
Above it, it says, Colombia and Venezuela united forever. In spite of these two countries being different,
having very different governments, there is this common identity among the people. But there are reasons
to believe that this sense of solidarity might not last forever. A slew of crimes allegedly committed by
Venezuelans have led to a new wave of skepticism in the country. Earlier this year, the police chief in this
border town told people that they shouldn't rent their properties to Venezuelans after a migrant was
arrested for a homicide when a como antegawai passe Serbiana una temporiento confianza pork. But
despite a growing skepticism, many Venezuelans continue to see tremendous support in Colombia, a
country that has chosen to keep its doors open to the thousands of migrants who come in every day. I'm
so glad you've watched episode one of borders Colombia. I've got a bunch more episodes coming your
way, another one next week, so keep watching. And I want to say a huge thank you to the borders local
network. They allow me, an outsider, to come into this place and to understand it in a better way.
Familiar for Lacomia, for Pueblo Siempro, western Lacaya, Lucindo, for La Liberta, Lancia, La Valencia.
Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America. It has the largest known oil reserves in the world,
and its democratic government was once praised worldwide. But today, Venezuela's democratic
institutions and its economy are in shambles. The country has the highest inflation rate in the world,
making food and medicine inaccessible to most Venezuelans. Over the last four years, its GDP has fallen
35%, which is a sharper drop than the ones seen during the Great Depression in the US. And the country's
murder rate has surpassed that of the most dangerous cities in the world. These conditions have sparked
months of protests against the president, Nicholas Maduro, and it's easy to see why. The country has
become measurably worse since his election in 2013. A poll showed that about 80% of Venezuelans want
Maduro removed from office. But instead, the opposite has happened. Maduro has consolidated his
power, bringing the country closer to authoritarian rule. Maduro's political ambition became evident in
December 2015, two years after he became president. A coalition of opposition parties called the
Democratic Unity Roundtable, or muD, won a two thirds majority in the National assembly, putting
Maduro's rule at risk. In response, Maduro quickly forced out several Supreme Court justices and filled the
positions with cronies loyal to him. In March 2016, the court ruled to strip the opposition led National
assembly of its powers, a move that sparked massive protests across the country. The ruling was reversed
a few days later, but the damage was done. Protests continued to grow and have left about a hundred
dead and thousands injured so far. Despite the violence and public outcry, Maduro held a vote in July to
elect a new governing body called the National Constituent assembly, which would have the power to
rewrite Venezuela's constitution and essentially replace the National assembly and leave virtually no
opposition to Maduro's rule. With Maduro's recent vote, Venezuelans didn't have a say in whether the
assembly should exist. They only had the option to elect as members. But when Maduro's predecessor,
Hugo Chavez, proposed a constitutional rewrite in 1999, he first called for a referendum to propose the
election of the assembly. After most Venezuelans voted yes, they then elected a new national constituent
assembly. See unlike Maduro, Chavez was a charismatic and beloved leader. In the 90s, he burst onto
television sets across the country. He blamed government corruption and Venezuela's elite for the
economic inequality. His populist message resonated with the country's poor, who eventually helped bring
him to power. The key moment in his presidency came in 2004, when oil prices surged. Venezuela's
petroleum dependent economy started booming. And Chavez went on to spend billions from the profits
on social welfare programs for the poor. He subsidized food, improved the educational system, built an
enviable healthcare system, and reduced poverty by more than half. These programs certainly helped the
poor, but they served a purpose for Chavez as well. In order to be reelected, he needed to keep these
millions of poor Venezuelans happy. So he rigged the economy to do just that. He didn't scale back.
Venezuela's dependence on oil and his understrained spending led to a growing deficit, which meant all
these programs would be impossible to sustain if oil prices fell after Chavez's death. When Maduro took
office as his handpicked successor, that's exactly what happened. Oil prices plummeted in 2014, and
Maduro failed to adjust. Hyperinflation has made medicines and food that were once subsidized
unaffordable for Venezuelans poor, who now make up about 82% of the population. Like Chavez, Maduro
has also rigged the economy to keep himself in power. But this time, it's not benefiting the poor. He's
exploited a complex currency system put in place by Chavez. Maduro set the official exchange rate at ten
baliveras per us dollar. But only his friends and allies have access to this rate. In reality, the venezuelan
currency has become basically worthless. Most Venezuelans get their dollars on the black market, where
the rate is about 12,000 bolivara per dollar. The military, which got complete control of the food supply
from Maduro in 2016, is reportedly profiting off this currency crisis. They import food at Maduro's special
currency rate, and sell it on the black market for a massive profit. So, for military generals and political
allies of Maduro, the Cris has offered a lucrative opportunity, which has helped Maduro stay in power. But
he can't rely on that support alone. Which brings us back to Maduro's recent power grab. The opposition
boycotted the vote, but Maduro held the vote for a new constitutional assembly anyway, and won a
majority. Protests on the streets of Venezuela turning deadly after President Nicholas Maduro declares
victory. Violence on Sunday very real. The bomb went off near some motorcycle police, wounding several
election day classes between protesters and police, claiming at least ten more lives. At least one candidate
has been murdered, shot to death. Lacienda Sambanas Inacos eto Mondolo toro. To Candola. Liberta
mohai suse el Macarande. Fraud national era Cantalo Yasa Savia Pune Lexion Compokas intensity pero
conunagram participation for ha for a lawyer, Maduro's government is trying to create the illusion of public
support. The government claimed about 8 million people, or 40% of the country, voted, but experts put
that number much lower, at just 3 million people. The international community, including Peru, Canada,
Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, condemned the election. The US imposed financial sanctions on Maduro
and members of its government. But Maduro's assembly, filled with loyalists, convened anyway and had
swiftly removed Attorney general Luiso Ortega, leader of the opposition. Armed groups reportedly
arrested several other opposition leaders, too. Whether the group will rewrite the constitution or
postpone the next presidential election remains to be seen. For now, Maduro has unprecedented power
over a country that continues to spiral out of control. Yeah.