Fiction can be an incredibly effective vehicle to deliver the world’s most heartbreaking stories. Simón, directed and written by Diego Vicentini, follows the repression, torture methods and crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela in recent times — through the eyes of a young student during the 2017 student protests.
The main character is a reflection of the country in survival mode. The director presents some of the events that have marked Venezuelan society, linking the minutes on screen with the country’s years of breakdown.
Here are some of the truths that inspired the feature film, which is currently available on Netflix in Latin America and Spain and at simonthemovie.com in the rest of the world.
Cases of torture
No person may be subjected to punishment, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, says Article 46 of the Venezuelan constitution. Nevertheless, torture has become a systematic pattern that leads to trauma, serious health problems and even death.
The character Simón is based on real events about the torture experienced by groups of students who protest in the streets against the government of Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chávez in different key periods of Venezuelan history. However, students have not been the only victims, as other dissident groups from different sectors have also been detained, threatened and tortured.
According to documentation from national and international non-governmental organizations, members of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) carry out acts that include psychological torture, beatings, burns, asphyxiation, exposure to intense heat or cold, sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation and sexual abuse.
According to the CASLA Institute, a Latin American study center, and the Organization of American States (OAS), they also use other methods against political prisoners such as electric shocks and pulling teeth and fingernails.
False declarations
In the film, they try to get Simón to sign a document, a common practice in Venezuela. The torture and threats are intended, among other things, to obtain false confessions. The documents people must sign also indicate that they didn’t receive torture. With this, the authorities seek to manipulate the truth and wash their hands of potential judicial processes.
However, the government has been openly accused of crimes against humanity at the international level.
Arbitrary arrests and repression
Simón shares a detention cell with other young people who didn’t participate in protests, but are linked to alleged destabilization of the country, another common practice in the country. As a way of spreading fear, the authorities carry out random and arbitrary arrests, not only during protests, but also in different periods. The response to protests by the police has been described as disproportionate, with pressure as a way of social control.
Asylum and migration
Like Simon, many Venezuelans have left the country in recent times. The humanitarian crisis, cases of torture, arbitrary detentions and social insecurity have led to the largest migration in the Western Hemisphere — more than 7.7 million people.
Real-life cases
In 2018, José Alberto Marulanda was detained for alleged involvement with a third party, despite not being directly linked to political actions.
Marulanda, a trauma surgeon, was charged with instigation of hatred and treason and brutally tortured before his release in 2020, which left him with symptoms such as the loss of sensation in his hands and the loss of hearing in his right ear.
Emirlendris Benitez was also detained in 2018 and falsely linked to acts of violence. According to Amnesty International, she was tortured while pregnant and subsequently subjected to a pregnancy termination without her authorization. She now needs a wheelchair to get around as a result of the torture and is serving a 30-year prison sentence.
In 2014, Juan Carrasco was detained while participating in a protest with friends. According to reports, the young men were kicked in the back by the National Guard, who treated them like a soccer ball. Carrasco also reported that he was sodomized with the barrel of a rifle, which caused a serious hemorrhage.
Although forensic examinations proved the allegation, Luisa Ortega Díaz, former attorney general with close ties to the government, dismissed the case saying that the allegations were false.
Years later, Ortega disassociated herself from the regime, said she had been pressured in cases such as the indictment of Leopoldo López and fled the country.
Journalist Roland Carreño was imprisoned for three years (2020-2023) on terrorism charges. Meanwhile, journalist Luis Carlos Díaz’s charges were related to public instigation and incitement to commit a crime.
Díaz, who also divulged information through human rights organizations on technology, social networks and freedom of expression, was falsely linked to causing one of the most serious electricity blackouts in the country. He was released a few hours later and forbidden to talk about his case or leave the country. Amnesty International called him a prisoner of conscience.
Rufo Chacón lost his sight in both eyes in 2019 after police officers fired pellets at his face, 52 in total, and continuing to attack him when he was already on the ground. Rufo was 16 years old at the time of this brutal aggression, he was only accompanying his mother in a community claim for the lack of domestic gas.
One of the policemen involved had already been accused of a similar action in a peaceful protest.
In 2014, student Geraldine Moreno was killed at the age of 23 by members of the National Guard. The incident occurred outside her home during a peaceful street protest called by the community. While trying to disperse the crowd, the officers fired buckshot in Geraldine’s face as she lay helpless on the ground.
Years later, only two National Guard officers were convicted, while others involved continued with their military careers.
Geraldine’s mother, Rosa Orozco, is now a spokesperson for more than 300 documented victims of repression in Venezuela.
These are just a few of the devastating cases.