*"This is a short-format theatrical proposal born from the intention of bringing to light the issues swept under the rug—cases of human rights violations concerning life, property, and family in Venezuela that must be remembered and never forgotten. It is imperative to tell our own stories to remain united in the future and not so distant from our own people. This work is a tribute to the fallen—young individuals who must be remembered, as they embody what we, as a nation, have become, and each of them multiplies within us.

Argonauts of the Eighth Island is grounded in many real stories. Sincere, profound, and direct, it aims for the audience to experience and emotionally connect with the circumstances of its characters—circumstances that are, at the same time, those of an entire nation in crisis, a nation that only recognizes itself in doubt and uncertainty. It is the voice of those who have left, both to the other side of the world and to the other side of life. Its sole intention is to magnify the collateral and irreversible damages of personal and social decisions. Without seeking culprits, without searching for causes: 'Do you realize that we were forced to bring forward our farewells in every family? Like in a war! ... Are we in a war?'

Individual and, at the same time, collective decisions have shaped an undeniable reality that must be examined—a new national map that has become either the solution or the end for many families." (Alfredo Rodríguez Guillén, translated from Spanish by Archivo Venezuela)

FEROCES brings together furtive encounters with mythological creatures, twins violently attempting to merge back into one, a home that consumes the souls of its tenants, trapping them forever, and encounters with blood—blood that is eroticized, superstitious, frenzied, and vengeful. The stories in FEROCES are both wild and ruthless, a reflection of writers who unleash their narratives with unrelenting force. This anthology showcases the voices of nine young Venezuelan authors, bound together by their visceral exploration of femininity—or rather, by their destruction of traditional notions of femininity. And this destruction is voracious. The collection serves as a record of a literary movement, an expression that is both brutal and exquisite, and a testament to the mature reflections of Venezuela’s current generation of women writers (Feroces).

A feroz individual is one who attacks with ferocity, and it is from this concept that Feroces takes its name. This anthology, published by Sello Cultural and Autores Venezolanos, compiles the works of talented young Venezuelan women writers, offering a historical record that highlights the literary quality of a new generation. It is a book that elicits laughter and fear, excitement and sorrow. Feroces is the result of an initiative by editor Jacobo Villalobos, journalist and digital strategist Luza Medina, cultural promoters Tibisay Guerra and María Esther Almao, and designer Juan Mercerón. The project was born out of the recognition that while young Venezuelan women writers produce high-quality fiction, they often lack platforms to showcase their talent due to the country’s publishing landscape. The anthology features short stories by Andrea Leal, Verónica Florez, Sofía Pereda, Gabriela Vignati, Verónica Albornoz, Clara De Lima, Yoselin Goncalves, Natasha Rangel, and Ana Cristina Frías (Sello Cultural, translated from Spanish by Archivo Venezuela).

This book helps grasp the full magnitude of the tragedy. It tells the story of when and how Venezuela ceased to be a land of refuge and instead became a machine that expels its citizens, now scattered across more than a hundred countries." (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, translated from Spanish by Archivo Venezuela)

Ángel Sastre is a Spanish reporter who has spent 15 years covering Latin America. He has traveled across nearly every country on the continent, reporting on coups d’état, the deaths of dictators, natural disasters, drug trafficking, and over 30 elections. His work has taken him into the favelas of Rio and São Paulo, as well as the poorest neighborhoods of Caracas, Lima, Asunción, and Buenos Aires. The year 2010 was particularly intense, following the Concepción earthquake, elections in Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela, and the dramatic rescue of the 33 Chilean miners—an event that marked a turning point in his career after exhausting days spent in the Atacama Desert.

In 2011, he continued his series on elite troops, embedding himself with BOPE—the brutal special forces unit of Rio de Janeiro—during operations, and with Guatemala’s Kaibiles, where he witnessed the aftermath of indigenous massacres. He has reported from Nicaragua’s La Chureca landfill, documenting the plight of those who survive by scavenging waste. His investigative work has taken him deep into the Amazon, tracking human traffickers and the victims of child prostitution in Iquitos. In Argentina, he exposed political mafias and human trafficking networks. He has also reported from El Salvador’s prisons and streets, retracing the footsteps of the late Christian Poveda to document the lives of 18th Street gang members.

Sastre has investigated illegal immigration routes to the U.S.-Mexico border, riding La Bestia, the notorious migrant train. He covered the death of Hugo Chávez, the disarmament of the FARC, and spent weeks embedded with the ELN guerrilla. His reporting extends beyond Latin America—he has covered conflicts in Palestine, Syria (where he was held captive for a year by Al-Qaeda), Iraq, and Ukraine (where he was deported). He also joined the Open Arms rescue ship en route to Libya.

His investigations include reporting on the semi-slave labor conditions of migrant workers building Qatar’s World Cup infrastructure, tracking the illegal timber trade from the Peruvian Amazon, and exposing the harsh working conditions of the Shipibo indigenous people. In Bangladesh, he documented child marriages and the Rohingya refugee camps. He followed migration routes through Niger—one of the key transit points to Libya—and the Balkans. Most recently, he has reported from Afghanistan, bearing witness to the injustices faced by women under the Taliban regime" (Planeta Cómic, translated from Spanish by Archivo Venezuela).

*This volume of graphic chronicles is an exceptional addition to this digital archive. Its authors are not Venezuelan emigrants but Spaniards. However, their testimonial narrative benefits from the immediacy of on-the-ground reporting on Venezuela’s sociopolitical crisis, while also offering the distinct perspective of foreign observers like Ángel Sastre and Jon Sedano. (Archivo Venezuela)