The Slum Culture According to Carlos Beltrán

Carlos Beltrán and Naomi Schiller

Among communication scholars there are concerns about the media providing too much negative news and the effect on audiences. As a watch-dog, however, the press is expected to report any wrongdoings, hence it is perceived to be negative.

Although, this doesn't mean that the press never reports on something positive, quite the opposite. But the public also needs to understand that is difficult for the press to separate truly positive news from public relations campaigns.

Having said this, what the media sometimes doesn't report about are the solutions to problems. But why would they? After all, the media's role is that of a news messenger, not as a problem-solver. It is the duty of public officials and citizens to resolve problems.

Photos of shantytowns by Carlos Beltrán

Yet, someone decided to challenge a bit that perspective without crossing the limits of journalism ethics. Photographer and videographer Carlos Beltrán, 24, set out to do just that, and he just beginning. I haven't seen his documentary, "The Slum Culture", since it won't be released until March 2011, but he was recently in Philadelphia to present a photo exhibition and promote his documentary which explores the barrios or shantytown in his native Caracas (Venezuela). He went inside the barrios to see "the other side of the coin," a positive side to the often violent story of the slums. What did he find? Hope (that's how change begins). How did he do it? As he so gracefully explained it: driven by curiosity.

"I'm basically a tourist in the area where they live," Beltrán said about working in the barrios. "Most people living outside of the slums of Caracas are oblivious to the conditions that are endured in those areas. As a kid I was kept inside of a social bubble, the slums were supposed to be horrible places and I was never to go into any of them. That alone made me very curious and for the past few years I had been planning on researching, meeting people and submerging myself as deep as I could into that culture, one that had been kept outside of my reach for so many years," Beltrán said in an interview with his alma mater The University of Kansas. 

In communities filled with crime and violence, he found hope and self-sufficiency. The photos presented by Beltrán at The Rotunda near the University of Pennsylvania reflected the life of the barrios as it is. Yet, it was also a relief to learn that the people of the barrios, despite many struggles, have a lot more willingness and the stamina to change their community that many of us who grew up in middle-class Caracas. Why am I happy to hear this? First, most Venezuelans are poor. The statistics go up and down depending on the sources but it is at least 60% of the total population, most living in urban areas. So to encounter such positive attitude among the people who have suffered the most is admirable. Second, this indicates that Venezuelans don't depend on politicians but rather need leaders and managers.

The photo exhibition, organized by UPenn student Karla Sainz who grew up with Beltrán in Venezuela, was accompanied by a presentation of the film "The Slum Culture" and a panel of anthropologists, Philippe Bourgois and Naomi Schiller, who are both knowledgeable about Venezuela's urban settings. During the conversation, Bourgois encouraged the audience to visit North Philadelphia to see the decaying state of the area - he thinks is worst than Caracas - and pointed out that the United States is at the top of the list of developed nations with the most social disparity.

"Venezuela is some sense is cursed by its oil" Bourgois said to explain the case of Venezuela. And I would argue the US has a similar problem. In both cases is appalling that the US and Venezuela are rich in resources, yet they have a severe problem with poverty.

Schiller challenged Beltran's attempt to make an apolitical documentary in a country that's so politically divided right now. He recognized and presented the political factor in the documentary, he even recognized his personal views as anti-chavista but not a radical opositor. He emphasized his effort in presenting the barrios as they are and also showing their positive side.

"Venezuela is intensely political," Schiller said adding that Beltrán's work "is deeply political... incredible thought-provoking... Such a polarized country, yet so full of hope."

My personal "two cents" here is that it is hard not to introduce the political factor in a documentary about Venezuela, but we also have to be aware that this factor is circumstantial. In that sense, Beltrán is playing three moves ahead when deciding that politics won't be the protagonist of his film. It isn't about political ideology but social policy. Two different concepts.

PRESS RELEASE_THE SLUM CULTURE from Carlos Perez Beltran on Vimeo.

Two key points here that I was surprised to hear from Beltrán are the following. Unlike what most Venezuelans think, Beltrán didn't find chavismo in the barrios. Rather he found people from the barrios to be self-sufficient, managing to accomplish tasks with or without the help of authorities. He found some people who support Chávez, some people who don't like him, but for the most part he found political neutrality. Second, he also found people who, based on their income, can be identified as middle-class, yet they live in the barrios. Why? Because they save money in real estate, transportation, utilities, and - yes - they feel safe.  

If only the government would truly lend them a hand. By that I don't mean a rapid, temporary intervention that merely alleviates the symptoms of social issues rather than tackling the cause. I would hate to see a continuation of social programs that carry political propaganda as Beltrán and I conversed while dinning at Distrito. We both agree that, regardless of political ideology, Venezuela is in urgent need for social policy as a fundamental platform. A platform that serves as a basis to resolve social problems and is reformed according to social needs, not political caprices.

Beltrán's project is beginning with a an idea that can be replicated in other poor communities around the world. He will visit the favelas in Brazil next year accompanied by another photographer. They will look for any similarities or differences with the barrios of Caracas.

To add a touch of irony, Beltrán mentioned at the end of the panel discussion that about three months ago he was robbed not by a thug from a barrio, but by a police officer. This isn't new or a consequence of chavismo. This is, believe it or not, normal in Venezuela and other third-world countries.

For more information about the documentary and photos, visit Carlos Beltran website and stay tuned through his Facebook site.