Hey, consider this listeners, it's Audie Cornish, and we have a weekend bonus episode for you.

It asks the question, how does a regime change alter the social fabric of a country?

In recent years, Venezuela has faced a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis, and that's

still the case today, as more than 5 million people have fled the country due to extreme poverty.

How did such a once prosperous and oil-rich nation end up in this situation?

While our friends at NPR's History Podcast through line will walk you through what happened,

and how two leaders, Hugo Chavez and Simone Bolivar, shaped the Venezuela of today.

Host Rund Abdul Fata and Romteen Arabliwi will take it from here.

En cuanto la heroica y desdichada Venezuela, sus acontecimientos han sido tan rápidos y sus devastaciones

tales.

With respect to heroic and hapless Venezuela, events there have moved so rapidly, and the devastation

has been such that it is reduced to frightful desolation and almost absolute indigence.

Nevertheless, it was once among the various regions that are the pride of America.

Simone Bolivar, September 6, 1815.

Hey everyone, it's Romteen. And Rund, this week, the story of two leaders in Venezuela

separated by nearly two centuries, who shaped the country into what it is today.

When this episode was first released, Venezuela was facing an economic and humanitarian crisis.

That remains true today, and it's gotten so bad that more than 5 million people have

fled the country in recent years to escape extreme poverty.

But the thing is, Venezuela was once one of the richest countries in South America.

So the question becomes, how did such a prosperous nation end up here?

When we looked into this, it quickly became clear that Venezuela's problems began way

...