Oliver Stone Defends Controversial Latin American Movie

Movie director Oliver Stone said that critics who complain about his favorable depiction of Hugo Chavez and other Latin American leaders are spreading “mythologies”. He made this bold statement on Friday night, July 2, 2010, after a Santa Monica screening of his film “South of the Border.” Oliver Stone, known for his controversial movies such as “JFK” on the assassination of the U.S. president John F. Kennedy and “W” on the life of former U.S. President George W. Bush, participated in a Q&A session held at Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex after the screening of the documentary.

Protesters who came to the session felt that his documentary’s positive depiction of anti-imperialist leaders in Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina and other countries disregarded the economic problems and the repressive regimes of countries like Chavez’s Venezuela.

Protests

Before the screening, Venezuelan born actress Maria Conchita Alonso - who told “the Wrap” earlier in the week that Olivers Stone's narrative on Chavez was “all lies” - led a protest outside the theater. The screening went of without any incident despite of a counter protest held by Chavez supporters who were clogging the sidewalks outside the Laemmle, which in turn increased police and security presence at the theater.  Stone accompanied  his film’s producer, Fernando Sulichin; Ricardo Moreno, president of the Simon Bolivar Association of Los Angeles, and Miguel Tinker Salas, a professor of history and Latin American studies at Pomona College during the Q&A session. Oliver Stone called his film “an introduction to a region, and a historical moment that is very significant … There are six or seven countries unified in their desire for independence from [the United States].”

The documentary“South of the Border” criticizes the policies of the George W. Bush administration; most of the filming was done during the ex U.S. president's administration. Stone also sets his arrows on the International Monetary Fund, which he said is largely controlled by the United States.  “I really am stunned, and I don’t understand the negativity toward [Chavez] in the American press,”  said Stone.

The following clip is a fragment of an interview with Stone including the trailer of the docu-film.
 

Tough Q&A

The first questioner brought up many of the issues raised by the numerous critics of Chavez' policies, asking Stone why he  did not mention the facts that “Chavez changed the constitution to declare himself ‘president for life’"; that at present Venezuela holds 28 political prisoners; that many industries has been nationalized by his administration, including the grocery industry; and that independent press agencies have been shut down in Venezuela. Stone quickly cut off the moderator Margaret Prescod of KPFK radio when she scolded the questioner for asking too many questions. Stone said, “No, I think it’s good that we get it all out. These are ... mythologies, and I want to deal with them.” He then proceeded to turn the microphone over to Tinker Salas. Salsa said that it was not Chavez, but the Venezuelan people who changed the constitution in a full election. This was done not to make Chavez “president for life”, but to end term limits. 

He turned the microphone over to Tinker Salas, who said that the Venezuelan constitution was changed not by Chavez, but in a full election by the people of Venezuela. He continued by saying that the Venezuelan had not been changed to make Chavez “president for life” but to end term limits; that “problems with the question of food sovereignty” caused Chavez to nationalize the grocery industry; that the government had restored public rather than private control of the airwaves, and that the Daily Journal was shut down “for internal reasons”: the journal had not been canceled by the government. Stone then insisted,  “This is a democratically run country,” insisted Stone. “Do not believe their stories.” Most of the following questions during this Q&A were supportive of Stone and his film.

The “South of the Border” director in turn criticized the mainstream media in both the United States and Latin America for its embrace of conservative talking-points. He said,“ ‘President for life’ is the kind of terminology the right wing uses. These are buzzwords to get the American people going.” Hugo Chavez occupies by far the most screen time in spite of the several presidents Oliver Stone had filmed in interviews and more informal settings. The presidents - many of whom were persuaded to do the film by Chavez – are generally social-leaning and working-class leaders who have been vilified by some U.S. media as being anti-American.