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Stone film says US demonizes Chavez, other leaders

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-08 08:20

VENICE: Director Oliver Stone says the US media and government have demonized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and other leftist South American leaders, and he argues in a new film that they were right to stand up to Washington.

Chavez in particular has earned a reputation for his outspoken criticism of US policy, and in Stone's documentary South of the Border he is sympathetically portrayed as a hero of the people who refuses to be bullied.

Originally an attempt to redress what Stone saw as unfair treatment of Chavez by broadcasters and newspapers, South of the Border turned into a bigger project and included interviews not only with Chavez but with six other presidents in the region.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez signed energy deals on Sunday with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Venezuela will export 20,000 barrels of gasoline per day to Iran, and each country will each invest $760 million in the other's energy sectors. While Iran has large oil reserves, it has limited refining capacity and needs to import gasoline. Reuters

"I think the movie, if you've seen it, shows very clearly the level of stupidity in the kind of broad statements that are made about Mr. Chavez," Stone told reporters in Venice, where South of the Border has its world premiere yesterday.

"But I didn't want to make a movie only about the American media's attacks. I felt that that was too small for what this man is about. This man is a big phenomenon.

"So we traveled in a road- trip kind of movie to visit these other presidents and we saw the positive side of what is going on, the sweeping change in this region. It's a very important historical phenomenon that is ... ignored in America."

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South of the Border combines clips of US broadcasters and commentators describing Chavez, one of them comparing him to Hitler, with interviews and news footage of economic upheaval across South America during the last decade.

Stone points a finger at the International Monetary Fund, which he says imposed "neo-liberal", US-led conditions in return for loans, and hails today's leaders for wresting back control of their resources.

Chavez, and other leaders including Bolivia's Evo Morales and Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, criticize the fund, and voice support for greater regional cooperation.

"Each one of these countries ... is in for a struggle," Stone said. "The idea that Chavez has expressed ... is 'Let's unify, let's stay together here because we are up against a giant', not only the US government giant but against corporations that are multinational and very strong."

Asked about anti-Chavez demonstrations over the weekend in Caracas involving thousands of people, Stone replied: "Chavez continues to remain very popular in Venezuela and he keeps getting elected. There are many problems still but it's a wonderful change that's occurred since 2000."

Stone said he had been in talks with Iran to make a documentary about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but that scheduling on both sides had prevented it.

Reuters