South of the Border On DVD

In January 2009, Oliver Stone travelled to Venezuela to interview President Hugo Chavez, and examine the way Chavez has been portrayed in the U.S. media. Was Chavez really the “anti-American” force the media claimed he was?

Once the journey began, however, Stone and his crew found themselves going beyond Venezuela to several other countries, and interviewing seven Presidents in the region, telling a larger and even more compelling story.

In a series of casual conversations, Stone sits down with Presidents Chavez, Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Néstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba). “The best way to convey it further was to take the film on the road and talk to Chavez’s allies in the region,” the director says. “Every single one of them was extremely positive about Chavez.”

I’ve been fortunate to be able to make several films about North America’s neglected “backyard” –– Central and South America. The low budget, independently shot Salvador, about the U.S. involvement with the death squads of El Salvador, which starred James Woods in an Academy–nominated performance, released in 1986; this was followed by Commandante in 2003, and Looking for Fidel in 2004, both of these documentaries exploring Fidel Castro in one–on–one interviews. Each of these films has struggled to be distributed in North America.

I was invited to Venezuela to meet President Hugo Chavez for the first time during his aborted rescue mission of Colombian hostages, held by FARC, during Christmas of 2007. As is often the case, the man I met was not the man I’d read and heard about in the U.S. media. I was able to return in January 2009 to interview President Chavez in more depth. Was Hugo Chavez really the anti–American force we’ve been told he is? Once we began our journey, we found ourselves going beyond Venezuela to several other countries, and interviewing seven Presidents in the region, telling a larger and even more compelling story, which has now become South of the Border.

Leader after leader seemed to be saying the same thing. They wanted to control their own resources, strengthen regional ties, be treated as equals with the U.S., and become financially independent of the International Monetary Fund. Based on our experiences in Iraq, Americans must question the role of our media in demonizing foreign leaders as our enemies. The consequences of this can be brutal. This is a continuing story. It is going on right now with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Hopefully, in our film, you’ll get to hear a far different side of the “official” story.