Chavez is a Democrat – Oliver Stone
Infamous movie director Oliver Stone has done it again.
Stone’s latest distortion of fact and history speaks loudly in the documentary movie, “South of the Border.”
This time Stone elevates and praises none other than Venezuelan dictator President Hugo Chavez.
According to the UK Telegraph, Stone emphasized that the film is meant “to combat the level of stupidity of the press” and that it is an attempt to combat western views that many Latin American countries were not democratic. He even goes so far to insist that the Venezuelan dictator is a “democrat.”
Like his past productions, Stone’s driving ambition appears to be his obsession with rewriting history. His antiwar films about the Vietnam War were telling distortions. The movie “JFK” provided thrilling fodder for those demanding a conspiracy. His “Nixon” was a harsh portrayal, while ”Comandante,” glorified another tyrant.
“Comandante,” is a documentary based on a meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, which Stone says in many ways led him to Chavez.
The facts about the overt tyranny that is engulfing Venezuela are widely known, especially among many of his South American neighbors. Rafael Nieto, a political columnist for Colombia’s main newspaper, El Tiempo, says that “Chavez’s authoritarian measures in Venezuela scare people in other countries,”
Most probably, if a TV station in Venezuela ran documentaries praising American free enterprise, they would be shut down by the Chavez government. According to the Christian Science Monitor, Chavez has had the government take over private radio stations and has threatened to close Globovision, the lone remaining TV station that regularly airs critical coverage of him.
His unmatched political charisma and continued ability to hand out money generated by oil profits have kept him popular among slightly more than half of all Venezuelans, pollster Luis Vicente Leon says.
Chavez needs to remain popular to deepen his so-called “revolution,” which amounts to a government takeover of more of the economy, Leon says.
Stone’s “democrat” is describe in the CSM report as follows”
Middle-class opponents of Chavez have heightened their resistance since a compliant Congress approved a Chavez measure three weeks ago that opponents say would force teachers to indoctrinate students with communist ideas.
Two recent marches that led to street clashes have resulted in the arrest of over 40 people, including the deputy mayor of Caracas, and the police are seeking one march organizer, who’s in hiding.
Chavez has denied that his jails are holding “political prisoners,” as opponents claim.
“What the government wants is for us to surrender, Antonio Ledezma, Caracas’ mayor, told supporters Wednesday. “We will continue to fight.”
The Telegraph stated that, “Hugo Chavez received a film star’s welcome at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, when the Venezuelan president walked the red carpet with Oliver Stone for the premiere of the documentary “South of the Border””.
The color of the carpet is rather poetic!
If Stone is consistent, will we see a future film sanitizing Joseph Stalin, or an inspiring documentary about Hitler entitled, “Mein Kampf”?
