The War on Democracy
By Mal Simons, Blockbuster.co.uk

Award winning journalist John Pilger writes, directs and presents this thought provoking documentary on Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the United States’ manipulation of Latin America.

I have to say that I was a bit cynical when I first put this DVD on. At first glance, this appeared to be a highly one-sided, anti-American documentary critical about not only the George W Bush administration but also the Nixon, Reagan and Bush Senior years and their dealings with Latin America. Leading with Hugo Chavez, the controversial leader known as a ‘communist’ in the West was probably not the best person to start with to suggest even-handedness; however through the course of the film, Pilger interviews many witnesses, including former CIA agents and US government officials and presents a valid case that the American government has systematically crushed the will of the people in the area that they call ‘the backyard’.

Pilger first starts with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and interviews the President and many Venezuelan people at all levels of society. Chavez appears to be almost universally loved by the poor of Venezuela; while the former ‘ruling elite’ – the middle and upper classes who have long controlled the oil revenues and all the power in Venezuela, despise him. Pilger interviews many of them and shows a collection of clips from Venezuelan TV, owned by the rich, that compares Chavez to everything from Hitler and Stalin to the Anti-Christ.

Pilger asks some hard questions of everyone though and doesn’t let anyone off the hook. He asks Chavez why in such an oil rich country, years after he has come to power, there is still so much poverty; he also challenges a rich businessman who claims that the Chavez ‘revolution’ is the same as the Russian Revolution of 1917, something many journalists wouldn’t do if they were in the same situation.

To give some background on the Venezuelan situation, Pilger then takes us on a historical tour of Latin America and focuses on the United States manipulation of the political systems in the region. It is here that the documentary admittedly turns into a bit of an opinion piece, none of the countries are explored in great depth – we don’t see why the US felt it needed to take action however, nothing he says is untrue. I don’t think Pilger intended this section to be so one-sided, it’s just that the subject matter is so huge – you could have an entire documentary devoted to the situation in Chile alone.

One of the strongest parts of the film is Pilger’s interview with an ex-CIA Agent who had been involved in Chile and the other South American countries. To say that the CIA Agent is arrogant and aggressive would be an understatement. Pilger does a terrific job in this interview at asking direct questions, challenging what this man is saying and getting some shocking responses from a man committed to US foreign policy. It is absolutely gripping stuff.

Ultimately though, it is the section in Venezuela that sticks in my mind the most. Through the interviews with the poor people, you can see that none of them go without free health care or education; democratically elected and in fact democratically reinstated after an American backed coup, Chavez appears to have made vast improvements to his country yet is often compared with Castro in the American media.

An intelligent democracy, informative and long reaching. This is definitely not for everyone however if you have a passion for information or foreign affairs, this could be the film for you. Add to your list now.

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