South of The Border

Oliver Stone's latest film, “South of the Border,” is an interesting survey of an emerging international trend that is taking place with our neighbors in the Southern Hemisphere. He begins his project as a road trip with a camera crew taping interviews of selected presidents. This effort paints an idealistic portrait of the "benovelent dictator," Hugo Chavez of Venezuela who receives an abundance of screen time leaving the viewer wondering if this is all there is to the documentary? Stone provides more information than we need to know about Chavez and his political manoevers and very little about the social and/or economic ills affecting that population. Finally he moves to other countries in that hemisphere where we see those presidents in conversation with Stone as they discuss their challenges and accomplishments.

Leaders interviewed are Néstor Kirchner- Argentina - who preceded his wife Christina as president; Evo Morales - Bolivia; Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva- Paraguay; Rafael Correa - Ecuador: and Raúl Castro - Cuba.

Several incidents give background information about the mounting disconnect these countries have with the USA. There is the revealing comment ex-president Kirchner had with George W. Bush who became irate when he wouldn't follow his financial advice on how to help his economy recover. Bush told him the way to improve financial problems was through war, not a Marshall Plan type aid program. Evo Morales recalled that his people rose up against the previous administration when they sold the water supply of Cochabamba to the Bechtel Group. This ornery corporation had that govenment pass a law forbidding poor people to collect rainwater! Mr. Correa spoke of encountering pressure from the United States to maintain a military base in Ecuador by agreeing to it only if the United States allowed Ecuador to establish one in Miami.

After wandering through this exercise, we realize most of the above had to take drastic steps to disengage from the USA and are quite pleased with how they function now. Nestor Kirchner reminded Stone that Simon Bolivar was the hero of South American who managed to save seven countries from the yoke of the Spanish king. His fellow compatriots see themselves now as "Bolivians" with their own governments, independent of others that would be inclined to tinker with their governmental functions and lifestyle. Kirchner also forsees a possible South American Union, similar to the one in Europe with a common economy, common currency and a common market. Rinse off the whitewash Stone has painted on Hugo Chavez and see if you think Kirchner's dream is a possiblity.