This is part One of Ten.
Pilger begins in Venezuela, where an eye-opening interview with charismatic President Hugo Chávez - America's current bugbear in the region - suggests that "a war is being waged against all of us". According to Pilger, America's distrust of socialist or (heaven forbid) communist governments in Latin America has led to anti-democratic initiatives. From Allende's Chile to the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, popular movements not endorsed by the American Foreign Office have frequently been undermined. The reason? To promote American economic interests: "Whole countries have been privatised, put up for sale, their natural wealth sold for peanuts."
Pilger is no lover of America and it shows: this is an angry documentary and its thundering condemnation of US adventurism abroad is about as subtle as an anvil dropped from the Empire State Building. Still, there's no denying Pilger's conclusions, especially after revealing confrontations with ex-CIA chiefs highlight the contempt that many senior American figures have for democracy and the nations that comprise the USA's "backyard".
The talking head interviews are a joy to watch, full of sly wit and an indefatigable sense of purpose. Pilger's like a dog with a bone, hounding his interviewees until they yield up their innermost marrow. "That's just tough... like it or lump it," remarks former CIA chief Duane Clarridge when Pilger challenges him over America's destruction of democracy and its support of state terror in the shape of dictators like Pinochet. "In the CIA we didn't give a hoot about democracy," shrugs Clarridge in a sobering moment where the mask finally slips.
http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=161731Part Two:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LMvY3yZfmqIPart Three:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7EtHTGuFTNYPart Four:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yk-po8vSvuUPart Five:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HV5w5h_SUZAPart Six:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3wvwYl71wEIPart Seven:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MYjl2fSJ6ZcPart Eight:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=csSgkdfwTb8Part Nine:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1T6juU_19j0Part Ten:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qcqZExl8sq4Trailer:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=J1zZNbqi53oGoogle Video version:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3739500579629840148