Australian journalist John Pilger (with co-director Chris Martin) examines the role of Washington and the CIA in America’s manipulation of Latin American politics during the last 50 years, with a special focus on the current democratically-elected governments of Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala and Colombia.

Distracted by its adventures in the Middle East, US foreign policy has neglected its “interests” in Latin America, facilitating the rise of charismatic left-wing leaders across the continent. The rise of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez - despite ongoing Washington backed efforts to unseat him - is used to illustrate a return to a true democratic practise that we have forgotten or abandoned in the west.

The War on Democracy is a great primer on Latin American politics. Its main goal seems to address the lack of unbiased, in-depth coverage of the issues in mainstream media and in this respect, it’s very welcome. Anyone reading selected foreign or independent media will be familiar with the issues however, and may not encounter much they don’t already know.

Pilger gets tremendous access here, including an interview with the controversial Chavez. His approach is unabashedly friendly and sympathetic. When Chavez fails to give a satisfactory answer to the question of why, depsite vast oil wealth, there is still such poverty in Venezuela, Pilger lets it slide. The fact that the Bolivarian hero ruled by decree, bypassing the National Assemply for over a year, rates barely a mention. Elsewhere however, his penetrating interviews with former CIA agents reveal shocking truths about America’s attitude to its so-called “backyard”.

It’s a shame that The War on Democracy - Pilger’s first film for the cinema - doesn’t exactly make the most of the medium. Its format is that of a television documentary more suited to a current affairs program, revealing perhaps that John Pilger is a better journalist and writer than a filmmaker. There are also some tacky moments where popular uprisings are romanticised through the use of sentimental songs such as Labi Siffre’s (Something Inside) So Strong.

This is a great document for anyone curious about American imperialism and how it has shaped Latin America - often in spite of its people. For anyone looking for further analysis, there’s recently been a host of good documentaries with a stronger focus on the situations in each of the countries surveyed by John Pilger’s film. Peter Raymont’s excellent A Promise to the Dead - the Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman for example, is a moving and powerful look at Chile from Allende to Pinochet to Bachelet.

Despite its faults, The War on Democracy is essential viewing: a compelling, deftly argued documentary which asks probing questions about modern democracy while setting the record straight on the US relationship with Latin America.

Review by Matt Ravier

Cast: John Pilger
Directors: John Pilger and Christopher Martin
Australian theatrical release: September 27, 2007