steny138-918-38968 This movie is a pile of dung. He doesn't have any references to any of the "facts" he is spewing from his mouth. I know from my life experience that some of the things he said are true but it's the rest that he fails to prove. Just like a Michael Moore documentary he has no actual evidence to back the claims, by the way Carl Deal helped produce this pile*. Yes the wars and conflicts that are highlighted in the movie did happen. The problem is that he mentions "secret" documents from the U.S. that implicate the united states. He does not mention where they came from, a place where we can cross reference these allegations or even a expert opinion from an impartial investigator. I am a liberal and can't even support this garbage for a second. Overall this movie has no right to be rated so high. If you try to read the critics reviews on this site you will see that most are taken down. I am sure they wrote a good review then realized they had made a mistake. Watch this movie for entertainment only. * Wikipedia.com, IMDb.comOW look at that, References!

akeason1 The War on Democracy is a bit hard to follow, both because of some intense story and thanks to a somewhat confusing execution. The idea behind the work is that it is an examination of mostly-American backed efforts to undermine popular movements in nations throughout Latin America. It is no secret anywhere that the United States, like any major power in history, has intervened in foreign affairs in the name of its own national interests. In fact, Pilgir interviews a retired CIA agent who argues just that. The retired agent claims the USA did brutal things for what Washington would argue was a greater good. Many other individuals interviewed, especially those that suffered like an American nun who was tortured and raped by 1980's central American government squads, would argue that stability was and is not worth cruelty and death. Had Pilgir based his film on that argument and explored it much further (with more in-depth arguments on both sides), I would have doubled the number of stars despite his rather vocal and frankly preachy opinions and regardless of the the fact he delves no deeper in history than 1948. But he doesn't.Instead, Pilgir devotes the first half of his film to an overly rosy depiction of a modern politician, Hugo Chavez, and modern Caracas. After a while one may wonder of "South America" just means "Venezuela." Whether he is good or bad, Chavez is a modern politician and pushing him so hard so early does not help the film (a shorter explanation of the coup and counter-coup in 2002 would have worked better). Eventually, Pilgir does go into some history on American involvement in Guatemala and Chile, but hardly in any detail save for the tour of Pinochet's stadium turned torture chamber. He has a couple of very short and edited interviews cut against his own, much more explained, opinions. His perspective is inconsistent too. Chilean poor are written off because their government is friendly with the west, but Bolivian and Venezuelan poor are considered heroes because they are fighting the good fight against capitalism. Brazil, Argentina (which fought open war with Britain in the 1980s), Mexico (invaded by the USA in 1846, 1914, and 1916), and Colombia are all ignored save for ominous implications that the US supported non-democratic governments there at one time or another. There is no mention of historically vital points like the Monroe Doctrine and the Cold War is quickly dismissed as American paranoia. Even the still active and divisive issue of the drug wars is forgotten.Instead we get fuzzy camera lenses, a few sound bites from Fox News, quick cuts to what we are supposed to believe is either a brutal fascist scene (armed guys in fatigues) or an uplifting socialist one, heavy pull-on-heartstrings editing, and a frankly self-righteous and paternalistic tone that in some ways undermines the very people its trying to support by placing far more on their shoulders than they want or need. The poor of Latin America have been mistreated for centuries, by indigenous empires, Spain, Creole caudillos and juntas (which are common in Latin American History but never mentioned by Pilgir), Europe, and especially the USA, but I do not believe this film gives a good or even adequate account of that.

fedor8 Marxist film-makers who take a public stand FOR democracy and freedom? Now I've seen it all.I've read "Das Kapital" and I haven't really found too many segments espousing the advantages of democratic rule.Why do they lie to us so? "But it's their job and their passion to lie to us", I keep having to remind myself. I sometimes forget that extremist Leftists are psychopaths, misfits, hypocrites, liars, and charlatans of the highest order. Also, they have no cheek: they will unashamedly pretend to defend all those things that they hate with a passion: freedom, democracy, and the truth.PRAVDA! "Offense is the best defense", must be this movie's credo. In other words: "let's blame the other side for what WE do - namely undermine democracy with out Marxist/liberal agenda - and that way we will look like the good guys, while the Republicans get labeled as freedom-hating tyrants".A simple but effective formula served to the brainwashed masses: "Those who wage war are BAD. Republicans start wars. Hence Republicans are BAD." Period. Populistic logic par excellance. No discussion over the nature of war, or why they get initiated, just mind-blowing illogic and fact-twisting.The Left are masters of deception. Like so many psychopathic movements and individuals. Some truly brilliant, corrupt minds work in their propaganda machine. Well done.

somenforma I won't duplicate comments made by others apart from to say that the film was well-written and explained. Pilger let the facts speak for themselves. By not over-dramatising (in Hollywood style), the film was bearable to watch, in spite of the terrible subject matter.Special mention has to go to the angry CIA man (Duane), who warned that if countries don't follow Washington's wishes economically and politically, their governments/people will face further coups, torture, poverty and economic sabotage. Although we always suspected this will carry on, it's still refreshing/chilling to actually hear it from the horse's mouth.I watched this on ITV on 20.8.07 from 11pm to after 12:30. ITV is not usually a very political channel and I would have expected to see this on Channel 4 or BBC2, so good work, ITV, for raising your intellectual level, even if it was when many are sleeping.