| About the documentary |
Latin America countries are blessed with natural wealth, but are also riddled
with poverty and inequality caused by undemocratic leaders from both the far
left and the far right that drive their citizens away. These leaders promise a
solution to the poverty and crime plaguing their nations, but their true motive
is to remain in power.
Crossing Our Borders features analyses from leading Latin American experts,
and eye-witness reports from political expatriates from Latin America. The
various contributions exhibited in the film from prominent Latin newspapers,
TV stations, witnesses and justice organizations from the US and Latin
America provide an inside view of the problems in Latin American countries
and the massive immigration into the US. In addition to the TV documentary
we also have edited a 60 minute educational version of the documentary in
English and Spanish.
The documentary is being produced under the fiscal sponsorship of New York
Women in Film and Television (tax ID #: 13-2983705). Soon available will be
a book of the 28 hours of interviews transcribed and translated for English
and Spanish readers. The book will include more in-depth information covered
by our experts.
Development of “Crossing Our Borders” the documentary
We have shot more than 28 hours of interview footage with prominent
scholars and political experts in the field of corruption and impunity in several
countries in Latin America. We have over six hours of raw b-roll footage
donated from private non-profit organizations from Venezuela, Colombia,
Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the U.S. and many others. We have obtained
footage from the United States Department of Defense, Department of Home
Land Security, The Woodrow Wilson Center, the Organization of American
States’ Anti-corruption and Impunity Commissions, El Diario El Universal,
Venezuela Activa, EL Diario EL Paso Texas, El Diario Ciudad Juarez, , Radio
Caracas Televisión, El Diario De Hoy, El Salvador, Xurxo Martínez Crespo,
Galiza, Colombian Embassy, Blague Communications, Los Angeles, CA, The
Poder Judicial of Peru, Praxis Institute for Social Justice,
Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Perú, Ministerio de
Relaciones Exteriores Dirección de Asuntos Culturales de Chile, Embajada De
Chile, Venezuela Awareness and more.
Click here for the list of experts interviewed on camera for the documentary.
The reason behind “Crossing Our Borders”
One night, while watching my usual news program, I saw a TV commercial
that changed my life. Joe Kennedy was telling the American people that “our
friends in Venezuela are donating oil to the poor people in the Bronx.” Usually
I am easily moved by acts of kindness, my heart fills with joy and I shed a
tear or two. However, in this case, I could not even breathe.
Was he joking? My mind raced as I was filled with anger. What “friends in
Venezuela” was he talking about? Is he talking about the one more million
people who are now poor under Hugo Chavez’s control? Is he talking about
the victims and their families of the mudslide in 2000 who still are homeless?
Is he talking about the people who can’t buy milk, eggs or even cheap
cornflower to make their arepas (a Venezuelan bread)? Last time I was in
Venezuela -- a year ago -- supermarket shelves were empty as though
Venezuela was in a war. I thought hard about this, and then occurred to me
that he might have been talking about the delinquent army of thugs, who are
terrorizing Caracas and the rest of the country with theft and hideous crimes.
When I arrived to Caracas this past December, the ride from the airport to my
brother’s home was filled with horror stories about people we knew and grew
up with who were killed by common criminals and thieves in recent years. My
brother proceed to tell me how lucky he, his wife and two babies were, and
how thankful they were to be alive: three thugs had broken into their home
about six months prior. The thieves tied together their hands and legs, taped
their mouths shut, and placed guns on their heads asking for money and
jewelry. My two nephews, one 2-month old and one three-year old were
crying in the next room.
After they ransacked my brother’s home, the thieves dragged my brother and
his wife to the backyard, covered their eyes and forced them to kneel down
on the ground. Frightened, they cried in silence, praying for their two babies
left alone in the house. After a while they realized that the thieves had left.
Unable to move or scream, or see, they lied on the ground in the rain, unable
to move for what seemed to be an eternity until they were found. They were
very lucky!
I was wondering how many people had been lucky in Venezuela this year
under the Chavez’s regime. I wanted to tell Joe Kennedy that no one has
asked the Venezuelan people if they were okay with their oil being given
away for President Chavez’s political gain. One thing of which I am certain, is
that the Venezuelan people want to live in peace. They want to see their
children grow without hate or phony hopes or dreams. They want a healthy
economy, freedom and liberty because that was Simon Bolivar’s dream for
Venezuela and Latin America. A Venezuela governed under a democratic
leader with a limited term to govern was established by the Venezuelan
constitution.
It has been almost a year since I started working on this documentary,
contacting experts on democracy and Latin American issues. In doing so I
have learned about Latin American Politics, where some Latin American
countries have gone wrong, and what some Latin American countries are
doing right to improve growth and democracy for their citizens.
I hope that president Barack Obama makes sure that Latin America is not
forgotten - not only for Latin America’s sake, but for the sake of the United
Stated of America. Chavez and Iranian and Russian leaders have been too
close for comfort in recent years, and we cannot ignore the possible threats
that may come out of those relationships, either.
| Director Gladys Bensimon Read about Bensimon |
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