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.
About the project
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