Hugo Chavez in Venice

Merciless dictator for some, political «Robin Hood» fighting against the power of the United States for others, the head of the Venezuelan government attended the world premiere of the movie about him by Oliver Stone.

During press interviews after the screening of «South of the Border», the American director announced that what the world needs is tens of politicians like Hugo Chavez, people who keep their promises, citing the discipline and honesty of the Venezuelan leader.

The maker of «Wall Street» snd «JFK» strongly criticized the American media, saying it goes out of its way to shed a negative light on the South American politician.

In his film, Oliver Stone was able to interview other left wing Latin American heads of state, such as Argentina's Cristina Fernández, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Brazil's Lula, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Raúl Castro, brother of the seemingly immortal Fidel, while avoiding the presidents of countries on the other aside of the political scale – Chile, Colombia, and Peru.

Brushing aside a question posed by a journalist who asked what he thought of anti-Chavez demonstrations currently underway in Caracas, Stone said, «I gather (the protests) were not very popular,» and insisted that «Chavez continues to be very popular in Venezuela, it¹s why he keeps getting reelected,» – perhaps having forgotten some of the less glorious episodes of his idol's life, such as two coups attempts in 1992.