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Oliver Stone on PBS Tavis Smiley July 2, preview

By April MacIntyre Jul 2, 2010, 17:48 GMT

US film director Oliver Stone is applauded in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on 01 June 2010, in the context of the presentation of his documentary \'South of the border\'. Stone said that he is interested on making a movie about the reforms made by Bolivian President, Evo Morales. EPA/JORGE ABREGO

Tune in alert this Friday Night, on PBS an interview with Oliver Stone who joins Tavis Smiley and says the U.S. is working behind the scenes to destabilize the Venezuelan government led by Hugo Chavez, a friend of Stone's.

Film director and screenwriter Oliver stone will appear tonight on PBS' Smiley show to discuss his latest film, South of the Border, about Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Stone has recently been involved in a public dispute with New York Times movie critic Larry Rohter, who published a harsh review of South of the Border
on June 25, 2010.

Stone published a forceful rebuttal to the review on the film's website.

Check your local listings for air times.

During the interview, Stone dismisses the idea that parallels may be drawn
between Fidel Castro and Chavez.

"It's nonsense, because he's always faced enormous scrutiny on these
elections. He's had, how many? Three times he's been elected. Three times. Each time most transparent elections--better than ours. Not only do they have an electronic ballot but they force people to have a paper ballot at the same time, so they have two proofs. And it's far better than our Florida system in 2000. So he was elected by a landslide, last time 63% and there was a 75% turnout, which is bigger than Obama's turnout at 60% in the United States.

Later, Stone comments on the changes that Chavez has made to the Venezuela constitution and asserts that the U.S. is working behind the scenes to destabilize the Venezuelan government:

"They are referendums, that's all. He's just saying, 'Look, I'd like to get rid of term limits, I'd like to have a third term. They do that in Europe all the time, there's nothing wrong with it. If people like what you're doing, they'll do it. It's a hard game down there, I'm not gonna say that it's easy. But he's not breaking the rules. If anything l'll give you an example he fires people who are his friends. You know why? Corruption. Sometimes you're somebody's friend, they get a little post or a government position and they steal. There's always that going on down there. He fires the person. It's not easy to run a government, especially one that had been so corrupt before. It's the old situation in these countries, when you want structural reform you need time. I think he might try to be president in 2012, he might win. He's gonna be up for, the legislature is up for election in the fall. The United States."

Oliver Stone is a film director and screenwriter whose work often focuses on contemporary political and cultural issues. Stone, a Vietnam War veteran rose to fame in the late 1980s when he created a series of films about the Vietnam War including Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, both of which earned him Academy Awards for Best Direction.