Our Oil and Other Tales: Nuestro Petroleo-Review

There is much to do and learn in Venezuela - Critisize then get to work

A new movie about oil and coal in Venezuela is making the rounds. Most people do not want to show it or talk about it - and rightfully so, becuase it is so vague anf confused as to be sickening.


Our Oil and Other Tales: Nuestro Petroleo - Sad FIlm Review



Critisize Chavez for Not Buying Enough Guns, For not hounding all US people out


This film would win the AWard for The worst (evil content) documentary done by new agey over-educted but terribly ignorant US kids - if there were such an award - and there should be! I thought that people long ago learned that to attack things and yet offer no alternative is one of the most dis-empowering (destructive) crimes ever imagined - In these End Times of Freedom - this is just tragic.


Our Oil and Other Tales: Nuestro Petroleo, agaveworks [at] gmail.com


This a beautifully done and sensitively filmed documentary. The people interviewed represent a broad cross section of attitudes and educational levels. The problem with the film – the reason it represents so much of what is evil about the USA and wrong with US activism – is that it doesn’t make any sense. It mixes up people and chronologies so fully that it nearly erases time. It quotes so many people either out of context or in a contextual vacuum that most of the opinions offered are either meaningless or pretend to support the filmmakers bias against Chavez – but upon examination these are false accusations or quite childish.


I know many of the people involved in this film project and I advised them over and over to learn something about the country, about the struggle and about economics or politics before they continued onward with this travesty of lies.


One redeeming use for the film could be in a college or community class on propaganda and misinformation. Unfortunately the main beneficiaries will be Rumsfeld and the USA Fascists who will surely learn quite a bit about how to “re-educate” an almost totally ignorant public mind.


The filmakers (some of whom were kicked out of the country last year - and the others were asked not to make such a slanted film) vastly misunderstand economics, public opinion (expectations), and the difficulty that Chavez or anyone would have in cleaning up the mess caused by a century of US sponsored elite disregard for the people, education, health, sustainable development and political awareness.

Thank God that Chavez and all of the serious organizers kindly ignore the gringo do gooder rants - even whebn they look nice!

Another friend who also knows a few of the people from the project concurs with our assessment. She now agrees that the film is too confused and misleading to even have a debate over... how sad... what a terrible waste of money and talent, while the poor around the world suffer...

Viva Chavez, el Processo y la revolution total - de todos partes, todas cosas.


Here is a better view from which to learn about Venezuela and the bOlivarian Revolution --


Venezuela : Neither Heaven nor Hell
Edward Mercado 28 Mar 2006 15:12 GMT

Venezuela from a Venezuelan’s Perspective: Neither Heaven nor Hell
For the last 7 years a great majority of Venezuelans, including myself, have defended a new democratic administration being built under the new Constitution. This is the only constitution in our history that has ever been approved through a popular referendum vote. In fact, today Venezuelans are engaged in the highest amounts of democratic political participation in the hemisphere.

The policies implemented under the Chavez administration have been inclusive by promoting the rights of the marginalized Indigenous and African communities, something that has never been done before in Venezuela. One of the most amazing new social policies is the literacy campaign. Brought to fruition through the collaboration of thousands of Venezuelans, illiteracy has been eradicated in less than two years. So many wonderful things are taking place in my country of birth today that I find it hard to understand all of the negative press towards Venezuela that currently exists in the media.

I must also mention that all Venezuelan citizens now have access to free medical attention, something crucial for a nation that is entrenched in such dire poverty. Thanks to Cuban and Venezuelan doctors through the “Barrio Adentro” program poor Venezuelans now have access to subsidized medical treatment, resulting in the care of over 10 million citizens in the last 3 years.

These are just a few of the reasons why I find my self very proud of Venezuela today. Unfortunately I continue to be saddened by the rhetoric of the Bush Administration and the U.S. media against my sovereign land. Not only is Venezuela a reliable source of energy for the U.S. and the U.S.’s second largest trading partner in the hemisphere, she is also helping the poor of America. CITGO, a U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela’s state owned oil company-PDVSA, has been providing heating oil at a 40% discount to poor communities throughout the U.S. this winter. Focusing on those areas most in need, CITGO has been able to reduce monthly heating bill payments for hard working families by hundreds of dollars, making a real difference for the most marginalized, especially communities of color.

On that note I find it disheartening to read the anti-Venezuelan resolution H. Con. Res. 328 recently sponsored by Representative Connie Mack (R-FL) that supports the funding of opposition groups who were involved in the attempted coup against President Chavez in 2002. Although eventually thwarted, these groups dissolved all political powers including the Supreme Court and the Constitution and clearly violated the law. The United States was the first and only country to recognize this illegitimate de-facto government and since then has lost a lot of credibility in Latin America.

This is no way to treat an important trading partner regardless of whether or not we agree with all of the policies of their elected president. For sure Venezuela is not perfect, she is neither heaven nor hell, but this does not justify our meddling into the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. Let's give Venezuela the right to determine her own destiny. Let’s give Venezuela a break!



e-mail:: edward [at] veninfo.org homepage:: http://www.veninfo.org



Why is the film Our Oil and Other Tales so terrible - it stems from the very confused fake anarchist thinking of the John Holloway School of Thought - here is a good example of this tragedy orf poor education :


http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20060103192925231&query=our%2Boil


Similar to the bizarre film production Our Oil and Other Tales – is the perennial character Rafael Uzcategui ellibertario [at] nodo50.org http://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario

Rafel lobs out his unguided rhetoric with questions like:

Ҽ Facts on the paralysis of the Venezuelan social movements:

* Attendees at the demonstration before the Supreme Court of Justice by women’s groups protesting the release of the accused for the physical attack of Linda Loayza, October 26 2004: 80 people.

* Attendees at the national march against carbon exploitation in the state of Zulia, March 31 2005: 1000 people.

* Attendees at the demonstration called by the Bari, Yukpa and Wayuu peoples on October 11 2005 at Plaza Bolivar against carbon exploitation in the state of Zulia: 150 people.

* Mobilizations against the energy concessions by the government to multinational companies: None.

* Mobilizations against the governmental regulation of the largest forest in the country, Imataca, for mine and lumber exploitation: None.

* Mobilizations against the deplorable state of the hospitals in the country: None.

* Audiovisual productions the from a Chavist position denounce the contradictions between what the government says and what it does: One, “our oil and other tales” (2004) by the Italians Gabrielle Muzio, Max Pugh and others, censored by the government. The TV stations Telesur, Canal 8 and Vive TV show previous productions from this audiovisual collective, but don’t show this last one.

- WATSON: El Libertario doesn’t understand why no one in Venezuela cares about his trivial issues – he doesn’t get it – If he were real – or a real anarchist – he would be asking why Chavez doesn’t encourage people to drive the rich out of the country, Rafel would do some real studying and come up with a whole economic program and get out in the streets and talk with people about an anarchist and decentralist program – one where cars are banned, all corporations are banned and the people though much poorer than now would have security and dignity – well after they fight the USA for a few decades anyway --



More Sad Rafel Propganda_


"Everything that happens today in this country, from the oil policy to the media circus with land expropriations, is nothing more than a vulgar show between the puppets of capital: government and opposition, in order to consolidate the process of privatization of the natural resources of the nation: oil, gas, mines, land, for the exclusive benefit of big capital.”