South of the Border - a film by Oliver Stone

Another Latin American Left President Under Fire?

07/02/2010 by Peter Hart, FAIR

The new Oliver Stone documentary South of the Border is raising awareness of the often shabby U.S. media treatment of Latin America.

A  recent example is a June 24 L.A. Times piece by Alex Renderos headlined “El Salvador President Under Fire.”

The president is former FMLN leader Mauricio Funes, who was elected  last year. According to the Times, things are going poorly for him: Crime and corruption are still problems, he is facing an ”avalanche of criticism,” and “Salvadorans are growing impatient.”

The paper adds:

Funes’ failures have hit the poor and working class especially hard. After two decades of one-party right-wing rule, they greeted the rise of the left with great hope. Today they are deeply disillusioned.

When the evidence of public discontent–especially in Latin America–is at least in part based on a newspaper editorial, one should be cautious.

Full Article

07/02/2010 by Peter Hart , Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)