One for your Netflix queue: last year's documentary Our Brand is Crisis, which details how the U.S. PR firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner was deployed to Bolivia back in 2002 to convince the public that the country would spin into chaos if they didn’t elect the Bush-backed presidential candidate. The movie gets its name from an ominous quote from a firm operative, who helpfully explains that his job was to stir up fears of impending economic disaster among the Bolivian electorate.
So naturally, they are the go-to guys for objective and nuanced analysis of Venezuela, right? The Washington Post thinks so. In an article about today’s ‘Enabling Law’ vote, intrepid reporter Juan Forero tracks down Greenberg Vice President Mark Feierstein, who explains that all evidence to the contrary, even President Chavez’s supporters are “uncomfortable” with him. The firm’s “research,” according to Feirstein, “shows that Chávez is misinterpreting his mandate.”
The Post sort of forgets to note that the firm is getting paid bucketloads of money from the Venezuelan opposition to push this idea in the press. IMHO, it’s worth a mention.
PS: Seriously, about Netflix. It's available. Queue it. The trailer is above.
