Maria Conchita Alonso Narrates New Documentary About Latin American Dictators And Immigration

Crossing Our Borders (www.crossingourborders.com) analyzes the effects of various Latin America’s dictators including Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Argentina’s Juan Peron, Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, to Peru’s Alberto Fujimori, and most recently Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. These undemocratic leaders from both the right and the left have killed hundreds of thousands and have driven millions of their citizens away to escape their tyranny. They promise solutions to poverty, inequality, and the crime plaguing their nations, but their true motive is to remain in power for perpetuity. Hugo Chavez is our most recent example. This populist leader dissolved all democratic institutions in Venezuela replacing them with his Bolivarian revolution to perpetuate his grip on the Venezuelan people.

Crossing Our Borders features analyses from leading Latin American experts, eye-witness reports from political prisoners and expatriates from Latin America. Various contributions exhibited in the film are from prominent Latin newspapers, TV stations, and justice organizations from the US and Latin America provide an inside view of the problems in Latin American countries and the massive immigration into the US.

Actress Maria Conchita Alonso was born in Cuba but was raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She became a popular actress in Latin America, securing spots on various telenovelas (soap operas) and starring in multiple Hollywood films. As an activist, she is known for being strongly against Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, and is a recurring guest on Fox’s The O’Reilley Factor with host Bill O’Reilly when Chavez or Latin American politics are discussed.

“For me it is very important to use my voice to somehow help the political prisoners in Venezuela,” said Alonso on making the film. “It is very important to speak up because I see the children of my friends, the children of my nieces and nephews growing up in a country [Venezuela] where they are going to be indoctrinated…and I can’t accept that.”

Director and producer Gladys Bensimon, also born in Venezuela, created the project to present a balanced and reasoned view of some of the Western Hemisphere’s worst public circumstances caused in part by these undemocratic leaders, such as Chavez.

“Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is the most recent example of how the breakdown of democratic government creates an insidious stew of fear in the citizens of various Latin American countries causing them to flee,” said Bensimon. “We analyze why more than 600,000 professionals and middle class citizens have fled Venezuela over the past 8 years under Chavez’s regime and what this means for the US.”

Bensimon has traveled the country to interview political leaders, experts, scholars, institutions and victims of political persecution to give the viewer a unique perspective on the issue. She has compiled more than 28 hours of video footage from her interviews in addition to more than 6 hours of b-roll footage from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Organization of American States, and various other government agencies, nonprofit organizations and media outlets in the US and Latin America. The documentary has been produced under the fiscal sponsorship of New York Women in Film and Television (www.nywift.org).

Bensimon says the project is fueled by personal motivation. “I knew I had to do something – in Venezuela, Chavez controls most of the media with propaganda, but here I have a voice,” said Bensimon. “I can speak out and show Americans how dictators in our neighboring countries to the south not only affect their people and their countries but also affect the lives of people in the US as well.”

Contact Press@crossingourborders.com or visit the web site (www.crossingourborders.com) for more information.

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About HBR Production Company:
HBR Production Company is an award-winning multilingual film and video production company with over 20 years of experience serving the tri-state area. Working across a wide range of genres, from educational to animation, HBR Production Company has a variety of clients and expertise. Gladys Bensimon, founder, has won several awards for the documentaries “Domestic Violence: The Legal Process”, “Roll Call”, and “The Silent Victims Speak,” all focusing on domestic violence and the effect it has on children. Visite for more information www. hbrproductions.com.”

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