A new cable television station in Latin America is calling itself an alternative to Fox, CNN and MSNBC, but it just might be an extended commercial for Marxist guerillas:
"Late this month, Telesur--short for Television of the South--will begin broadcasting 24 hours a day across Latin America. While the network's goal is nothing short of changing the way Latin Americans view themselves and their news, critics say the station could become a propaganda tool for the region's re-emerging left.....So far, the only glimpse of what Telesur might offer is an 11-minute video aired in May during a signal test. The video shows street demonstrations by peasants and images of leftist heroes such as former Chilean socialist President Salvador Allende, killed in a U.S.-backed coup in 1973.
"Although Telesur is a venture involving leftist governments in Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay, its main benefactor is Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a populist who derisively refers to the U.S. as 'The Empire' and blames capitalism for the region's endemic poverty.....critics fear Chavez will use Telesur to project his ideas across Latin America at a time when some media executives and human-rights experts say Chavez has curbed free speech in his own country."
Media watchdog groups in the US scream that Fox is a tool of an authoritarian Right and that CNN is the puppet of the radical Left, but at least we're all having this debate in a democracy with due process and a First Amendment. When Colombians say that Telestar is a frightening tool of oppression, they're not trying to sell their book, or get booked on cable TV to debate it: they're actually worried about men with guns showing up at their door.
"Colombia on Monday berated a new Venezuela-based television station championed by President Hugo Chavez for featuring the leader of its deadliest rebel group in a promotional trailer....'I just want to say, Mr President, that it was very painful for Colombia that out of the 44 million decent Colombians, Telesur should choose 'Sureshot' for its first two seconds of broadcasting,' Deputy Foreign Minister Camilo Reyes told Chavez during a summit of Andean leaders in Lima....'Sureshot', whose real name is Manuel Marulanda, is the veteran leader of the 13,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist group that has been fighting a socialist revolution for more than 40 years. "
Secret police. Masked gunmen. Anarchy and bloodshed in the streets. And that's just Telesur's business plan. Something to keep in mind the next time David Brock starts yapping about "frightening" right-wing media and how it "corrupts democracy." Move to Colombia, David. Make sure you pack your bulletproof vest, since you're so committed to righting wrongs.
http://www.rednova.com/news/technology/177315/will_truth_go_south_to_latin_america_on_telesur_news/
http://about.reuters.com/dynamic/countrypages/colombia/1121744867nN18681140.ASP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesur
http://www.thinkingpeace.com/Lib/lib099.html
