TeleSUR
Encyclopedia
La Nueva Televisora del Sur (teleSUR, The New Television Station of the South) is a pan-Latin America
n terrestrial and satellite television network
headquartered in Caracas
, Venezuela
. TeleSUR was launched with the objective of providing information to promote the integration of Latin America
.
La Nueva Televisora del Sur, C.A. is, according to its website a public company which has Latin American governments as its sponsors. Its sponsors are the governments of Argentina
, Bolivia
, Cuba
, Ecuador
, Nicaragua
, Uruguay
and Venezuela
. The channel's news agenda is dictated by its Board of Directors with the aid of an advisory council, which is formed by many international and regional leftist intellectuals, including Nobel Peace Prize
winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
, poet Ernesto Cardenal
, writers Eduardo Galeano
, Tariq Ali
, Saul Landau
, editor-in-chief of Le Monde diplomatique
and historian Ignacio Ramonet
, Argentine film producer Tristán Bauer
, free software pioneer Richard Stallman
and US
actor and activist Danny Glover
. The network carries no commercial advertising
.
Richard Stallman resigned on 26 February 2011, criticising the channel's pro-Gaddafi "propaganda" during the 2011 North Africa uprisings
.
teleSUR began broadcasting on a limited four hour schedule on July 24, 2005, on the 222nd birthday of Latin American leader Simón Bolívar
. A few hours later that day, Richard Lugar, then chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
began a "game of warnings and threats" against the new channel.
The network began full-time broadcasts on October 31, 2005. Just three days before the network began broadcasting, the United States House of Representatives
included an amendment to Resolution 2601 introduced by Connie Mack IV
, a Republican
from Florida's 14th congressional district
, which tentatively authorized "to fund activities which support political parties, the rule of law, civil society, an independent media, and otherwise promote democratic, accountable governance in Venezuela" The Venezuelan government replied to the U.S. reaction through its ambassador in Washington, D.C.
, Bernardo Álvarez saying that "in Venezuela there are 48 channels of free access to anyone with a television set and a small antenna. Only two of them belong to the government. You can also receive more than 120 channels from four continents." The chairman of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors
, which runs Voice of America
broadcasts in Latin America, Walter Isaacson
said that the US could not be "out-communicated" by what he called enemies such as Telesur.
signed on March 3, 2005 several agreements with then-recently elected Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez
regarding the energetic and communicational integration of both countries, being one of them the joint creation and financing of teleSUR. After just under a year of signing the agreements, they had not been carried out, although the party of President Vázquez was a majority in the country's legislative branch. Venezuelan journalist Andrés Izarra, president of teleSUR, confirmed in an interview in January 2006 the delay in the approval of the full incorporation of the country to the network: "There is a special situation (in Uruguay), because although the country is a member of Telesur, until their Congress
does not approve it, we can't broadcast the channel locally or receive government funding. The situation requires a political decision and we hope that the government of Tabaré Vázquez
support the initiative". The president of the Uruguayan Deputies' Education Commission, Jorge Brovetto confirmed in February of that year the country still wasn't part of the network's sponsors and asked that, until the parliament has not decided on a final status, the removal of the country's name as sponsor from its promotions and the website. In June of that year, and as the nation's Minister of Education and Culture, Brovetto expressed worries regarding the network's editorial line on certain issues and governments in the region, and how the diplomacy
of his country could be affected by it. Uruguay's Chamber of Senators approved the bill that would ratify the agreements on August 8, 2006 by votes of the legislators belonging to ruling party, but the Chamber of Deputies postponed several times the debate on the draft. Although sources close to the Congress told the press in February 2009 that the issue of incorporation to teleSUR "was not a priority item in their agenda", and that the issue would not be discussed during the remainder of that year, the agreement was finally ratified on June 2, 2009.
, who had criticised the channel in the past, claimed that it heralded a "global television network for terrorists and other enemies of freedom." teleSUR's then-station manager, Uruguayan Aram Arahonian said in reaction to Mack's remarks that "we continue to believe in democracy, freedom of expression, and pluralism: all the values that are indispensable in any democracy. We don't have any problem making agreements with any organisation that is beneficial for our channel."
TeleSUR agreements with other news organizations and media outlets like the BBC
, IRIB, and CCTV
were not criticized by Mack or any US government official.
. The Latin American Federation of Journalists, the Forum of Argentine Journalism and the Inter American Press Association expressed its rejection to any situations that put at risk the life of the journalist and demanded from the national and provincial authorities to work "so that intimidation against journalists will not happen again". Esteban expressed concern for his life and his family after the attack.
In late 2006, the then correspondent of teleSUR in Colombia, Fredy Muñoz Altamiranda, was arrested on November 19 on charges of rebellion and terrorism. The journalist was accused of being "Jorge Eliécer", a leader of the FARC guerrilla group held responsible for various terrorist attacks. The prosecution cited the testimonies of jailed guerrillas against the journalist. Múñoz's defense argued that the testimonies which implicated him were inconsistent and denounced procedural irregularities after the moment of his arrest. One of the jailed guerrillas claimed that "Jorge Eliécer" suffered several burns on his body due to an accidental bomb explosion. According to teleSUR, the journalist was subjected to physical analysis which determined that there were no injuries in his body matching those described by the witness and another guerrilla later stated he had being pressured to declare against Múñoz by members of the Colombian Navy's intelligence branch.
Múñoz was released on January 10, 2007, after which he declared that "when I left the prison, less than an hour after leaving, two agents visited the jail and asked in an aggressive manner to officials of the prison where I was going to [and] what was my itinerary after leaving prison." Muñoz Altamiranda said that he feared for his life after being released due to subsequent threats.
Reporters Without Borders
had questioned the evidence against Múñoz and called his imprisonment an "outrage" and an "abuse", arguing that the Colombian government could be acting against press freedom if the journalist had been jailed due to his work or because of past teleSUR interviews with Colombian guerrillas. The Inter American Press Association also criticized his detention and asked for the respect of due process.
Noted Colombian journalist William Parra
, a former Reuters
correspondent, worked for TeleSUR fulltime from 2006 to 2008. He was forced to seek political asylum in Venezuela after being charged with links with the FARC. He denies the accusations, and said in September 2010 that his lawyers had received death threats.
A group of teleSUR and Venezuelan state media
journalists were in Honduras on 28 June, 2009 to cover the events in relation to a non-binding referendum
on the possibility of changes to the constitution of Honduras
. As soon as they learned that soldiers of the Honduran military
ousted President Manuel Zelaya
in a coup
and exile
d him to Costa Rica
the staff stayed in the country to cover all events after the coup.
A day after the coup teleSUR journalist Adriana Sívori and the crew that was accompanying her was arrested by the military with several other international journalists under threat, and retained their passports. As soon as the international community learned of the detention, the journalists and their staff were quickly released. Sívori was reportedly assaulted by the soldiers who detained her. teleSUR was, until the detention and quick release of journalist Sívori the only international channel that was broadcasting live the unrest in the streets of Tegucigalpa. The coverage of the coup by the channel, according to supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and several social and sindical organizations, was essential to make the world and, to some extent, the Honduran people know "without censorships" the situation in the country and President Zelaya's whereabouts.
On June 30, several social organizations and journalistic unions in Venezuela took part in a march to the channel's studios in solidarity with the journalists.
On July 12, the teleSUR crew, which were working together with the Venezuelan state media's
were arrested at dawn by police in the hotel where they were staying. After a rigorous review of their documents and after being warned that if they continued their work in the country their personal safety was at risk the crews were released but banned from leaving the hotel. The teams decided to leave the country after concluding that it was not possible to continue their work. teleSUR sent a press statement expressing that the channel would make "further efforts to ensure accurate, timely and uncensored accurate information for the world and for the Honduran people, in such a complex historical circumstances." The Latin American Federation of Journalists, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
and the Inter American Press Association condemned what they considered an attempt to stifle the free flow of information on the situation in the country.
TeleSUR criticized the communiqué published by the Inter American Press Association, claiming that "it underestimates with great severity the risks to the life of the teams of reporters and technicians in Honduras by the threats of the repressive forces of a government unrecognized by several international organizations and countries in the world", the "implicit legitimacy" given to the de facto government and the criticizing of the governments of Venezuela and Nicaragua, sponsors of the channel, for allegedly "restricting press freedom".
On September 25, teleSUR journalists claimed they had been attacked with high-frequency radiation and mind-altering gas along with other international journalists accompanying Manuel Zelaya during his entrenchment in the Brazilian embassy after returning to the country on Sept. 21.
TeleSUR reported on October 9 that their media staff who were covering the stay of President Manuel Zelaya in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa since his arrival on September 21, were forced to leave by "the progressive deterioration of their health due to a systematic plan of repression carried out by the de facto authorities".
The journalist had received death threats before.
via satellite to Latin America, the United States, Western Europe
and Northern Africa. The network's availability through cable television
have been very limited in Latin America because of the network's editorial approach to several events and governments in the region; the station manager in 2007, Aram Arahonian said in an interview that "cable owners do not provide us with any access [...] it's not frequent, but it has affected us in the large countries. For example, in México
there exists a duopoly, Televisa
and Televisión Azteca
. In Argentina
, almost everything is dominated by the Clarin
group. In Brazil
cable is very scarce, there are 3.5 million subscribers and 80 million people so it's quite marginal."
The availability of the channel via terrestrial television
is very limited in the vast majority of Latin American countries. The only countries in the region that receives all teleSUR's broadcasts via terrestrial television are Venezuela and Ecuador, whose governments are sponsors of the channel. teleSUR is currently available via Digital Terrestrial Television in Argentina, as part of the Government-sponsored channel line-up which includes several other public service, educational, music, sports and news channels. Venezuela started broadcasting teleSUR via terrestrial television on February 9, 2007 and Ecuador on July 15, 2009. The rest of the sponsor countries broadcast some of the networks' programs, mainly the news, in their public and educational channels (see list of sister channels). The network started in February 2008 to broadcast some news programming to Brazil
in Portuguese
through several community stations in the state of Paraná
. On September 27, 2009, teleSUR president Andrés Izarra announced an agreement with public TV stations in Mozambique
, Angola
and Guinea Bissau to broadcast some of the channel programming in Portuguese in the context of the Second Africa-South America Summit
, held in Venezuela.
, a news and opinion program that's produced for teleSUR by the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television
. According to the Swedish
analyst Nathan Shachar, in this way, the Cuba
n government censors any information that is not to the liking of its "political system", which includes "free elections, multiparty, strikes and protest movements that are non-existent on the island".
teleSUR's programming is organised by a 'Strategic Programming Committee.'
The networks' website has a weekly schedule of its programming.
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n terrestrial and satellite television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
headquartered in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. TeleSUR was launched with the objective of providing information to promote the integration of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
Legal status, funding and structure
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. The channel's news agenda is dictated by its Board of Directors with the aid of an advisory council, which is formed by many international and regional leftist intellectuals, including Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel is an Argentine sculptor, architect and pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize.-Biography:Pérez Esquivel was born in Buenos Aires to a Spanish fisherman who emigrated to Argentina...
, poet Ernesto Cardenal
Ernesto Cardenal
Reverend Father Ernesto Cardenal Martínez is a Nicaraguan Catholic priest and was one of the most famous liberation theologians of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, a party he has since left. From 1979 to 1987 he served as Nicaragua's first culture minister. He is also famous as a poet...
, writers Eduardo Galeano
Eduardo Galeano
Eduardo Hughes Galeano is a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist. His best known works are Memoria del fuego and Las venas abiertas de América Latina which have been translated into twenty languages and transcend orthodox genres: combining fiction, journalism, political analysis, and...
, Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
, Saul Landau
Saul Landau
Saul Landau is journalist, filmmaker, and commentator. He is Professor Emeritus at California State University, Pomona. He is a senior Fellow at and Vice Chair of the Institute for Policy Studies.-Career:...
, editor-in-chief of Le Monde diplomatique
Le Monde diplomatique
Le Monde diplomatique is a monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first created mainly for a diplomatic audience as its name implies...
and historian Ignacio Ramonet
Ignacio Ramonet
Ignacio Ramonet is a Spanish journalist and writer.He was the editor-in-chief of Le Monde diplomatique from 1991 until March 2008....
, Argentine film producer Tristán Bauer
Tristán Bauer
Tristán Bauer is an Argentine film maker and screenwriter. His work has received several international awards, particularly for his films Iluminados por el fuego , Después de la tormenta and Cortázar .Bauer serves, from 2007 as the director of the Public Media System of...
, free software pioneer Richard Stallman
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman , often shortened to rms,"'Richard Stallman' is just my mundane name; you can call me 'rms'"|last= Stallman|first= Richard|date= N.D.|work=Richard Stallman's homepage...
and US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor and activist Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
. The network carries no commercial advertising
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
.
Richard Stallman resigned on 26 February 2011, criticising the channel's pro-Gaddafi "propaganda" during the 2011 North Africa uprisings
2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
.
Origins and US reaction
The proposed alternative Latin American television network that would become teleSUR took shape on January 24, 2005 as part of the projects approved in a council of ministers of the Venezuelan governmentteleSUR began broadcasting on a limited four hour schedule on July 24, 2005, on the 222nd birthday of Latin American leader Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
. A few hours later that day, Richard Lugar, then chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid programs as...
began a "game of warnings and threats" against the new channel.
The network began full-time broadcasts on October 31, 2005. Just three days before the network began broadcasting, the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
included an amendment to Resolution 2601 introduced by Connie Mack IV
Connie Mack IV
Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV popularly known as Connie Mack IV is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes Fort Myers and Naples....
, a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from Florida's 14th congressional district
Florida's 14th congressional district
Florida's 14th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. The district is located in the Gulf Coast region in Southwestern Florida and includes all of Lee County and portions of Charlotte and Collier counties...
, which tentatively authorized "to fund activities which support political parties, the rule of law, civil society, an independent media, and otherwise promote democratic, accountable governance in Venezuela" The Venezuelan government replied to the U.S. reaction through its ambassador in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Bernardo Álvarez saying that "in Venezuela there are 48 channels of free access to anyone with a television set and a small antenna. Only two of them belong to the government. You can also receive more than 120 channels from four continents." The chairman of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors
Broadcasting Board of Governors
The Broadcasting Board of Governors is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for all non-military, international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S government. It was previously a department within the United States Information Agency until 1999.-Origins:Starting in...
, which runs Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
broadcasts in Latin America, Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson is a writer and biographer. He is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of TIME...
said that the US could not be "out-communicated" by what he called enemies such as Telesur.
Uruguay
The process of integration of Uruguay to teleSUR was long and controversial. Venezuelan president Hugo ChávezHugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
signed on March 3, 2005 several agreements with then-recently elected Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas is a former President of Uruguay. A physician by training, he is a member of the leftist Frente Amplo coalition . Vázquez was elected president on October 31, 2004, took office on March 1, 2005, and relinquished the office on March 1, 2010...
regarding the energetic and communicational integration of both countries, being one of them the joint creation and financing of teleSUR. After just under a year of signing the agreements, they had not been carried out, although the party of President Vázquez was a majority in the country's legislative branch. Venezuelan journalist Andrés Izarra, president of teleSUR, confirmed in an interview in January 2006 the delay in the approval of the full incorporation of the country to the network: "There is a special situation (in Uruguay), because although the country is a member of Telesur, until their Congress
General Assembly of Uruguay
The General Assembly of Uruguay has two chambers.*the Chamber of Deputies has 99 members, elected for a five year term by proportional representation....
does not approve it, we can't broadcast the channel locally or receive government funding. The situation requires a political decision and we hope that the government of Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Vázquez
Tabaré Ramón Vázquez Rosas is a former President of Uruguay. A physician by training, he is a member of the leftist Frente Amplo coalition . Vázquez was elected president on October 31, 2004, took office on March 1, 2005, and relinquished the office on March 1, 2010...
support the initiative". The president of the Uruguayan Deputies' Education Commission, Jorge Brovetto confirmed in February of that year the country still wasn't part of the network's sponsors and asked that, until the parliament has not decided on a final status, the removal of the country's name as sponsor from its promotions and the website. In June of that year, and as the nation's Minister of Education and Culture, Brovetto expressed worries regarding the network's editorial line on certain issues and governments in the region, and how the diplomacy
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
of his country could be affected by it. Uruguay's Chamber of Senators approved the bill that would ratify the agreements on August 8, 2006 by votes of the legislators belonging to ruling party, but the Chamber of Deputies postponed several times the debate on the draft. Although sources close to the Congress told the press in February 2009 that the issue of incorporation to teleSUR "was not a priority item in their agenda", and that the issue would not be discussed during the remainder of that year, the agreement was finally ratified on June 2, 2009.
Cooperation agreements with Al Jazeera
In 2006 teleSUR announced agreements on exchange of audiovisual content and support coverage with the Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera. US Congressman Connie Mack IVConnie Mack IV
Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV popularly known as Connie Mack IV is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes Fort Myers and Naples....
, who had criticised the channel in the past, claimed that it heralded a "global television network for terrorists and other enemies of freedom." teleSUR's then-station manager, Uruguayan Aram Arahonian said in reaction to Mack's remarks that "we continue to believe in democracy, freedom of expression, and pluralism: all the values that are indispensable in any democracy. We don't have any problem making agreements with any organisation that is beneficial for our channel."
TeleSUR agreements with other news organizations and media outlets like the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, IRIB, and CCTV
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...
were not criticized by Mack or any US government official.
Detentions and threats to journalists
Several teleSUR journalists have been threatened because of their journalistic work.Argentina
TeleSUR correspondent in Argentina, Edgardo Esteban, was awakened the morning on September 11, 2008, by the detonation of a homemade bomb of low intensity in front of his home. The journalist had received several threats because of his journalistic work on tortures and corruption of Argentine military during the Falklands WarFalklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. The Latin American Federation of Journalists, the Forum of Argentine Journalism and the Inter American Press Association expressed its rejection to any situations that put at risk the life of the journalist and demanded from the national and provincial authorities to work "so that intimidation against journalists will not happen again". Esteban expressed concern for his life and his family after the attack.
Detention of Fredy Muñoz Altamiranda
In late 2006, the then correspondent of teleSUR in Colombia, Fredy Muñoz Altamiranda, was arrested on November 19 on charges of rebellion and terrorism. The journalist was accused of being "Jorge Eliécer", a leader of the FARC guerrilla group held responsible for various terrorist attacks. The prosecution cited the testimonies of jailed guerrillas against the journalist. Múñoz's defense argued that the testimonies which implicated him were inconsistent and denounced procedural irregularities after the moment of his arrest. One of the jailed guerrillas claimed that "Jorge Eliécer" suffered several burns on his body due to an accidental bomb explosion. According to teleSUR, the journalist was subjected to physical analysis which determined that there were no injuries in his body matching those described by the witness and another guerrilla later stated he had being pressured to declare against Múñoz by members of the Colombian Navy's intelligence branch.
Múñoz was released on January 10, 2007, after which he declared that "when I left the prison, less than an hour after leaving, two agents visited the jail and asked in an aggressive manner to officials of the prison where I was going to [and] what was my itinerary after leaving prison." Muñoz Altamiranda said that he feared for his life after being released due to subsequent threats.
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
had questioned the evidence against Múñoz and called his imprisonment an "outrage" and an "abuse", arguing that the Colombian government could be acting against press freedom if the journalist had been jailed due to his work or because of past teleSUR interviews with Colombian guerrillas. The Inter American Press Association also criticized his detention and asked for the respect of due process.
William Parra
Noted Colombian journalist William Parra
William Parra
William Parra is one of Colombia's best known journalists. He has worked for Caracol Radio, Reuters, and RCN TV, and in the 1990s was press secretary for then-Colombian President Ernesto Samper. He worked for TeleSUR full time from 2006 to 2008, and subsequently as a freelance journalist...
, a former Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
correspondent, worked for TeleSUR fulltime from 2006 to 2008. He was forced to seek political asylum in Venezuela after being charged with links with the FARC. He denies the accusations, and said in September 2010 that his lawyers had received death threats.
2009 coup coverage
A group of teleSUR and Venezuelan state media
Venezolana de Televisión
Corporación Venezolana de Televisión or VTV is a state-owned television network based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the country on channel eight...
journalists were in Honduras on 28 June, 2009 to cover the events in relation to a non-binding referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on the possibility of changes to the constitution of Honduras
Constitution of Honduras
The Political Constitution of the Republic of Honduras was approved on 11 January 1982, published on 20 January 1982, amended by the National Congress of Honduras 26 times from 1984 to 2005, and 10 interpretations by Congress were made from 1982 to 2005. It is Honduras' twelfth constitution since...
. As soon as they learned that soldiers of the Honduran military
Military of Honduras
-pre-1979:During the twentieth century, Honduran military leaders frequently became presidents, either through elections or by coups d'état. General Tiburcio Carías Andino was elected in 1932, he later on called a constituent assembly that allowed him to be reelected, and his rule became more...
ousted President Manuel Zelaya
Manuel Zelaya
José Manuel Zelaya Rosales is a politician who was President of Honduras from January 27, 2006 until June 28, 2009. The eldest son of a wealthy businessman, he inherited his father's nickname "Mel," and, before entering politics, was involved in his family's logging and timber businesses.Elected...
in a coup
2009 Honduran coup d'état
The 2009 Honduran coup d'état, part of the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, occurred when the Honduran Army ousted President Manuel Zelaya and sent him into exile on June 28, 2009. It was prompted by his attempts to schedule a non binding poll on holding a referendum about convening a...
and exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
d him to Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
the staff stayed in the country to cover all events after the coup.
A day after the coup teleSUR journalist Adriana Sívori and the crew that was accompanying her was arrested by the military with several other international journalists under threat, and retained their passports. As soon as the international community learned of the detention, the journalists and their staff were quickly released. Sívori was reportedly assaulted by the soldiers who detained her. teleSUR was, until the detention and quick release of journalist Sívori the only international channel that was broadcasting live the unrest in the streets of Tegucigalpa. The coverage of the coup by the channel, according to supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and several social and sindical organizations, was essential to make the world and, to some extent, the Honduran people know "without censorships" the situation in the country and President Zelaya's whereabouts.
On June 30, several social organizations and journalistic unions in Venezuela took part in a march to the channel's studios in solidarity with the journalists.
On July 12, the teleSUR crew, which were working together with the Venezuelan state media's
Venezolana de Televisión
Corporación Venezolana de Televisión or VTV is a state-owned television network based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the country on channel eight...
were arrested at dawn by police in the hotel where they were staying. After a rigorous review of their documents and after being warned that if they continued their work in the country their personal safety was at risk the crews were released but banned from leaving the hotel. The teams decided to leave the country after concluding that it was not possible to continue their work. teleSUR sent a press statement expressing that the channel would make "further efforts to ensure accurate, timely and uncensored accurate information for the world and for the Honduran people, in such a complex historical circumstances." The Latin American Federation of Journalists, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...
and the Inter American Press Association condemned what they considered an attempt to stifle the free flow of information on the situation in the country.
TeleSUR criticized the communiqué published by the Inter American Press Association, claiming that "it underestimates with great severity the risks to the life of the teams of reporters and technicians in Honduras by the threats of the repressive forces of a government unrecognized by several international organizations and countries in the world", the "implicit legitimacy" given to the de facto government and the criticizing of the governments of Venezuela and Nicaragua, sponsors of the channel, for allegedly "restricting press freedom".
On September 25, teleSUR journalists claimed they had been attacked with high-frequency radiation and mind-altering gas along with other international journalists accompanying Manuel Zelaya during his entrenchment in the Brazilian embassy after returning to the country on Sept. 21.
TeleSUR reported on October 9 that their media staff who were covering the stay of President Manuel Zelaya in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa since his arrival on September 21, were forced to leave by "the progressive deterioration of their health due to a systematic plan of repression carried out by the de facto authorities".
Ecuador
TeleSUR correspondent in Ecuador, Elena Rodríguez, was beaten and robbed in Quito on September 19, 2009, by a group of three people who left a pamphlet in which she received death threats because of her journalistic work for the channel.The journalist had received death threats before.
Distribution
teleSUR is available free-to-airFree-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
via satellite to Latin America, the United States, Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and Northern Africa. The network's availability through cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
have been very limited in Latin America because of the network's editorial approach to several events and governments in the region; the station manager in 2007, Aram Arahonian said in an interview that "cable owners do not provide us with any access [...] it's not frequent, but it has affected us in the large countries. For example, in México
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
there exists a duopoly, Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
and Televisión Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...
. In Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, almost everything is dominated by the Clarin
Clarin
Clarin or Clarín may refer to a number of things:*In Argentina, Clarín , the country's main newspaper*In Chile,El Clarín de Chile, a Chilean newspaper*In the Philippines:**The municipality of Clarin, Bohol...
group. In Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
cable is very scarce, there are 3.5 million subscribers and 80 million people so it's quite marginal."
The availability of the channel via terrestrial television
Terrestrial television
Terrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which does not involve satellite transmission or cables — typically using radio waves through transmitting and receiving antennas or television antenna aerials...
is very limited in the vast majority of Latin American countries. The only countries in the region that receives all teleSUR's broadcasts via terrestrial television are Venezuela and Ecuador, whose governments are sponsors of the channel. teleSUR is currently available via Digital Terrestrial Television in Argentina, as part of the Government-sponsored channel line-up which includes several other public service, educational, music, sports and news channels. Venezuela started broadcasting teleSUR via terrestrial television on February 9, 2007 and Ecuador on July 15, 2009. The rest of the sponsor countries broadcast some of the networks' programs, mainly the news, in their public and educational channels (see list of sister channels). The network started in February 2008 to broadcast some news programming to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
through several community stations in the state of Paraná
Paraná (state)
Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...
. On September 27, 2009, teleSUR president Andrés Izarra announced an agreement with public TV stations in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and Guinea Bissau to broadcast some of the channel programming in Portuguese in the context of the Second Africa-South America Summit
Second Africa-South America Summit
The Second Africa-South America Summit took place in September 2009 on Margarita Island, Venezuela, with the participation of Heads of state from 61 countries...
, held in Venezuela.
teleSUR's broadcasts in Cuba
Although teleSUR has Cuba as one of its main funders and suppliers of programming, the channel is not completely available in the country. It was not until late 2007 that its programming is broadcasted daily on the island, but only from 22:30 until 8:00 the following day via Canal Educativo 2, a educational television channel of limited national coverage. Some of teleSUR's programming is broadcast in Cuba during the day on that channel but as a one-hour, highly edited mix of its news and documentary programmes titled 'Lo mejor de teleSUR' (The Best of teleSUR). and, depending on the topic in the program, Mesa Redonda InternacionalMesa Redonda Internacional
Mesa Redonda Internacional is a Latin American news analysis talkshow broadcast by teleSUR live from Havana, Cuba on Thursday nights...
, a news and opinion program that's produced for teleSUR by the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television
Cuban Institute of Radio and Television
The Cuban Institute of Radio and Television is the organization responsible for the control of radio and television broadcasters in Cuba.- History :Cuba was one of the first countries in the Americas to have radio and television services...
. According to the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
analyst Nathan Shachar, in this way, the Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n government censors any information that is not to the liking of its "political system", which includes "free elections, multiparty, strikes and protest movements that are non-existent on the island".
Programming
Current programming
|
Mesa Redonda Internacional Mesa Redonda Internacional is a Latin American news analysis talkshow broadcast by teleSUR live from Havana, Cuba on Thursday nights... : Political and social analysis program, broadcast on Tuesday and Thursday nights, live from Havana, Cuba. |
Cancelled programmes
- América, Tierra Nuestra (America, Our Land): Documentaries about Latin American culture and folkloreFolkloreFolklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. - Contravía: Documentary program about social and political situation in Colombia, hosted by journalist Hollman Morris.
- Documenta ABN: Documentary programs produced by the Bolivarian News Agency.
- Alerta Verde (Green Alert): Documentary program about the deterioration of Latin American ecosystem in several countries.
- En vivo desde el SUR (Live from the South): Live individual interviews related to the most important news of the day, hosted by Colombian journalist Patricia Villegas on weekdays at night.
- Historia de las Ciudades (The History of the Cities): Documentary program about the history of Latin American cities
- Maestra Vida: BiographiesBiographyA biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Latin American personalities. - SoloCortos.com: brief audiovisual works created by Latin American directors.
- CineSUR: Latin American independent cinema.
- Agenda del Sur: Live morning news and talk show.
- Cubanos en primer plano (Cubans in the foreground): Biographies of Cuban personalities.
- De este lado: Political and social analysis program produced in Mexico and hosted by journalist Blanche Petrich
- Resumen 'Aló PresidenteAló PresidenteAló Presidente is a largely unscripted talk show hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez which is broadcast on Venezuelan state television and radio stations every Sunday at 11:00 AM...
: An abridged version of the program hosted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez in Venezuelan State TVVenezolana de TelevisiónCorporación Venezolana de Televisión or VTV is a state-owned television network based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the country on channel eight...
. - Visión 7 Internacional: International news and analysis broadcast Saturdays live from Buenos Aires on Argentina's Canal 7Canal 7 ArgentinaCanal Siete, TV Pública or TV Pública Digital is an Argentine television network founded on October 17, 1951. Between 1979 and 1999, the network was known as Argentina Televisora Color . During the 1978 World Cup, it was known as A78TV.Owned, financed and operated by the Argentine State, Canal 7 is...
. This program was also simulcastSimulcastSimulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
ed on teleSUR. - Mediotanque: A program about culture and folklore of Uruguay.
- Videoteca contracorriente (Counterflow videotheque): Interviews with conteporary Latin American social leaders and personalities, "developed with a critical and progressive view".
The networks' website has a weekly schedule of its programming.
External links
- Minstry of Information and Communication of Venezuela
- "New Latin American Television Network Telesur Officially Launched", July 26, 2005 Democracy Now! Features interview with Andres Izarra