Game on

Telesur sent its first broadcast today, and it was a direct criticism of US policy in Colombia.

Let's be clear about this. The show was not aimed at a Latin American audience. There was nothing about this show that would change anyone's mind about Colombia one way or another, especially because the station had little audience outside of the meta-media waiting to cover it.

The show was a provocation of the US, to see if they can get us to react. They want to see a State Department official, Ambassador, Defense Department official or even the White House criticize the channel and call for some sort of action. They want to watch the anti-Chavez forces on the internet flip out and call for action against the propaganda.

Telesur isn't going to really start broadcasting for another two months. This was part of their campaign to build the hype. By the time they go live, they want to be seen by the international media and by the US government as the Latin American Al Jazeera. What's amazing (pathetic) is that they may gain that title from the media and from our government before they broadcast even 24 full hours of programming.