This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001298 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE FOR WHA/PDA CONNERS/LEBENS/GALLEGOS, 
STATE FOR WHA/AND CUE 
NSC FOR CBARTON, 
HQ SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD/PAO RDELANY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/29/2015 
TAGS: ECPS KPAO OPRC PGOV PINR XM VE
SUBJECT: THE TELESUR SAGA: CHAVISTA CNN, THE MANAGER'S 
CUBAN CONNECTION, THE AL JAZEERA LINK, AND MORE 
 
Classified By: INFORMATION OFFICER BRIAN PENN FOR REASON 1.4 (D) 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (C) President Hugo Chavez has been vigorously pushing for 
the creation of TELESUR, a hemisphere-wide, multi-national, 
Latin American satellite television network, to offer a 
different point of view from CNN.  TELESUR would promote GOV 
interests, and it would promote Chavez,s ambitions for 
continental leadership were it to be successful.  It would 
seek to displace private media, and it would promote 
 endogenous, (non-U.S.) cultural development.  The 
president of TELESUR is Chavez,s Minister of Information and 
Communication, Andres Izarra.  The network,s director 
general is Aram Aharonian; a radical Uruguayan exile that a 
knowledgeable foreign correspondent believes has links to 
Cuban G-2.  When Minister Izarra announced that AL JAZEERA 
would be opening an office in Caracas he implied that TELESUR 
would be collaborating with the Arab television network.  The 
actual date for beginning TELESUR operations is uncertain, 
having been moved from January, to March, to April, and now 
to July.  The network plans to have its headquarters in 
Caracas, and bureaus or correspondents in Bogota, Brasilia, 
Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Havana, and Los Angeles. 
The economics appear to be the murkiest part with director 
general Aharonian estimating start-up capital of around 5-10 
million dollars, coming principally from Venezuela but with 
major contributions from Brazil and Argentina. END SUMMARY 
 
 
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Chavez wants his CNN 
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¶2. (C) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez believes CNN,s 
coverage of world events is biased and distorts reality, thus 
proving the need for a network that will report on Latin 
American from a Latin American perspective. TELESUR conceived 
as a consortium between Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina, is 
Chavez,s response.  At a February 05 lunch, TELESUR director 
general Aram Aharonian told PAS officers that Venezuela will 
control 51 percent of TELESUR, with Argentina and Brazil each 
having 20 percent control, the rest will come from private 
investors or other countries.  Recent press reports indicate 
Cuban and Uruguayan participation.  Its international 
directorate has been announced as Venezuelan Communication 
and Information Minister Andres Izarra as President, 
Aharonian as General Manager, Colombian Jorge Enrique Botero 
as director of information, Ana de Excalom from Channel 7 in 
Buenos Aires, Beto Almeida from Brazil,s journalist guild, 
and Ovidio Cabrera, ex-vice president of Radio TV of Cuba. 
Aharonian has denied that the various governments will 
control the network.  The station will be about half news 
programs.  Aharonian told PAS officers that he also plans to 
have sports, documentary, and entertainment programming, and 
that there will be dignified discussion programs but no 
editorials.  He told the media in March that another project 
connected with the network, the Factory of Latin American 
Contents (FLACO), will look for documentaries and other 
content for the station.  TELESUR will broadcast in Spanish 
and Portuguese. 
 
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The Cuban connection and Aharonian 
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¶3.  (C) Director General Aram Aharonian came to Caracas as a 
part of a wave of Uruguayan Tupamaro exiles in the 1980s.  A 
foreign correspondent familiar with the Caracas scene has 
told us that he strongly believes that Aharonian has formal 
or informal ties with Cuban G-2.  He notes that Aharonian 
originally came to Caracas in the 1980s to open a PRENSA 
 
LATINA office.  He described Aharonian as a classic back 
stabber, an untrustworthy friend and a bad enemy to have.  He 
says Aharonian is noted for his tyrannical management style. 
Aharonian is a print journalist with very limited TV 
experience.  Besides PRENSA LATINA he has reported for the 
Uruguayan magazine BRECHA, the Mexican paper PROCESO, and has 
his own website RED VOLTAIRE.  He is a former head of the 
Caracas foreign press association. Cuban State TV official 
Ovidio Cabrera also has a prominent place on the TELESUR 
board. 
 
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The AL JAZEERA connection 
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¶4.  (U) On April 6 Minister of Communications and Information 
Andres Izarra announced that the Emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamid 
bin Khalifa would visit Caracas on May 11 and that among the 
items to be discussed during the visit would be details 
concerning the opening of an AL JAZEERA office in Caracas. 
Izarra noted that AL JAZEERA would be expanding its coverage 
of Latin America and would begin broadcasting in English in 
addition to Arabic.  He indicated that there would be 
collaboration between TELESUR and AL JAZEERA.  Several 
foreign correspondents have told PAS officers that a female 
journalist representing AL JAZEERA has attended many GOV 
press conferences and participated in VTV (government-owned 
TV station) talk programs.  It is unknown whether she is 
resident or not, but she is not a member of APEX, the foreign 
press association in Caracas.  A knowledgeable foreign 
correspondent suggests an AL JAZEERA correspondent would be 
more likely to join AVIP, the GOV backed press association 
headed by Syrian national Fadi Salloum.  Salloum publishes 
the Caracas Spanish-Arabic language paper EL VOCERO DEL 
CAMBIO. 
 
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The Economics of TELESUR 
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¶5. (U) The murkiest part of TELESUR is how it will be funded 
and do the figures add up.  Aharonian has indicated to PAS 
officers and the media an initial capital outlay by the 
Venezuelan of 2.5-3 million dollars.  If you add to that 
possible proportional contributions based on ownership 
percentage from Brazil and Argentina, the total start up 
capital is still well under 10 million dollars.  TELESUR will 
undoubtedly benefit from in-kind contributions, including 
equipment and space from Venezuelan state television. 
Aharonian told PAS officers that he will hold down expenses 
by using simple digital cameras and editing equipment.  He 
said he would get a cut-rate satellite deal.  Many observers 
believe TELESUR will eventually get a no-rate satellite deal 
by using the satellite that Venezuela is reportedly buying 
from China.  Aharonian has repeatedly told the press that 
TELESUR views government money as seed money only.  Aharonian 
expects that parastatal industries and private companies will 
invest in TELESUR, and Aharonian has already mentioned state 
oil companies such as Venezuelan PDVSA and Brazilian 
PetroBras as having made unsolicited commitments.  Aharonian 
told PAS officers that he is a great admirer of PBS and, 
while rejecting the idea of advertising, would not mind 
having companies  sponsor, programs on TELESUR, as they do 
on American public broadcasting. 
 
¶6.  (U) Symptomatic of the problems TELESUR is having are the 
changing estimated dates for the first on-air broadcast.  In 
January 2005 Minister Izarra said by March 2005, in February 
Aharonian told PAS officers April, latest press reports say 
test transmissions in May followed by regular broadcasting in 
July. 
 
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Comment: the birth of Al-Chavezeera? 
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¶7. (C) Chavez has steadily increased participation in the 
television industry in the past year through the creation of 
 
two new domestic channels (one of them a National Assembly 
version of C-Span).  While TELESUR may now appear to have 
weak legs, we do not discount that it will indeed reach the 
air in the future.  Combine Chavez,s intense desire to have 
his own CNN, the majority position of Venezuelan government, 
the political predilection of station,s director general, 
and the Cuban connection, and there is no doubt that TELESUR 
will be the Chavez News Network.  Whether it draws anything 
but a niche market is questionable.  Aharonian knows what is 
needed to draw regular viewers.  However, the stated budget 
combined with Aharonian,s complete lack of experience in 
managing a television operation count against creating the 
sort of slick operation needed to gain viewers.  Aharonian 
admits that he would like to get major sporting events but 
lacks the necessary funds.  If Chavez decided to drop much 
more money into the operation, either directly or through 
state industry sponsorship, this evaluation could change.  It 
is difficult to see what role AL JAZEERA could play with 
TELESUR.  The most likely is providing provocative film 
footage from the Middle East to be dubbed into Spanish 
 
 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2005CARACA01298 - CONFIDENTIAL