The test broadcast phase for the new Latin America-wide satellite television channel Telesur ended on October 31 with the launch of a continuous live signal from its studios in Caracas. The Telesur website states that the aim of the channel is to "concretise the Bolivarian ideal" of Latin American integration.
Telesur now has news bureaus and correspondents based in Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico and Peru. Some 125 television operators are involved in broadcasting and 13 countries in Latin America are relaying the signal to well over 3 million subscribers across Latin America, as well as free-to-air broadcasts in seven countries to approximately 30 million viewers.
Telesur plans to expand its production facilities and provide signals via subscription to viewers in the US and other countries by the end of 2006.