In 2005, after Telesur was founded, it was described as a network showcasing the diversity of Latin America. Telesur also "won praise for its high production values and its intensive reporting about Latin America for Latin Americans". However, Telesur was a propaganda tool for Hugo Chávez and his Bolivarian Revolution, with the network acting as a mouthpiece for the Venezuelan regime. According to Aram Aharonian, the founder of Telesur who was removed from the network in December 2008 by former Venezuelan Minister of Popular Power for Communication and Information Andres Izarra, Chávez "took the reins" of Telesur and used "propaganda as rolling news". The network has leftist views representing its sponsorship nations: Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela. Joel D. Hirst, a former International Affairs Fellow in Residence of the Council on Foreign Relations, stated that the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), knowing the importance of propaganda, "embarked upon an ambitious plan to control information across the hemisphere" and began their plan with the creation of Telesur in 2005.
