Two editorials about today’s launch of Telesur, Hugo Chavez’s grand new television network designed to put the region’s free press out of business, are in today’s Chicago Tribune and Monday’s Investor’s Business Daily. (A third, here, from El Semanal Digital, is in Spanish.)

The Tribune points out that Castro is deeply involved in this “news” project, a bad sign given his abysmal record on the free press, and argues that if it’s as bad as it looks, no one’s going to watch it. True.

IBD warns that this is an effort to replace Venezuela’s authentic free press and give Colombia’s narcoterrorists an al-Jazeera-style platform, same as the beheaders of Baghdad. It says that governments don’t need to set up more state presses, all they need to do is protect the ones they have, which is exactly the opposite of what they are doing. I agree with both editorials.

Two bloggers have important on-the-ground perspective about Telesur. Venezuelan Miguel Octavio accurately describes the conditions Venezuela’s reporters must currently operate in in the land of Telesur – it’s grim reading here. Europe’s John E writing for VCrisis has additional new information about the FARC and its real operations kidnapping and murdering real journalists even as it is feted by Telesur. Incredible stuff, read it here.

The U.S. is responding to this coming shutdown of Venezuela’s independent press by authorizing a Radio Free Venezuela of sorts. Alek Boyd has an important press release from it here.