The following is a contribution by outside blogger Gregory Sokoloff. Opinions expressed are solely those of Mr. Sokoloff.
They did not make us wait long. The Iranian ayatollahs have now decided to reach out to Hispanics, including those living in the United States.
This week, the regime in Tehran launched what has been dubbed HispanTV, a 24-hour news and cultural information channel “designed to eventually reach millions of persons in Latin America, the United States and Europe,” according to a statement in Spanish posted on the new channel’s Website, www.hispantv.ir.
In its afternoon broadcast on Thursday, Miami-based Univision showed footage from the first Iranian Spanish-language broadcast, in which a female announcer — clad, as was to be expected, in a dress with long sleeves and a headscarf — greeted her audience in a perfect Madrid accent. “Look who is speaking Spanish now!” remarked Univision anchorwoman Barbara Bermudo with a smile.
What will the content of the new channel be? “Information, culture, religion …art and politics” among other subjects, stated the channel’s Website. The goal? According to the statement, it consists in “building a bridge of friendship and understanding among the peoples of Iran, the Middle East and Hispanic America in order to establish and strengthen ties based on the principles of friendship, brotherhood, solidarity and justice.” Sounds like a page from the Occupy Wall Street playbook, doesn’t it?
The channel added enigmatically that it was also looking to become “a multi-dimensional pillar of support for those who are looking for a space to share their life experiences.” Lola Garcia, a Madrid-based publicist for HispanTV, told Agence France-Presse that the channel was run by the Iranian state and had three staff in Madrid and correspondents around the world. For what it could mean, read my previous blog “We Shall Choose a Different Way” published on December 22.
I also have to give it to those folks in Tehran: I think they have a much clearer understanding of what kind of opportunities illegal immigration and the resulting growth of the undocumented Hispanic community in the United States is offering than the vast majority of our politicians right here in Washington.