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      *Actor/activist Danny Glover spoke out on Tuesday against criticism of a new TV station backed by the government of Venezuela. 

      The channel Telesur, which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says is an alternative to foreign media giants, began regular broadcasts Sunday and is transmitting news, documentaries and other programs to various Latin countries.

       Glover, who sits on the station’s advisory board, is denying claims by critics that the station will double as a mouthpiece for Chavez and spew anti-U.S. propaganda.

      "Certainly the television station itself is not a tool that would be used to demonize the north," said Glover, according to AP. "It is a tool to be used to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of this hemisphere."

      Chavez, who has spoken out against the U.S. government on many occasions and is tight with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, regularly criticizes U.S. "imperialism" in places such as Haiti and Iraq. The government’s involvement in Telesur has raised concern in the U.S. Congress, where House members last week approved a measure to transmit radio and television broadcasts to Venezuela to ensure citizens receive "accurate news."

       The measure – still awaiting approval by the Senate – wouldn't mean "using the same methodology that exists with other countries like Cuba," said U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield, referring to the Miami-based station Radio Marti that transmits broadcasts critical of Castro. Brownfield told the Venezuelan broadcaster Union Radio that the U.S. congressional measure is aimed at responding "only if the messages of Telesur are anti-American" -- and without "violating" Venezuelan airwaves. 

       Speaking during a visit to Caracas, Glover said Telesur "came out of an extreme passion, a necessity to discover or to elevate one's own voice. This battle of ideas is one that is taking place in every corner of the world.”

       Glover said the "control of ideas by the established media" in the United States also has created "a large degree of insecurity and fear."