U.S. pressuring AT&T to defy Venezuelan censors
MIAMI — Last April, as a military uprising roiled Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government ordered pay TV providers to immediately cease transmission of CNN and the BBC.
DirecTV, which is wholly owned by AT&T, quickly obliged, yanking the two networks off the air as live images of military trucks running over protesters were being broadcast to the world.
Now, pressure is building against the Dallas-based communications giant to stand up to Venezuela’s government censors.
In December, officials from the State Department met in Washington with executives from AT&T to urge them to help pull the plug on Maduro’s propaganda machine, according to five people familiar with the discussion.
The meeting followed months of outreach to AT&T by Venezuela’s opposition, according to the five individuals. Under a plan being promoted with the Trump administration, DirecTV, Venezuela’s largest pay TV operator, would restore to its lineup a half dozen international news channels that local regulators have banned in recent years, according to the five individuals.
AT&T faces a difficult choice: comply with a Maduro regime that the U.S. government no longer recognizes and has heavily sanctioned, or go along with the opposition’s plan and risk seizure of its installations and the loss of its license.
U.S. officials and opposition operators are concerned that DirecTV is being used to broadcast state TV programming by Maduro to attack his opponents, who have no way to respond, according to the five individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the politically-sensitive nature of the talks.
Of particular concern, they said, is the private network Globovision, which is carried by DirecTV. The channel has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department and is accused by the opposition of spreading disinformation. Globovision is a customer of the AP.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed initial support for the plans to enrol DirecTV to help undermine Maduro, according to two individuals with knowledge of the discussions.
Planning is in the early stages, the two individuals said, and it’s one of several options under consideration to pressure Maduro, who remains firmly in power even in the face of U.S. sanctions aimed at propping up Juan Guaido, the opposition leader.
The two individuals said no decision has yet been made on how much to lean on AT&T, which is pushing back strongly against any initiative that would jeopardize operations in a nation where it has a 44% market share. DirecTV Latin America declined to comment.
The move to open up the airwaves would be significant because DirecTV reaches people who are dependent on the government, such as those in the working-class barrios, says David Smilde, from the Washington Office on Latin America.
“This wouldn’t pose an immediate threat to Maduro, but it could complicate the longer-term ability of the government to control information,” said Smilde. “Maduro could conceivably try to confiscate DirecTV equipment from people’s homes, but this would be an extraordinarily unpopular move.”
A key to Maduro’s staying power are dozens of government-controlled newspapers, social media accounts and TV channels that have replaced the once highly confrontational private news outlets.
Further widening the information gap, the telecommunications regulator, Conatel, since 2017 has ordered pay TV platforms to eliminate 10 international news channels.
“The pay TV operators aren’t the ones giving the orders,” said Marianela Balbi, executive director of the Caracas-based Institute for Press and Society, “but they are accomplices in censorship.”
International channels broadcast by DirecTV had until recently filled a void left by Globovision, the last open-air network critical of the government, which was sold to a businessman linked to Maduro in 2013. Not long after the purchase, the channel softened its anti-government coverage.
AT&T hasn’t made money in Venezuela for years, due to strict government controls that keeps the price of its DirecTV packages artificially low.
Some in the U.S. government fear pushing AT&T too hard could leave it to suspend operations in the country — an outcome nobody wants.
Andres Izarra, a former Venezuelan communications minister, agrees a lack of diversity on television keeps Venezuelans in the dark. But he’s skeptical any plan to open up the airwaves would weaken Maduro.
“All it will do is allow Maduro to try and portray himself as a victim of U.S. aggression,” said Izarra, who is now living in exile.