Caracas (AFP)
Three local executives of the pay TV company DirecTV, which has ceased operations in Venezuela due to US sanctions, were arrested on Friday.
"I hope there is justice in this country," Carlos Villamizar, vice-president for DirecTV strategy in Venezuela, told reporters before the press.
On May 23, Venezuelan justice ordered the seizure of the company's goods and equipment, property of the American telecommunications group AT&T, and prohibited members of the company's management from leaving Venezuelan territory or from transferring bank accounts to the stranger.
Villamizar said he was "very very surprised" by the warrant issued against himself and two of his former colleagues, Hector Rivero and Rodolfo Carrano.
Accompanied by their lawyer, the three of them voluntarily went to the headquarters of the intelligence services.
On May 19, the AT&T group announced the end of DirecTV's activities in Venezuela, explaining that American sanctions prohibited the transmission of the private news channel Globovision and PDVSA TV, the channel of the Venezuelan state oil company.
However, according to the company, the transmission of these two channels is a condition imposed by the government of President Nicolas Maduro for the granting of a pay television license in Venezuela.
Nicolas Maduro, several members of the entourage of the socialist president and PDVSA are targeted by American sanctions.
According to official figures, DirecTV represents 45% of the subscription TV market in Venezuela. The end of its activities affected 6.5 million subscribers in this country of 30 million inhabitants, and deprives them in particular of the very popular sports program Futbol Total.
© 2020 AFP