CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan authorities on Friday jailed the last of three local managers of DirecTV under an arrest warrant following the Dallas-based company’s abrupt cutoff of services to the South American country, citing U.S. sanctions against the socialist government.
One of the three employees told reporters before surrendering to authorities at a feared Caracas jail called the Helecoide that he had no prior knowledge that the services were being ended and that he was innocent of any crimes.
Carlos Villamizar, a father of two young children, said he was a victim along with hundreds of fellow employees who lost their jobs with the shutdown.
“It was a total surprise,” he said, choking up with emotion, in comments at his lawyer’s office before surrendering. “I’m innocent.”
The Dallas-based parent company AT&T abruptly ditched its popular satellite TV service on May 19. It cited U.S. sanctions that prohibited DirecTV from broadcasting channels that were required by the administration of President Nicolás Maduro.
The two other employees, Hector Rivero and Rodolfo Carrano, were arrested Thursday, said lawyer Jesus Loreto, who is representing the trio. He called their detention unjust, saying the men had co-operated with authorities, appearing this week first at chief prosecutor’s office and then the Venezuelan Supreme Court.
The abrupt end to DirecTV service caused an uproar among leaders in Maduro’s government, who accused the company of denying its citizens rights to information.
Residents in the capital of Caracas for at least two nights following the announcement mounted protests from inside their homes, banging pots and pans in unison. They lost service in the middle of a quarantine order for the coronavirus pandemic, and many have no other form of receiving movies, news and sports.
The administration of President Donald Trump has increased political pressure on Maduro in what it calls a “maximum pressure” campaign aimed at ending the socialist leader’s rule, which it says has led the once wealthy oil nation into ruin.
The Associated Press
