AT&T announced yesterday the closure of DirecTV Latin America operations in Venezuela, with immediate effect, so that its subscribers were left without service. The measure responds to the sanctions of the United States government to Venezuela, which prohibit it from broadcasting the Venezuelan television channels Globovisión and Pdvsa TV: under the DirecTV license in Venezuela, those channels are required to provide pay TV service.

"Because it is impossible for AT&T DirecTV unit to comply with the legal requirements of both countries, AT&T was forced to close its pay television operations in Venezuela, a decision that was made by the company's management in the United States , without being involved or with prior knowledge by the DirecTV Venezuela team”, the company clarified.