.| Photo: EFE/ Rayner Peña
The National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) of Venezuela ordered this week the closure of 15 radio stations operating in three of the country’s border states, according to a report by the National Union of Workers in Press (SNTP), updated this Saturday (22).
8014548326001“Eight stations were closed in the state of Táchira (border with Colombia ) by order of Conatel, under the argument of non-qualification”, said the union through a message on Twitter, in which it criticizes the measure as an “arbitrary action”.060940128014548326001With these closures, according to the organization, 70% of broadcasters in the city of Rubio are prevented from broadcasting and “the guarantees of exercising freedom of expression and access to information are even more fragile expedited.”80145483260018014548326001On Friday (09), the union announced the closure of six more stations in the state of Zulia, also on the border with Colombia. Also, last Tuesday (18) , according to the group of press workers, Conatel closed a radio station in the state of Sucre, located in front of the Caribbean Sea.8014548326001
Last week, the National College of Journalists (CNP) denounced the closure of 46 radio stations in seven states of the country, which were taken off the air by the telecommunications regulator in the last four months.
8014548326001The secretary general of the CNP, Delvalle Canelón, explained to the EFE Agency that these closures have been carried out since July passed by Conatel, which not only orders the stations to go off the air, but also “seizes the equipment” of transmission of these platforms, an action that it qualified as “theft”.06094012
