Conatel lifts restrictions on news portals amid new round of dialogue in Venezuela

Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) has begun lifting restrictions on several web portals and digital media outlets, according to the portal AlbertoNews. The move responds to a request from the Programa para la Paz y la Convivencia Democrática and coincides with the start of a second round of negotiations between the government and the opposition.

In compliance with instructions from the Presidency, the regulator notified internet service providers of the technical unblocking of the domains of several national and international news portals. According to a preliminary analysis by the NGO VE Sin Filtro, cited by the outlet, the lifting of the blocks began at the same time as the request to the executive.

The civil society organization counts about ten digital outlets that have been unblocked, among them the Colombian magazine Semana. However, the NGO warns that about two hundred news-related domains remained blocked as of this date, and therefore considers the measure still insufficient to guarantee full access to information in the country.

This process of digital opening is taking place in parallel with talks backed by the international community on civil and political guarantees. In this context of greater political and diplomatic rapprochement, the daily El Nacional reported that ExxonMobil personnel have traveled to Venezuela to negotiate a possible return to the oil sector, assessing current regulatory conditions.

If the measure holds, it would represent the first major rollback of internet censorship in Venezuela since the unblocking of the X platform. Civil society groups are demanding a complete end to blocks on media outlets, non-governmental organizations and communication tools.