Pro-government deputy: No new law governing cable TV will be enforced

Blanca Eeckhout, the president of the Media Subcommittee, National Assembly, said on Wednesday in a press conference that the Venezuelan parliament is working neither to draft a new law nor to amend the law to regulate subscription television. She added that the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) is the body entrusted with such authority.

"So far, there is no new law," said Eeckhout, who is also the second vice-president of the Venezuelan Legislature. She explained that Conatel is the body that has "the means to address this matter."

"However, we will continue to debate. But so far there is neither a new law nor an amendment to the law," she stressed.

Further, Eeckhout rejected "a false mindset" created in connection with the parliamentary discussions intended to enforce cable TV regulations. She pointed out that the Government would never pull an imposed legal instrument out of a hat. Eeckhout claimed that all service providers "in all areas, must commit to speak the truth." 

"According to this mindset, without duly consultation, we are plotting to eliminate cable TV operators," said Eeckhout.

"We want to reject such media campaign, which uses fear and manipulation to instill fear in people (...) This leads to great frustration among the Venezuelan people, as they can no longer trust in what the media say, and that is regrettable," she stressed.

Eeckhout also contended that the State "has invested large sums of money" so that Venezuelans have "full" access to information.

"We are among the countries providing more direct access to internet services across the continent, particularly here in Latin America," she added.