Cablegate: Subject: Response to Rctv President's Request for U.S

VZCZCXYZ0009
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #5974 0531856
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 221853Z FEB 10
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY CARACAS IMMEDIATE 0591

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 015974

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2035/02/22
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM VE EINV
SUBJECT: Subject: Response to RCTV President's Request for U.S.
to Press U.S. Cable Operators to Restore its Signal

REF: A) CARACAS 109

Classified by: Derived from: DSCG 05-1 (b), (d)
WHA/AND, State

1. (C) In response to Posts request for guidance regarding
RCTVs
request that we approach DirectTV, Net Uno, and Inter to discuss
the possible restoration of their RCTV programming, the Department
has determined that:

The U.S. Government will not take a legal position on the
interpretation of a Venezuelan law or regulation, or on any
contracts between RCTV and its cable carriers.
Therefore, we cannot make a legal determination on whether or not
the cable operators in question did or did not have a legal basis
for removing RCTV programming.
Nor can we assert that the cable operators acted illegally.
RCTV and the cable operators may well have a commercial dispute,
and we do not believe it is appropriate for the USG to take a
position with regard to that dispute.

2. (C) Regarding Posts request for the Department to verify
if
these companies are U.S. owned, we have determined that DirecTV (a
satellite company, not a cable operator) is a U.S. company with a
legal presence (including facilities and licenses) in Venezuela.
DirecTV has confirmed to us that they were ordered by Conatel to
remove RCTV and that DirecTV has fully complied. NetUno has offices
in Miami but appears to be incorporated in Venezuela. Inter
appears to be a Venezuelan company. According to its website, it
was founded in 1996 in Barquismeto under the name Intercable. We
have no further information on Inter.
CLINTON

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