AT&T quits Venezuela as US sanctions force it to defy Maduro

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and SCOTT SMITH Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) — AT&T has decided to immediately abandon Venezuela’s pay TV market as U.S. sanctions prohibit its DirecTV platform from broadcasting channels that it is required to carry by the socialist administration of Nicolas Maduro. The Dallas-based company said Tuesday its decision is effective immediately. AT&T is the largest player in Venezuela’s pay TV market and was one of the last major American companies still operating in the crisis-wracked country. But it has come under pressure for abiding by Maduro regulators’ orders to remove some 10 channels such as CNN en Español that have broadcast anti-government protests and critical coverage of the country amid the past year’s turmoil.