On a recent morning, the week before Venezuela’s latest presidential elections, three journalism students jumped on a public bus with a microphone and a loudspeaker.
“Good morning, this is the BusTV newscast in Caracas. This is a special edition about elections,” said Carla Cadena, one of the students standing in the front.
With a microphone in one hand, and a script in the other, they began a three-minute news roundup. They then explained how to vote and verify the vote at polling stations.
“It is your right to defend your vote,” Cadena said. “It is stated in the law.”
The students are working for BusTV, a local initiative to find creative ways to bypass censorship in Venezuela, and deliver independent news — including from buses, public plazas and balconies.
Since the July 28 vote — that has been widely condemned as fraudulent — the Venezuelan government has ramped up a fear and intimidation campaign. Security forces have been going door-to-door to round up opposition activists as part of a new crackdown called “Operation knock-knock.”
At least 1,300 people have been arrested over the past two weeks charged with “inciting violence.” Most have been protesting the electoral results or voicing support for the opposition.
Inside Venezuela, however, the government agency that oversees telecommunications has blocked the local media from covering any of this news.
Censored content
Programming these days on any given TV or radio station in Venezuela consists of the Olympic Games, telenovelas or long diatribes of President Nicolás Maduro pointing blame at what he’s called a fascist coup plot backed by the United States.
Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), which oversees the media in Venezuela, sent a message to journalists, producers and managers of multiple media outlets across the country, warning them not to cover certain topics.
“It is prohibited to broadcast any content that includes elements classified as violent. Otherwise stations can face a fine or a withdrawal of license,” read a text message that The World was able to verify.
A program manager with the network of radio stations Fe y Alegría, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, explained that the banned content includes “covering opposition protests, arbitrary detentions by security forces, giving space to opposition voices or questioning the election results.”
Last fall, when one of the group’s stations that she manages covered the results of the opposition primaries, CONATEL shut it down permanently.
“This is the level of censorship we are used to here in Venezuela,” she said. CONATEL’s warnings usually come via WhatsApp, an instant messaging app widely used in Venezuela and Latin America. “You will never see an official communication with a letterhead or anything like that,” she explained.
Since the last presidential election, at least four Venezuelan journalists have been charged with terrorism. All of them were documenting the government’s crackdown on protests.
CONATEL’s website has been down for two weeks and was allegedly hacked by the online activist group Anonymous.
Increasing authoritarianism
Over the past 25 years, the socialist government of former President Hugo Chavez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, has progressively taken control over the media, public and private, according to Marianela Balbi, director of the Venezuelan Press and Society Institute (IPYS).
“Journalists and media owners face threats, physical attacks and legal persecution — and many have had to go into exile,” Balbi added.
About 400 media outlets, including newspapers and radio and TV stations, have been forced to shut down in Venezuela, according to the NGO Espacio Público. Most websites reporting independent news have been blocked, and people cannot access them without a VPN (virtual private network).
The censorship has forced many Venezuelans to get their news on social media. The government has also blocked the leading websites dedicated to fact-checking Venezuela’s news and social media posts.
Last week, Maduro ordered a one-week block on access to the social network X in Venezuela. In a televised speech, he said his opponents are using the social network to create political unrest, and accused Elon Musk of promoting hatred.
Maduro also accused TikTok of promoting a civil war in Venezuela and supporting fascism around the world after the network banned him for a week. In previous days, he also called Venezuelans to delete WhatsApp, alleging it’s been used by “fascists” to promote violence.
Bypassing censorship
Back on the bus in Caracas, student journalist Carla Cadena reminded her listeners the purpose of their initiative.
“This off-line newscast is a way to bypass censorship. Thanks for listening.”
Some passengers clapped and thanked her back.
BusTV, active in eight other cities, is one of several projects in Venezuela that aim to present news independently of state-controlled media.
“The goal is to bring truthful content to communities with little to no access to independent news,” said Laura Elena Castillo, the founder of Bus TV.
According to a recent report by IPYS, at least 20% of Venezuela’s population lives in “information deserts,” or places where local news is not covered.
“Instead of waiting for the audience to reach us, we meet them where they are,” Castillo explained.
More initiatives
Another project run by BusTV is called El Noticiero offline, or The Off-line Newscast. It brings news to public plazas inside poor neighborhoods, focusing on local news.
At the center of the main plaza of La Cruz, an impoverished neighborhood in Caracas, Presenter Luis Antonio Mata started the news round-up. Neighbors brought chairs and gathered around him.
He went over local trash collection and a basketball competition happening nearby, and then he got into national news.
“Six news sites have been blocked the week before presidential elections in Venezuela,” he said.
Luis Antonio Mata, a neighbor of La Cruz, is not a professional journalist but is also learning the job. A group of reporters and journalism students curate and fact-check the news and teach him and other neighbors how to do it. Much of the featured news comes from censored websites.
“This activity has created new spaces for people to meet-up, people gather here at sunset, to listen to the show and then share coffee and cookies,” he said.
After several days of intense protests and subsequent arrests, the founder of BusTV, Laura Elena Castillo, said they had to stop working. “We didn’t want to put reporters at risk of being arrested by security forces,” she explained.
But they plan on resuming activities again. “It’s a critically important moment for our country,” she stated. “And Venezuelans need our service more than ever before.”
Journalist Marcos Valverde contributed to this report, producing and reporting from Caracas, Venezuela.
Related: Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday with many hoping for a change in leadership