On the eve of the second round of talks between representatives of the interim government and the 2015 National Assembly, there was an announcement on social media from the Program for Peace and Democratic Coexistence (an initiative established by Delcy Rodriguez weeks after January 3rd that now looks more like a propaganda stunt) recommending the elimination of restrictions on the web domains of media outlets.

Right after this, State telecom regulator Conatel took notice, and “following instructions from the president”, immediately requested internet service providers to lift the restrictions.

In the early hours of September 17, some websites belonging to independent news outlets in Venezuela like El Pitazo, Efecto Cocuyo, Runrun.es, El Estímulo, Crónica Uno and others became more accessible, dropping the need of using a VPN. But other news sites continue to be blocked. Diario TalCual remains blocked by most providers. El Nacional still faces restrictions. Armando.Info remains unchanged.

Specialized NGO VeSinFiltro started to monitor these developments on its own dedicated website, where they inform not only the number of domains blocked but even the specific methods used by ISPs to obstruct. As a possible retaliation, Ve Sin Filtro has seen its access hindered.

According to Espacio Público, “the unblocking of September 17 benefitted general news sites. Investigative sites, human rights groups, alternative economic platforms and privacy tools are still blocked.”

Another human rights organization, free speech NGO Espacio Público, released an updated report on the early hours of Monday, September 21. It focuses on sites that are neither inactive or duplicates. At least 20 websites have been unblocked, but 50 are fully blocked, and 27 have partial filtering. 

In summary, “the unblocking of September 17 benefitted general news sites. Investigative sites, human rights groups, alternative economic platforms and privacy tools are still blocked.”

Espacio Público also informed days ago that its director Carlos Correa had several charges against him dropped. Maduro agents held him for 10 days after forcefully disappearing him in January 2025.

For some media outlets, this lifting doesn’t come as relief, but as vindication of the struggle they faced for a long time. One of those is El Pitazo, for which the lifting came on the ninth anniversary of the first block imposed on its website. For its director, César Batiz, those nine years meant “losing chances to grow our audience and that they couldn’t see the work made with effort and care”.

Caracas Chronicles spoke with Batiz, who shared his view on how El Pitazo and other sites were unblocked: “It’s very curious that Delcy Rodríguez has to receive a recommendation. Why a recommendation when rights are being infringed? Why a recommendation to restore rights? I found this of grave concern. Rights have to be respected. We can’t thank her for the fact that we’ve been unblocked, nor her regime for the mere fact that they returned my rights.”

Batiz considers this action as a way of cleaning Delcy Rodríguez’s image in time for her New York City trip for the UN General Assembly, where she will meet Donald Trump.

The journalist also mentions that Conatel never fully acknowledged the existence of those digital blocks even if they were a verifiable fact for years. Back in 2019, he went to the General Prosecutor’s Office to introduce a complaint against the State regulator and private internet providers, which was refused.

Batiz sees the strategy of selectively lifting digital blocks as very similar to the one that has been in place for political prisoners for years.

The biggest issue for Batiz is that the measure can still be rolled back. As the UN’ Fact-Finding Mission for Venezuela asserted in its latest update, the apparatus of repression remains intact. “That’s the same apparatus blocking the outlets,” the maracucho journalist and editor said.

The list of blocked web domains is not limited to media outlets, even if these represent a large share. The group of banned websites includes non-government organizations, VPN tools and even messaging app Signal. In similar fashion, the Nicolás Maduro regime had blocked X (formerly Twitter) from August 2024 until the aftermath of his ousting on January 3.

The overall reaction from civil society groups has been unanimous: these selective lifts are not enough, and they demand the government to end the digital blocks in general. Earlier this year, 30 NGOs and outlets tried to introduce a formal request to Conatel, but were ignored.

Batiz sees the strategy of selectively lifting digital blocks as very similar to the one that has been in place for political prisoners for years: creating a split and releasing some of them while taking new ones. “This achieves two things: to divide and to send a sign that if they want to do it again, they will.”

Dinorah Figuera, head of the opposition delegation in the ongoing talks, made a statement after the news broke: “To inform without fear cannot be only a privilege, but the enforcement of the law… This is the first step. There are still media outlets pending which must return to their full and permanent form. Without a free press, there’s no democracy possible or a true reunion among Venezuelans”.

The issue of freedom of the press was somewhat addressed at the talks between the old 2015 legislature and the interim government. Figuera informed that a working group, which would discuss this and other issues, was established. She added that a “process of consultation” should follow, but provided no further details.

For Batiz, unless the Trump administration puts some pressure on it, the interim government is going to keep doing things at its own pace. The core issue for him is that substantial changes must happen: “As long as the repressive apparatus is still in place, while repressive laws are still in effect and that we still have journalists facing judicial processes, we cannot talk about a free press in Venezuela.”