With the order given by Conatel to close Éxtasis 97.7 FM, 20 direct and indirect workers were harmed, in a workforce that includes operators, technicians, announcers and journalists.
The director of the Tachirense station Éxtasis 97.7 FM, José Luis Rincón, reported that he received an order to turn off the radio by the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), which decided to withdraw its concession.
The information was disseminated by the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP), which shared Rincón’s message after receiving the closure order.
“Dear producers and employees, I comply with the sad news of informing you that Conatel has just notified me of the expiration of the authorization and concession of Éxtasis 97.7 FM. He ordered to turn off the radio », he said.
According to what Conatel explained to Rincón, the owner of the station can appeal the measure and wait for the proper administrative response, but in the meantime, it must go off the air.
With the measure, 20 direct and indirect workers were harmed, in a staff that includes operators, technicians, announcers and journalists.
This concludes, at least temporarily, the story of a station that had been on the air for 29 years since its birth, on March 12, 1994.
“From that moment, it became a space that allowed diversity and plurality of thoughts and opinions,” the SNTP highlighted on Twitter.
Emmanuel Rincón, son of José Luis Rincón, posted a message on Twitter to reflect on this closure, stressing that the “tyranny of Maduro” stripped his father of his only source of income, “and also his passion, employment and distraction.”
The tyranny of @NicolasMaduro My father’s radio station in San Cristóbal, Táchira state, has just closed.
Extasis 97.7 FM operated for 29 years, employed hundreds of people, and fed my family and hundreds of other families for decades.
The reasons are obvious… pic.twitter.com/Y9rMsuuSay
—Emmanuel Rincon (@EmmaRincon) July 21, 2023
The union once again denounced this type of closure as “arbitrary and illegal, in addition to violating freedom of expression and the right to information.”
According to Espacio Público, a civil association focused on defending freedom of expression, up to May there had been 285 closures of radio stations in Venezuela since Chavismo came to power.
Solidarity with Ecstasy 97.7 FM
As soon as the measure applied by Conatel became known, social communicators and political leaders expressed their solidarity with Rincón and his work team, in addition to repudiating a government policy that aims to undermine freedom of expression.
The candidate for the opposition primary elections for the Encuentro Ciudadano party, Delsa Solórzano, stressed that, with this measure, “another window for freedom of expression is closed” in the country.
All my solidarity with José Luis Rincón, owner of the Éxtasis 97.7 FM radio station and the workers of that radio station in the state of Táchira, as well as with the extraordinary journalist @yamilejimenezufor being victims of an arbitrary closure measure by…
— Delsa Solorzano (@delsasolorzano) July 21, 2023
Similarly, the deputy to the National Assembly elected in 2015 by the state of Táchira, Karim Vera, expressed her solidarity with Rincón and the workers of the media, for being victims of an “arbitrary measure” of closure by Conatel.
All our solidarity with the Lido. José Luis Rincon owner of the station Extasis 97.7 fm and the workers of this medium Tachirense @yamilejimenezufor being victims of an arbitrary closure measure by CONATEL. #ReportNoIsCrime
— Karim Vera (@KarimVera6) July 21, 2023
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