Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Since the U.S. detention of President Nicolás Maduro, the Chavista regime -- the left-wing populist movement -- has maintained strict control over information in Venezuela, limiting coverage of the events that occurred Saturday.
While the country's last two remaining free-to-air television channels went off the air, a nearly 30-hour power outage in several parts of the country disabled Internet services and pay television signals, according to accounts gathered by UPI.
In the absence of official information and amid restrictions on local media outlets, Venezuelans have been relying on international news coverage and messages from relatives living abroad to stay informed.
Venezuelan lawyer and former prosecutor Zaid Mundaray told UPI that since news emerged of Maduro's capture and departure from the country after a U.S. operation to detain him along with his wife, Cilia Flores, "there has been widespread jubilation among the population, but it cannot be expressed in any way."
"Neither radio nor the press nor television can say absolutely anything. They can only repeat the official narrative that this is a kidnapping and talk about imperialism and interventionism. You can only hear what the regime wants you to hear," Mundaray said.
