AT&T Closes DirecTV Business in Venezuela, Citing Sanctions (1)

AT&T Inc. closed its DirecTV operations in Venezuela, citing U.S. sanctions on the country.

The company couldn’t comply with the legal requirements of both countries, and the decision to shut down the satellite-TV broadcasts was made by U.S. executives, AT&T said in a statement Tuesday.

A DirectTV satellite dish sits on a home in Caracas.

Photographer: Matias Delacroix/Bloomberg

The U.S. has imposed an array of sanctions on Venezuela for more than a decade. As a result, Dallas-based AT&T was caught between its own country’s orders and the mandates of the Venezuelan government. AT&T has more than 600 DirecTV employees in the South American nation.

DirecTV is the leader in the pay-television market ...