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Starlink has offered free internet access across Venezuela through February 3, the company announced earlier this week.
By Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Starlink has announced that they will provide free internet to users in Venezuela until February 3.
The announcement, posted on Starlink’s website, comes in the wake of the U.S. military’s capture and arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Since the operation to capture Maduro, President Donald Trump has repeatedly affirmed that the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela.
However, Maduro’s regime has remained defiant and firmly planted in Caracas.
Since Maduro’s capture and arrest by U.S. authorities, Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, has been sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president.
International leaders, meanwhile, have largely condemned the U.S. action in Venezuela, which reportedly caused scores of Cuban and Venezuelan deaths.
Since Starlink’s announcement, Maduro has also been arraigned on a series of charges in federal court.
He has entered a plea of not guilty.
In their statement Sunday, Starlink said their focus in Venezuela “is on enabling connectivity for new and existing customers to support the people of Venezuela with free service credits.”
With the move, inactive Starlink customers in Venezuela will have free credits applied to their account, Starlink said.
Additionally, free credits will be applied to the accounts of active users, Starlink announced.
The company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, said users with a Starlink kit in their possession can select a “Roam” plan to use Starlink in Venezuela.
Starlink’s announcement comes as Trump and Musk were pictured dining together recently at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
It’s the latest development in their rocky relationship.
Musk, a noted Trump supporter, famously feuded with the president last year, accusing him of being named in files related to the deceased convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Musk has since retracted some of his statements.
