During the early morning of Saturday, January 3, a resident on the edges of Caracas heard blasts. “I had never heard a bomb go off, never in my life,” he stated, requesting anonymity for security reasons. “There is no way that you could mistake a bomb for a firework… it’s horrible.”
The explosions struck a group of antennas on a hill roughly a mile from his home, which ignited. The next day, he discovered that Movistar, his mobile carrier, was not functioning.
He remained calm—he possessed several alternatives: an eSIM from a different carrier, fiber-optic service that remained operational after the blasts, and two Starlink terminals—one licensed in Colombia, another in Argentina—which link to satellites run by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. “You’re always over-prepared here,” he remarks.
Starlink’s capacity to deliver connectivity in conflict areas has transformed Elon Musk into a geopolitical . That evening, after reports emerged of the U.S. of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, he noticed an email from Starlink offering him a month of complimentary service. “In support of the people of Venezuela,” Elon Musk on X, regarding the company’s declaration that it would supply “free broadband service to the people of Venezuela through February 3.”
The web served as a means to comprehend the situation. “I thought it was a domestic coup. I didn’t think it was the U.S.,” says the man, who works as a lawyer. Only after his daughter, who resides overseas, advised him to examine X did he understand what was occurring.
Starlink does not formally offer service or sell equipment directly in Venezuela—it stands as one of the few Latin American nations that stays on Starlink’s coverage map, without any details on when formal service may start.
Yet this hasn’t prevented Venezuelans from obtaining the service for dependable web access in isolated areas and as a method to bypass restrictions from government-controlled internet providers. They depend on equipment imported from nearby nations, such as Colombia and Argentina. “People can get access to kits. While it’s contraband, it is accessible,” remarks Alp Toker, founder of internet surveillance organization NetBlocks. In the period after January 3, terminals were available for purchase in a Telegram channel focused on Starlink discussions in Venezuela, priced between $60 for previous generations to above $600 for the latest model. (Starlink did not reply to a request for comment.)
Given that Starlink doesn’t formally supply service in Venezuela, subscribers enroll using locations from adjacent countries. “[Starlink] knows we are outside of the country we are [registered in]” but the firm has looked the other way, notes the Caracas-based attorney. “That is indeed something to be grateful for.”
Numerous subscribers greeted the announcement positively. “We’re starting the year off right with Uncle Elon,” one participant in the Telegram channel, including an image of the email from Starlink. The channel has over 1,000 participants.
“There is precedent for Starlink and SpaceX stepping in when communications are degraded in conflict zones,” states Lauryn Williams, deputy director of the CSIS Strategic Technologies Program. “There’s certainly a business case for SpaceX and Starlink here.”
The service was rolled in Ukraine in 2022 shortly after Russia’s invasion. SpaceX initially bore the cost. “SpaceX was in communication with the U.S. government, with the Department of Defense, with USAID at the time, even prior to the Twitter announcement by Elon Musk,” says Williams, who served at the Department of Defense at the time.
A few months later, the company gave the U.S. government an ultimatum: cover the bill ( about $400 million annually) or the internet would go out. Ultimately, the Pentagon the company a contract for ongoing provision of the service in June 2023.
Even though his fiber-optic connection remained functional, possessing Starlink as a contingency gave the Caracas-based attorney confidence that he could maintain contact with the external world. “It’s like an emotional support dog,” he says. “Psychologically, it makes a big difference.”