Sistema Bolivariano de Comunicación e Información (SiBCI) is a state-owned conglomerate controlling a slew of media outlets in all media sectors. It runs three nationwide television channels, Corporación Venezolana de Televisión (Venezuelan Television Corporation, VTV), which is focused on news and information, Televisora Venezolana Social, a generalist station, and ViVe, a cultural and educational channel; as well as the local channel Ávila Televisión and the international channel Telesur. In the radio segment, SiBCI controls Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV), a network of nationwide, regional, local and international radio channels. SiBCI also runs nine newspapers. Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN), the official government press agency that was known until 2010 as Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN), also belongs to SiBCI.
Media assets
Television: Nationwide- Venezolana de Televisión, Televisora Venezolana Social (TVes), Vive, ConCiencia TV, 123TV (COVETEL), ShowVen TV; Local- Ávila Televisión; International- Telesur
Radio: Nationawide- Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV) (RNV Informativa, RNV Clásica, RNV Musical, RNV Activa, Canal Indígena); Regional- RNV Región Central, RNV Los Llanos, RNV Región Zulia, YVKE Mundial Radio; Local- Alba Ciudad; International- La Radio del Sur
Publishing: Correo del Orinoco, Ciudad CCS, Ciudad VLC, Ciudad Cojedes, Ciudad Guárico, Ciudad Petare, Ciudad BQTO, Ciudad MCY, Ciudad Maturín
News agency: Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN)
Portal: Con el Mazo Dando
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
SiBCI is a company fully controlled by the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information (MincI) in Venezuela. All the media under the umbrella of SiBCI are closely controlled by the ministry, which makes all the decisions regarding the management and governance structures of the media outlets. People connected with the ministry or directly selected by the ministry are appointed as heads of the SiBCI media outlets. For example, in 2016, Desirée Santos Amaral, a former communication minister became the editor of Correo del Orinoco, a newspaper controlled by SiBCI. Of those outlets, Telesur is the sole outlet with a different structure. Launched in 2005 under the government of Hugo Chavez as a propaganda machine aimed at helping the Venezuelan government to project a democratic image abroad, Telesur has been operating out of Caracas, airing its programs across Latin America. Today the network is co-owned by the governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba (most of the funding, however, is provided by the Venezuelan government). Originally, six governments from Latin America used to co-own Telesur, but three of them pulled out. Argentina was the last one to do so in 2016 as high officials in the Argentinian government accused the network of blocking “alternative viewpoints.” In 2014, Telesur launched an English-language station that was headquartered in Ecuador. In spite of its different ownership structure, Telesur is also fully controlled by the Venezuelan government, which has a majority stake in the broadcaster.
Source of funding and budget
The Venezuelan authorities do not publish information about the budgets of the media controlled by SiBCI. Although some of them carry advertising, local journalists indicate that the bulk of the budget of all these media comes from the state.
Editorial independence
The editorial line of the media run by SiBCI is dictated by the ministry of information. The outlets themselves are created and designed as communication tools to promote the interests of the government. They are all open about their pro-government mission. For example, Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) states on its website that it is a medium created for the “dissemination of state policy” in line with government strategy for economic and social development. Correo del Orinoco, a newspaper run by SiBCI describes as “progressive” its affiliations with the Minci. Numerous media and NGO reports published during the past five years described the use of the state media (under SiBCI) as propaganda tools. Many of these reports focused on VTV, a nationwide television channel with a history of 50 years, which is the channel with the largest reach in the country.
No statute and no independent assessment/oversight mechanism to validate the editorial independence of SiBCI have been identified.
August 2023