Starlink offers free internet in Venezuela after US strikes and Maduro arrest

Elon Musk’s Starlink will offer free high-speed internet service to users in Venezuela until February 3, following US airstrikes and the capture of ousted leader Nicolás Maduro.

The satellite internet provider said in a statement Sunday that service credits are being added to active and inactive accounts as it monitors changing conditions.

Starlink, a subsidiary of aerospace company SpaceX, provides Internet access via satellites in low Earth orbit and requires users to purchase separate equipment to connect to the service.

While Starlink’s availability map on its website says Venezuela is “coming soon,” the company said users can access the service through a roaming plan.

“While we are doing [not yet have] a timeline for the availability of local purchases, if and when there are updates, they will be communicated directly through Starlink’s official channels,” he added. It is still unclear how the company’s services and prices will evolve after February 3.

Still, a temporary expansion of free internet services in the country could help ensure connectivity amid recent U.S. airstrikes and a ground raid aimed at capturing and extraditing Maduro to stand trial on allegations of narcoterrorism and election fraud.

Washington’s operations on January 3 primarily targeted areas of the Venezuelan capital Caracas, with the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira also attacked, according to a government statement.

Following the airstrikes, reports indicated that some areas of Caracas lost electricity and internet connectivity. Some local media outlets also reported outages in Miranda over the weekend.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said the United States will oversee Venezuela’s transition, although details remain unclear due to concerns about a power vacuum.

The president also announced Saturday that Vice President Delcy Rodriguez had been sworn in after Maduro’s arrest, but threatened to launch a second strike against Venezuela if the leaders did not “behave.”

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council plans to hold a meeting on January 6 to discuss the legality of the US action, as countries including US allies such as Brazil and Spain have condemned the military actions.

Venezuela is not the first conflict zone where Starlink has been deployed. The satellite service was deployed in Ukraine in 2022 to replace internet and communications networks damaged by Russia’s invasion of the country, quickly becoming an essential tool for civil and military connectivity.

While Ukrainian and international officials have praised Starlink’s role in the war-torn country, its use in the conflict has also raised questions about the influence a single private company could exert over access to internet services during wartime.

These concerns intensified in September 2023 when a Musk biography revealed that he had previously rejected a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink coverage over Russian-annexed Crimea, thwarting a planned underwater drone attack.

This revelation prompted the US Senate Armed Services Committee to investigate “serious national accountability issues” arising from a private citizen’s influence on the conflict.

However, in June 2023, the US Department of Defense placed Starlink’s activities in Ukraine under its formal oversight through a contract with SpaceX, effectively making the company an official military contractor.

The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC regarding potential involvement or oversight of Starlink’s operations in Venezuela.

Beyond conflict zones, Starlink has also been used to circumvent government-imposed censorship and internet shutdowns in several countries.

In Iran, thousands of users have reportedly used Starlink to access unfiltered internet, defying government restrictions although the service has not been officially approved.

Venezuela also has a well-documented history of censorship and internet shutdowns, particularly during times of political upheaval under the governments of Hugo Chavez and Maduro.

“Starlink allows internet to be provided by non-state companies in authoritarian regimes,” Marko Papic, global geomacro strategist at BCA Research, told CNBC, adding that it is almost certain that this will become a trend.

Starlink is likely to be available wherever the United States is involved in an antagonistic relationship with the regime, he added.

However, amid broader international concerns over Starlink and the United States’ dominant role in the satellite broadband sector, governments such as China and the European Union have supported domestic alternatives.

That includes Shanghai-based Qianfan, also known as SpaceSail, which has launched at least 108 satellites into low-Earth orbit so far, according to Chinese state-backed media.

Meanwhile, Beijing’s state-run space program last month announced the successful launch of its 17th batch of internet satellites into low Earth orbit under its Guowang constellation project.