Cablevisión’s offices raided

Juan Pablo Conti ©RapidTVNews | 21-12-2011



Argentina's largest pay-TV company, Grupo Clarín's Cablevisión, has denounced government persecution as its offices in Buenos Aires were raided by law enforcement yesterday.

The raid was ordered by Judge Walter Bento, from a Federal Court in the Mendoza province. It was in connection with a lawsuit filed a few months ago by the country's second-largest MSO, Supercanal, a company owned by media conglomerate Grupo Uno.
Often referred to as Grupo "Vila-Manzano" (from the last names of the two entrepreneurs behind the company), it is claimed to have grown considerably over the past few years thanks to alleged close ties with the national government. The Cristina Kirchner administration has been at odds with Grupo Clarín, the nation's most powerful media conglomerate, for nearly four years.
Following the raid, it was revealed that the Mendoza Court has ordered the "intervention" of the company for the space of 60 days. The law official designated to take administrative control of Cablevisión, Enrique Anzoise, was present during the raid. However, following some angry scenes prompted by the MSO's bosses and employees, he left the premises without being able to seize control of the company.
In its lawsuit, Supercanal, which only competes head-to-head with the Grupo Clarín's cable subsidiary in two markets, alleges that the 2006 merger between the then two largest MSOs in the country, Cablevisión and Multicanal, has given Cablevisión an anticompetitive advantage.
According to A24.com, a news portal belonging to Grupo Uno, Cablevisión will be forced to "split the brands, the personnel, the networks and the subscribers of Multicanal and Cablevisión".
In a statement released yesterday, Cablevisión called the raid "unprecedented" and said it was part of "a systematic campaign of harassment that the National Government carries out against the Grupo Clarín's companies".
The minister of the Interior, Florencio Randazo, hit back calling "absurd" accusations that the Government was behind the deployment of special police forces during yesterday's raid.