Country code: 58.

Roaming agreements exist with some international mobile phone companies. Travellers on extended stays might consider getting a local SIM card to insert in their own phone.

There are Internet cafes in most urban areas.

Mail service from Venezuela to the USA and Europe is unreliable and could take anywhere from a week to a month to arrive. 

Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1200 and 1300-16:30

President Hugo Chávez has been roundly criticized by outsiders for his attempts to muzzle opponents in the media. The most recent incident occurred in May 2007 when his government refused to renew the broadcast licence of Radio Caracas Television,  an opposition-backed TV station, replacing the channel with state-run TVes. Soon afterward, he threatened to shut down another station, Globovisión, which he accused of attempting to assassinate him. In general, however, the Venezuelan press is free to denounce Chávez's policies, and his opponents in the country's main newspapers can be downright scathing in their criticism. The president has his own weekly TV and radio programme, on which he voices his opinions and sings his favourite tunes.

• The English-language daily newspaper is The Daily Journal, published in Caracas.
• Spanish-language dailies include El Nacional, El Mundo, El Universal and Últimas Noticias.

• Venezolana de Television and TVes are government-run.
• Other channels include private networks Televen, Venevisión and 24-hour news channel Globovisión.
• Telesur is a pan-Latin American broadcaster based in Caracas.

• Radio Nacional de Venezuela (www.rnv.gov.ve) is a state broadcaster with several stations, including Canal Informativo, Canal Clásico, Canal Juvenil, and Canal Popular.
• Union Radio is a commercial news network.