Adobe users in Venezuela received an email Tuesday notifying them that the company will soon suspend their subscriptions and delete their accounts. The move is a direct result of the Trump regime’s sanctions against the South American country, according to the email that users received on Tuesday.
Adobe’s drastic action is an effort to comply with Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13884 which was signed in August and prohibits American companies from doing business in Venezuela. Users will lose access to Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator, among other apps, and have until October 28 to download any files before their Adobe accounts are deleted.
“Due to the recent presidential executive order in the United States (Executive Order 13884) regarding activities with the government of Venezuela, Adobe is no longer permitted to provide you with access to software and services or enable you to make any new purchases,” Adobe said in its email to customers in Venezuela.
Users will not get any refunds, according to a notice published to Adobe’s website, and the tech giant says that the sanctions won’t allow it to issue refunds even if they wanted to.
“We are unable to issue refunds,” Adobe says on its site. “Executive order 13884, orders the cessation of all activity with the entities including no sales, service, support, refunds, credits, etc.”
Users in Venezuela won’t be able to use Adobe’s free services, but Adobe hasn’t explained whether that’s a necessary step to be in line with U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. Adobe did not immediately respond to an email from Gizmodo Tuesday.
Curiously, Venezuelans citizens who no longer live in the country have complained on social media that they received Adobe’s email and aren’t sure if their Adobe services will be cut off. People have taken to Twitter, confused about why they received the email.
Hi @AdobeCare
Regarding the email you guys sent to all Venezuelans using Adobe platforms, how does this affect Venezuelans who reside in other countries?
I live in the US, and still got this email.
Thank you very much in advance.— Renée T. (@reneetv) October 7, 2019
Donald Trump has waged economic warfare against the government of Nicolas Maduro, whose military has thus far stuck with the authoritarian as the country continues to struggle.
Basic services like electricity have become more scarce and people are going hungry, conditions that have led to a refugee crisis in South America. And cutting off software access, while a seemingly small act in the grand scheme of things, will certainly make the lives of ordinary Venezuelans that much harder.