Venezuela is on the verge of becoming a "second Cuba" in terms of press freedom with the imminent closure of one of its last independent newspapers, a regional press group warned yesterday.

The Inter-American Press Association said the imminent closure of the Tai Cual newspaper's print edition is "cinching almost completely the siege of the critical or independent press in Venezuela," which has struggled to survive under the leftist government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The Venezuelan daily said this week it has only enough newsprint to publish for two more weeks, leaving it with a digital edition.

Independent newspapers have suffered because the government has shut off access to dollars needed to import newsprint.

"Other newspapers have already halted operations and those that are left have either been sold to friends of the powers that be, or have reduced pages to the absolute minimum, such as El Nacional," said Claudio Paolillo, the head of IAPA's press freedoms committee.

The Miami-based press group represents editors and publishers of newspapers throughout the Western hemisphere.

"Venezuela, with all its TV channels already under government control, along with most radio stations, is decidedly on a path to become the second Cuba in Latin America in terms of freedom of the press," Paolillo said in a statement.