Exhibit 99.1


              DIRECTV LATIN AMERICA, LLC FILES VOLUNTARY PETITION
                     FOR CHAPTER 11 REORGANIZATION IN U.S.
                  DIRECTV(TM) SERVICE WILL CONTINUE AS NORMAL
                              ACROSS LATIN AMERICA

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - March 18, 2003 - DIRECTV Latin America, LLC today
announced that in order to aggressively address the Company's financial and
operational challenges, it has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization
under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The filing applies only to DIRECTV
Latin America, LLC, a U.S. company, and does not include any of its operating
companies in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will continue regular
operations.

DIRECTV(TM) is the leading pay television service in Latin America and the
Caribbean with approximately 1.6 million subscribers in 28 countries. DIRECTV
Latin America, LLC intends to continue providing its DIRECTV service as normal
without interruption across Latin America and the Caribbean.

"The commitment by DIRECTV Latin America, LLC to provide its customers with the
best service and widest array of entertainment options has not changed," said
Michael A. Feder, chief restructuring officer, DIRECTV Latin America, LLC. "The
action we have taken today in the U.S. is intended to strengthen DIRECTV Latin
America and allow us to continue to selectively add new subscribers on a
profitable basis and further enhance our product offerings for the benefit of
our customers."

DIRECTV Latin America, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company owned by
DIRECTV Latin America Holdings, a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics Corporation
(HUGHES); Darlene Investments LLC, an affiliate of the Cisneros Group of
Companies; and Grupo Clarin. Today's filing was made in the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

HUGHES has agreed to provide DIRECTV Latin America with a $300 million senior
secured debtor-in-possession financing facility (subject to Bankruptcy Court
approval) to supplement its existing cash flow and help ensure that vendors,
programmers and other business associates receive payment for services incurred
after the bankruptcy filing was made.

In early January 2003, DIRECTV Latin America, LLC announced it had initiated
negotiations with certain programmers, suppliers and business associates in an
effort to resolve issues that have affected the financial performance of the
Company in recent years, including excessive fixed costs and a substantial debt
burden during a time of economic deterioration throughout Latin America. The
Company's decision to voluntarily file for Chapter 11 followed its determination
that these negotiations would not achieve a satisfactory long-term outcome for
DIRECTV Latin America, LLC.

Feder said, "We appreciate the efforts by all involved in the discussions
regarding a potential out-of-court restructuring. However, we have concluded
that a Chapter 11 filing is a necessary and appropriate means of addressing the
Company's current financial and operating challenges. We expect this process
will enable us to significantly reduce our fixed costs by restructuring or
rejecting contracts that are not in line with the current economic realities of
the marketplace or that do not provide for programmers and suppliers to
appropriately share the risks of exchange rate fluctuation and currency
devaluation. The process should also allow us to simplify certain contractual
issues and significantly reduce our long-term debt."

Feder continued, "Because we have already identified the issues that need to be
addressed, we are prepared to move forward quickly and complete the
restructuring process as soon as we are able."

Concurrent with today's announcement, it was announced that Kevin N. McGrath has
retired as chairman of DIRECTV Latin America, LLC, and Larry N. Chapman has been
named president and chief operating officer of the Company, effective
immediately.

DIRECTV Latin America, LLC previously retained AP Services, LLC, an affiliate of
AlixPartners, LLC as restructuring advisors and appointed Feder, a principal of
the firm, as chief restructuring officer. Feder will continue to oversee the
restructuring efforts during the bankruptcy process, reporting to Chapman.

In conjunction with today's Chapter 11 filing, DIRECTV Latin America, LLC has
filed "First Day Motions" in the court in Wilmington to support its employees
and vendors. These filings include requests to continue employee payroll and
benefits as usual; to obtain interim approval of the DIP financing from HUGHES
and maintain existing cash management programs; and to retain legal and
financial professionals to assist with the Company's restructuring. In addition,
the Company intends to file motions today seeking to reject certain executory
agreements that it has determined to be uneconomic and not in its best long-term
interest. These include contracts pertaining to Disney Channel Latin America,
MUSIC CHOICE and certain exclusive rights to broadcast the 2006 FIFA World
Cup(TM) soccer tournament.

DIRECTV Latin America, LLC will continue normal business operations in its
markets across Latin America and the Caribbean.

"We will continue to pursue opportunities to add new programming and services
that further enhance the DIRECTV experience for our customers," Feder said.


About DIRECTV Latin America

DIRECTV is the leading direct-to-home satellite television service in Latin
America and the Caribbean. Currently, the service reaches approximately 1.6
million customers in the region, in a total of 28 markets. DIRECTV is currently
available in: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad
& Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela and several Caribbean island nations.

DIRECTV Latin America, LLC is a multinational company owned by DIRECTV Latin
America Holdings, a subsidiary of Hughes Electronics Corporation; Darlene
Investments, LLC, an affiliate of the Cisneros Group of Companies; and Grupo
Clarin. DIRECTV Latin America has offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo,
Brazil; Cali, Colombia; Mexico City, Mexico; Carolina, Puerto Rico; Fort
Lauderdale, USA; and Caracas, Venezuela. For more information on DIRECTV Latin
America please visit www.directvla.com.

Hughes Electronics Corporation, a unit of General Motors Corporation, is a
world-leading provider of digital television entertainment, broadband satellite
networks and services, and global video and data broadcasting. The earnings of
HUGHES are used to calculate the earnings attributable to the General Motors
Class H common stock (NYSE:GMH).

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