estaban sondeando
Imperfect progressive ellos/ellas/ustedes conjugation of sondear.

sondear

¡Estaban sondeando portales obviamente!
Probing portals obviously!
Y yo creo que cuando empezaron a reprimir en el Istmo es porque estaban sondeando las aguas.
And I believe that they started the repression in the Isthmus because they were testing the waters.
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