Minister blames US embargo for low number of Cubans online
Reporters Without Borders took issue today with comments by Cuban
communications minister Ramiro Valdes yesterday describing the Internet
as a "tool for global extermination" and as a "wild colt" that needed to
be tamed.
Valdes also insisted that, if few Cubans were online, this was due to a
US embargo that prevented Cuba from have decent Internet connections. In
Reporters Without Borders' view, it is in fact due to the Cuban
government's desire to control the flow of information throughout the
country.
"The US embargo prevents Cuba from connecting to the Internet by
underwater cable and this obviously does not favour development of the
Internet, but we published a report in October that shows that the
authorities deliberately restrict online access," the press freedom
organisation said.
"It would anyway have been astonishing if a country that has no
independent radio or TV station or newspaper did allow unrestricted
access to the Internet," Reporters Without Borders continued. "We await
the creation of a better Internet connection via Venezuela, as the
minister announced, and we will then see if the government finally
allows its citizens access to an uncensored Internet."
Valdes made these comments, which were reported by the Associated Press,
at the opening of a conference on communications technologies in Havana.
He also accused the United States of using the Internet to "undermine
the communist government."
Going online in Cuba - Internet under surveillance (exctact for the
October 2006 report) :
"With less than 2 per cent of the population online, Cuba is one of the
world's most backward countries as regards Internet usage. The worst off
by far in Latin America and with a thirteenth of Costa Rica's usage, it
is down there with Uganda or Sri Lanka. This is quite surprising in a
country that boasts one of the highest levels of education in the world.
The authorities blame this disastrous situation on the US trade embargo,
which supposedly prevents them from getting the equipment they need for
Internet development. In particular, they say they are unable to use
underwater fibre optic cable to connect to the Internet outside Cuba and
are therefore reduced to using costly and less effective satellite links.
This may indeed explain the slowness of the Cuban Internet and the
endless lines outside Internet cafes. But in no way does it justify the
system of control and surveillance that has been put in place by the
authorities. In a country where the media are under the government's
thumb, preventing independent reports and information from circulating
online has naturally become a priority.
An investigation carried out by Reporters Without Borders revealed that
the Cuban government uses several mechanisms to ensure that the Internet
is not used in a "counter-revolutionary" fashion. Firstly, the
government has more or less banned private Internet connections. To
visit websites or check their e-mail, Cubans have to use public access
points such as Internet cafes, universities and "Youth computing
centers" where it is easier to monitor their activity. Then, the Cuban
police has installed software on all computers in Internet cafes and big
hotels that triggers an alert message when "subversive" key-words are
noticed.
The regime also ensures that there is no Internet access for its
political opponents and independent journalists, for whom reaching news
media abroad is an ordeal. The government also counts on
self-censorship. In Cuba, you can get a 20-year prison sentence for
writing a few "counter-revolutionary" articles for foreign websites, and
a five-year one just for connecting with the Internet in an illegal
manner. Few people dare to defy the state censorship and take such a risk."
Read the full report
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19335
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