Eduardo G. Estrada, ANC
HAVANA, May – Cuba last week hosted companies from 18 countries at a fair whose products are unavailable to the vast majority of Cubans: cybertechnology.
Well over 90% of the Cubans who visited Informática 2000 and looked at the latest advances in computing, software, local and global networks, and telecommunications cannot freely access the technology.
There are schools and computing clubs throughout the country offering instruction, but none of their computers are tied to the Internet and only a handful of Cubans have computers at home.
Internet servers in Cuba are all operated by the government, and service is only provided to the higher echelons of the government, the Communist Party, the official media, the State security organization, some domestic companies, and foreign concerns doing business in the island.
Only those considered trustworthy are given access to computers and even they must undergo periodic scrutiny by police They are forbidden from visiting sites that are not directly related to their jobs.
A computer teacher who asked that her name not be used for fear of losing her job said, "Cuban computer aficionados and professionals lack access to this electronic medium. This censorship inhibits development of a cyberculture in Cuba."
"This marginalizes the population, making it dependent on the official media," said one man who would not identify himself.
An analyst consulted by ANC stated that access to the Internet by the population would force the official media to do a credible and dynamic job to compete with foreign news media and with the growing Cuban independent press.
Versión original en español
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