Manuel David Orrio, CPI / CubaNet
HAVANA, October - On the afternoon of October 1, I headed to Station 6 of
the Cuban Postal Service to verify whether my newly-acquired e-mail address (madorrio@islagrande.cu) behaves online
as advertised in the official brochure.
After waiting for exactly 67 minutes I was able to sit at one of the
computers set up for public use, having previously paid 4.50 dollars for a
three-hour user card. That apparently reasonable sum translates to 36% of the
average Cuban worker's monthly salary, according to figures provided by the
Economic Ministry at the end of 2000 and the present exchange rate.
Pleasant surprise. I had 25 messages from Europe, the United States, and
Latin America. One more, from Spain, came in as I worked.
There was a measure of incredulity in most messages. Erik, from Sweden,
summarized the feeling: "Is it for real?"
Yes, Erik, it's for real. We are so used to censorship that we find it hard
to get used to the idea that the island's emerging civil society, operating
under conditions of globalization, forces progressive changes inside Cuba.
Diosmel, from Miami, compared the present feeling to that prevalent when
Cuban dissidents and independent journalists were first able to buy fax machines
and use them.
I responded to some messages, not all, pressured by the cost of time on the
computer.
As far as I know, Post Office stations 4 and 6 are already set up for this
kind of service. The stated intention is to extend the service to all post
office branches in the capital, as resources allow.
The service, as set up, has limitations. Customers cannot use diskettes to
save computer time, or print messages received. Also, users are limited to the
post office Intranet, and cannot navigate freely through the web.
Other openings are slowly becoming evident. The government is now selling
fax machines for half the price of when they were first put on sale, and it is
beginning to sell computers with modems to those who can afford them.
Printers, however, are still off-limits, as is direct access to
international phone calls.
The important question is, Why are all these developments so expensive in
Cuba? The answer is simply because they bolster the government's political and
fiscal policies. The high prices, which disguise high taxes, are a subtle form
of censorship, and they finance everything from new investment to the
maintenance of the repressive apparatus, which is itself in the process of
adapting to globalization.
Cuban censorship, then is evolving from juridical to subtly economic.
The possibility of sending and receiving e-mail under the present conditions
points to other questions. If it's possible to do it from a post office station,
why not from home, at least for those who can pay for it?
It is necessary to continue exploring, with the certainty that the only
unforgivable fault is to approach evolving conditions in the island with eyes
shut. Why isn't there a more open and timely policy toward the Cuban government
when it undertakes even small openings? If the correct moves inside the island
are not stimulated with the appropriate reactions from abroad, can we expect
faster developments?
After all, an opening for all is also an opening for the dissidents.
Versión
original en español
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