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Cuban government goes to
the Internet to fight U.S. embargo
By Madeline Baró
Diaz, Miami Bureau. Posted October 14 2005
in the Sun-Sentinel.
The Cuban government has taken its campaign
against the U.S. embargo on trade and travel
to the Internet.
On Thursday representatives of the island
government were online to answer inquiries
and comments about the four-decade old policy.
Officials were on hand from 10 a.m. to noon
to answer the comments and questions in
a bulletin board-type forum, mostly in Spanish,
at www.cubavsbloqueo.cu.
Many of the messages were from people
opposed to the embargo, including groups
such as the Kenya-Cuba Friendship Association.
Cuban embassies from around the world also
posted messages.
Participants posted more than 350 messages,
according to José Luis Rodríguez,
Cuba's Minister of Economy and Planning,
who in response to one question, estimated
that Cuba has lost more than $22 million
in tourism over the past 40 years. He also
said the embargo has affected areas such
as public health the most.
"Medicine and equipment has been denied
to us and it has cost the lives of men,
women and children, who have died without
being able to receive the proper treatment,"
he wrote.
In the same message, Rodríguez claimed
that a dengue fever outbreak on the island
in the 1980s was introduced "as part
of biological aggressions by the United
States" and said U.S. interference
prevented Cuba from buying the medicine
needed to treat the epidemic.
"That's ridiculous," said Alfredo
Mesa, executive director of the Cuban American
National Foundation, who said Cuba has an
apartheid system where Cuban citizens cannot
get adequate health care, but tourists and
government officials can. "It's embarrassing.
It's sad and they should be ashamed of themselves
for blaming the embargo for those things."
Mesa said the Internet is an effective
tool for the Cuban government, but people
should be wary of what they read.
"I would encourage people to just
research a little bit more," he said.
Madeline Baró Diaz can be reached
at mbaro@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5007.
Copyright
© 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
e Inc.
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