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Minister blames US embargo
for low number of Cubans online
Reporters
Without Borders,
February 13, 2007.
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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