Cuban Government Toughens Internet Restrictions

edibleplastic writes "The BBC is reporting that the Cuban government is cutting off much of its citizens' access to the internet. 'The move clamps down on the thousands of Cubans who illegally access the internet from their homes. From now on, it will not be possible to dial up the main government server from most domestic phone lines. Only lines which are paid for in dollars will have direct access. These are usually restricted to foreigners. Amnesty International says this is an attempt to shield Cubans from alternative views.'" This is a good time to revisit two earlier stories about Cuba's attitude toward modern communications.

Comments

what's cuba like?

[ciaran_o_riordan]

A friend of mine was in Cuba a few years ago, and he says it's a great place. A brilliant medical system which is government funded, the streets are absolutely safe at night, and the people are friendly and inviting (twice he was invited in for dinner at the houses of two families he met while there).

And then you hear about Cubans trying to get to the US on crappy rafts etc.

Maybe some want to leave because they see American TV shows or movies and they think the whole continent is safe, nice, accepting, etc. Maybe if the Cuban govt. let the population see what the rest of the world is really like, they'd be less enthusiastic to leave Cuba.

I'm not suggesting that Cuba is heaven, but from only looking at TV it would be easy for Cubans to have a romantic grass-is-much-greener vision of what the US is like.

Re:what's cuba like?

[MachDelta]

Cuba is a great place IMO. I spent two weeks there on vacation, and had a blast. The thing I liked about Cuba over, say.. Mexico (a similar experience), is that I was exposed to and absorbed a lot more of the culture and country. It was really great just to walk around a city and see people go about their daily lives. Just soak up the place.
The funny thing is though, the general vibe I got from the two weeks I spent there was that people really just didn't care. They didn't care about America, they didn't care what Castro was doing. Not that they're apathetic... I mean, it was all very relaxed. Sure, their country was communist. Who cares? They get free healthcare, free education, free food (limited, of course). Yay Castro! Yeah, he's a control freak. Big deal. They get everything they need, so whats the problem? The Cubans pretty much just live their lives, regardless of politics. I really liked that. Its kind of humbling to see when you're used to reading about a new lawsuit every three days. Honestly, we could learn a lot from their attitudes and lifestyle. :)

Re:what's cuba like?

[daviddennis]

Cuba IS a great place ... to visit.

The weather's perfect. The environment's gorgeous. The fact that buildings are ready to collapse all around you is simply a frisson that makes life in Cuba more dramatic.

The people are friendly and inviting. The women are beautiful and, well, inviting.

But there's a reason they're inviting - the average salary is 200 pesos a month, which is about US$20. About half of this goes to a ration book of basic supplies. The other half can buy, well, about what $10 would bring in the US.

The housing is beautiful. It is also in disasterous shape. About 100 buildings in Central Havana collapse every year. My web page, The Fabulous Ruins of Cuba shows the heartbreaking details. All the buildings you see there are within a block or two of the ocean. They would be worth millions here in California; they're not even worth routine maintenance in Cuba.

The health service is rationed - it works well if you have connections, badly if you don't.

Cuba has enough money to buy shiny new $100,000 busses for tourists. But the busses Cubans ride are crude creations, packed to the gills with people. Cubans are not allowed in the tourist hotels, they are not allowed on the shiny tour busses, the Cuban government does its best to make sure Cubans and tourists don't mix.

Which is too bad, because the best thing about Cuba is the wonderful people who live there. I made good friends in Cuba. I thought it was a fantastic place.

But don't think the Communist government is some mildly extreme version of Canada. Policia were everywhere, and my Cuban girl was clearly scared of them. She was scared of being heard by the waiters in any resturant I visited. But she was lovely and charming and made my trip magical.

She could have gotten a three year sentence for endangering my morals, such as they were. There are accounts of tourists who get close to Cuban women and the Cuban women are then sent to jail. Nothing you can do about it.

However, to address the parent poster's point directly, Cubans are definitely influenced by American TV, specifically Univision. A few people have satellite TV, and you can see the awe in people's eyes at all the strange stuff available over on the other side. Cars! Paper towels! And Univision soap operas ... let's just say they don't reflect American reality unless you are A Jerrold Perenchio, billionnaire founder of Univision.

I thought of taking my Cuban girl back to the US eventually. But as her eyes popped open while seeing Univision, I realized she wouldn't be able to stand my relatively humble home and ancient Mercedes. She wanted it all. Maybe someday she'll get it ...

The year after my trip, Castro cracked down on dissidents and sentenced them to jail terms ranging from 18 to 28 years. I loved Cuba and really wanted to return to see my Cuban friends. But I didn't want to support Castro, so I decided, with more than a couple of tears in my eyes, not to return.

For now.

D

PS Concerning the point of the actual article, I never saw anyone with Internet (or even a computer) at home. All the Internet access I saw was Internet cafes. The government runs one in the Capitolio that I visited that Cubans can use (most of them are in tourist hotels where Cubans are not allowed). I found service friendly, but Internet access sluggish. My girl did not find the Internet easy to use, probably because she had never seen a computer before.

Why they need dollars

[Mod Me God]

They have to connect to the internetional telecoms network, and need to pay for that. The Cuban Peso is not a freely exchnged currency, telcos won't take it as payment, they need dollars, so Cuba has to get them from somewhere. The internet is not very restricted if they pay in USD. I am sure this is not the only reason, but it is a major one, perhaps Amnesty International could get off the soap box and offer to subsidise bandwidth costs if they feel so strongly... the fact is most citizens of developing countries do not have access to the internet. The Soviet Union broke up without its citizens using the internet, China has embraced capitalism not due to the internet, the Berlin Wall fell in no part due to the internet. Infact as the internet has become so wide spread it has had little value-added effect other communication didn't already have in developing countries.