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MISTICA: Cubans Surf Toward Freedom of Information

From: Yacine Khelladi ([email protected])
Date: Tue Aug 29 2000 - 16:58:20 AST

Taken from Nua Internet Surveys: July 31st, 2000 

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ABC News: Cubans Surf Toward Freedom of Information

As more people log onto the Internet in Cuba, Government control of
information is becoming more difficult, according to a report on
abcNEWS.com.

The Cuban Government says that there is now 1 computer for every 100 people
in Cuba and 40,000 Cubans (not including students and tourists) have
Internet access. The International Telecommunications Union recently
estimated that there were 60,000 Internet users in Cuba.

There are more than 18,000 Cuban-based web pages available on the Internet
and these receive over 15 million hits each week. There are four Cuban ISPs
providing access to the Internet and a number of others that provide access
to a national web.

Internet access to the public is still limited and expensive in Cuba and
users must prove they are engaged in research or belong to an accredited
institution if they want to surf the Web. The Government, however, is
planning to sponsor a programme that will provide Internet access to 150
youth clubs and more than 2,000 post offices.

There are also plans afoot to overhaul Cuba's antiquated telecommunications
infrastructure and install modern phone lines.

Uva de Aragon, assistant director of the Cuban Research Institute at
Florida International University in Miami, says the Internet has given
Cubans a whole new way of communicating, not only in administrative and
academic life, but also on a personal and cultural level.

De Aragon also believes that the Cuban Government will be unable to censor
electronic communications: "It's baby steps, but it is inevitable. There
will be a time when they won't have enough people to control all the
information."
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/cubainternet000721.html

Este archivo fue generado por hypermail 2b29 : Wed Feb 28 2001 - 01:01:27 AST