Cuba says it's committed to 'Net access

Cuba says it's committed to 'Net access
AAPDecember 17, 2014, 10:01 am

Computerising daily activities and expanding internet access are
priorities for Cuba, the Communist party daily Granma says, adding that
the island is making progress in those areas "steadily but unhurriedly".

In a lengthy front-page editorial, Granma on Friday said Cuba is aware
that the era of the internet and new technologies must be a space for
learning and development but also stressed the need to ensure the
"invulnerability of the revolution" and the defence of culture and
sustainable socialism on the island.

"Cuba remains determined to connect with the world, in spite of
(anti-government) propaganda, the economic blockade, increased
surveillance, and fourth-generation wars," the newspaper said, stressing
the importance of accessing the immense source of knowledge that is the
"information highway".

"Blockade" is the term Havana uses to refer to Washington's more than
50-year-old economic embargo against the Communist-ruled island.

Web access from people's homes is generally prohibited in Cuba and rates
at internet cafes or hotels are prohibitive for most of the island's
inhabitants.

The government blamed that situation on the US embargo for many years,
but since an undersea fibre-optic cable began linking Cuba with
Venezuela in 2011 it says infrastructure problems are holding up
increased web access.

Cuba had more than one million personal computers in 2013 - or roughly
90 for every 1,000 inhabitants - although only 514,400 had an internet
connection, according to the National Statistics and Information Office.

Source: Cuba says it's committed to 'Net access PRIME7 - Yahoo!7 -
https://au.prime7.yahoo.com/a1/news/a/-/local/25794847/cuba-says-its-committed-to-net-access/