The creation by the U.S. government of a task force to expand access to the Internet in Cuba is a response to a \u201cfailed policy,\u201d according to an article published by the daily Granma.<\/p>\n
The Communist Party of Cuba newspaper affirms that like previous \u201csubversive\u201d programs organized by the U.S. authorities, the new measure will not be able to change the country\u2019s internal order.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf President Donald Trump\u2019s administration aims to use the new technologies to impose changes in Cuba\u2019s internal organization, he chose very old paths that have already demonstrated in the past their inoperativeness and ineffectiveness,\u201d says the Granma article.<\/p>\n
For the newspaper, the announcement made this Tuesday by the Department of State \u201copens the doors to a return to a failed Cold War policy\u201d that both countries had tried to overcome after the reestablishment of bilateral relations during the Obama administration.<\/p>\n
The creation of this new task force shows that \u201cthere is no lack of liquidity\u201d in a \u201cgovernment that is paralyzed and has no funds\u201d when it\u2019s a question of \u201cfinancing subversive projects against Cuba,\u201d according to the Cuban publication.<\/p>\n
The force, comprising persons in and outside the U.S. government, seeks the \u201cpromotion of the free and non-regulated flow of information in Cuba,\u201d according to what the Department of State reported in a short press release.<\/p>\n
This decision is a response to President Trump\u2019s memorandum on the island last June, and is made at a time in which bilateral ties have cooled due to the turnabout in the Cuba policy promoted by the current administration and the alleged sonic attacks.<\/p>\n
Free access to the Internet is a pending subject for the Cuban authorities which since three years ago have started to slowly offer this service, first in public areas (Wi-Fi zones), later at home through the so-called Nauta Hogar and this year they plan to do it from cell phones.<\/p>\n
In Granma\u2019s opinion, the creation of the U.S. task force is \u201cthe continuation of the far-fetched and badly adviced speech\u201d in which Trump announced in Miami his government\u2019s new position toward the island, which rolls back part of what had been advanced by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and Cuban President Ra\u00fal Castro.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe field chosen for the new aggression, the Internet, clearly shows Washington\u2019s real objectives when it demands \u2018free access\u2019 to the worldwide web in the countries opposed to it, while on its territory it maintains a mega tracing system\u201d of its citizens, said Cuba\u2019s principal daily.<\/p>\n
For the publication, the ability to organize the personnel for these new forces \u201ccontrasts\u201d with the reduction of Washington\u2019s diplomatic personnel in Havana due to the alleged sonic attacks, which paralyzed the issuing of visas for Cubans on the island for lack of personnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump\u2019s new plans don\u2019t take Cuba by surprise, since the country has more than half a century of experience in confronting all kinds of aggression programs,\u201d Granma affirms.<\/p>\n
The article recalls previous projects like ZunZuneo, Piramideo and Commotion, social and message media promoted by the U.S. government especially directed at the island\u2019s young people, on the fringes of the Cuban authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the aim of the Trump administration is to exclusively guarantee Cubans\u2019 access to the Internet, it could well eliminate the blockade\u2019s restrictions that prevent the purchase of cutting-edge technology\u2026. Perhaps it would be cheaper than a \u2018task force\u2019 that is, from the start, condemned to failure,\u201d the text concludes.<\/p>\n
Cuban official data reveal that 2017 was a year of expansion of the access to the Internet on the island, with 40 percent of Cubans connected to the Internet, 37 percent more than in 2010.<\/p>\n
According to the Global Overview report, last year Cuba became the country with the greatest growth in digital connectivity and presence on the social media, with more than 2.7 million new users and a 365 percent increase in relation to 2016.<\/p>\n
However, the connection prices are still very high for the average Cuban wage, which doesn\u2019t reach 30 dollars.<\/p>\n
In Cuba there are a daily 250,000 connections in the more than 500 Wi-Fi public zones.<\/p>\n
EFE \/ OnCuba<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The creation by the U.S. government of a task force to expand access to the Internet in Cuba is a response to a \u201cfailed policy,\u201d according to an article published by the daily Granma. The Communist Party of Cuba newspaper affirms that like previous \u201csubversive\u201d programs organized by the U.S. authorities, the new measure will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2445,"featured_media":110958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[33669],"class_list":["post-121979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n