Castro's "Blockade" of the Internet
By Jose Reyes 2/7/2004
Fidel Castro has passed a law that will begin to take affect on January 24, promising harsh punishment for anyone captured surfing freely through the internet. The World Wide Web is not available to the general public in Cuba. The Cuban citizens can go online at home but they only have access to the government websites that are filled with communist propaganda. This "Blockade" of the Internet on the Cuban citizens is just another example of how new communicational and technological advancements are affecting and weakening Castro's grip on the country. When logging on, the Cuban people are being subject to an Intranet type of system and are being "Blocked" from the rest of the world, like they have been for the last 45 years. Meanwhile, the rest of the world can read the government websites and tourist websites produced by the communist regime to report false information to the rest of the world, very unfair! The Cuban people do not have access to this particular website and all the other anti-Castro, anti-Communist websites around the world, recording accurate reports of the inhumane unjust tactics taking place in Cuba now. Just another example of how Castro forcibly controls the Cuban population. He figured that the rest of the world would be questioning why Cuba hadn't acquired the technological know-how to provide an internet service to its people so he came up with this phony intranet system that doesn't benefit anybody but himself. He has placed a communicational "Blockade" separating the Cuban people from the rest of the world. Castro always used the U.S. embargo as the alibi for the poverty in Cuba but it seems like the isolation of the Cuban people from the rest of the world, is exactly what he always wanted. If the people in Cuba love him as much as he says, then why doesn't he let them talk to the world.
Castro is loosing grip of his power with all the new technological advancement taking place. First came "Radio Marti" www.martinoticias.com so people would be able to pick up a strong signal of freedom on their radios from Miami. Then came "TV Marti" www.martinoticias.com/tv, where with the right signal, the Cuban people would be able to view freedom and see all the current events happening around the world. These two achievements gave the Cuban people hope and awareness but the internet gave them a portal to communicate with the rest of the world, their ideas and thought of the Cuban dictator. Well, now that there are an estimated 45,000 Cuban citizens surfing the internet illegally in Cuba, Castro is getting nervous and impatient. He has already rounded up all the Cuban writers and journalists who spoke against him and has given them 20 year sentences and now he's threatening to arrest people who are communicating through the internet illegally. He cannot place all these people in jail, this will expose the falsehood of his self-proclaimed achievements dealing with human rights and equal rights. So he is charging the Cuban people to get on the intranet, 8 Cents a minute, from their homes, when the average Cuban makes $13.50 a month!
We might as well build a fortified wall around the perimeter of the island of Cuba, place armed guards for any attempts to escape the island and post this sign throughout on its walls:
