In an intent to find the options that Cubans have for accessing the Internet, one would have to focus first in their living conditions. However, the readily accessible information about their factual situation always has a tint of scepticism because is either outdated or top secret; it does not have enough credibility, or even worse, the information is either written by communists or dissidents who indeed have their own convenient version of the reality.
The focal point of this document is social, therefore to draw a conclusion about Internet Access cannot have a straightforward answer; instead, it is very well related with the different circumstances and conditions of Cubans’ lives as a whole. To begin, people in Cuba have many different complications in their daily lives; one of the crucial concerns is their very low income, for regular people in Cuba just to find the basic needs to survive is already an achievement. As a result, think about purchasing a computer is not even considered; besides that Cubans are very aware that the Government controls everything including Internet Access.
Aditionally, more than 90 percent of the economy is controlled by the government; Fox News reported on April 12, 2008 that the average salary in Cuba is just US$19.50 per month (Fox); although Cubans have free education, health care, and subsidized food rations, “living on Cuba food rations is not Easy” says Anita Snow, an Associated Press Bureau in order to complete her project of social experiment, Snow decided to go to Cuba and spend her time with the same basic ration food and economy conditions that any regular Cuban. In June 2007 during her thirty days journey, Snow lived and spent less than $17.00 a month; she learned to plan carefully her economy and meals resulting in dropping nine pounds. (Snow)
The ration food system in Cuba started in 1962; it guarantees the minimum consumption for every citizen, states Ferriol Muruaga in her book Cuba Crisis, Ajuste Y Situacion Social (Muruaga 88). Some rationed items were available in unlimited quantities such as eggs; however, all rationed items became scarce after the establishment of the "Special Period in Time of Peace;" this period consisted in a series of measures implemented by the Cuban government in September of 1991, with the purpose of managing the harsh Cuban’s economy conditions that resulted as a consequence of the Soviet Union collapse. (Alvarez). Those who had to cope with hunger and anguish at that period, even now continue with a profound worry about their future.
After 17 years, Cubans still struggle for basic survival. In order for them to be able to stretch their ration until the next one, Cubans have to plan ahead their meals to the point that their daily meals become almost a reasonable obsession. In part because many Cubans still remember the period of austerity: the "Special Period in Time of Peace." Moreover, Anita Snow conveys that she has found herself pondering if she would have enough money to buy her needs at the end of the month.
Furthermore, not only survival needs such as food become a concern for Cubans, with only $19.50 a month they also have to find the way to supply for themselves shoes, clothes and soap that are no longer part of ration supply; as a consequence, they are forced to purchase these items at the “shops,” special stores that are mainly visited by tourists and sell at expensive dollar price. Indeed these are not essential goods for survival; however, those unaffordable (for Cubans) items are the basic needs for a person. The worrying situation has pressed a high percentage of Cubans to rely on friends or family from abroad who find the way to provide them this kind of items either in goods or money.
More than half of Cubans have access to some foreign currency, whether from tips from tourists or from abroad to obtain at least more than the basic salary a month; with that extra income the families can purchase additional cooking oil or soap at the "shopping." Although some of Cubans receive help from family and friends, with their austere live conditions it is a utopia for them to think of buying a computer.
Raul Rivero, an independent Cuban journalist, states that ordinary Cubans, who have no relatives in the United States, who do not work in a foreign company nor have friends in a corporation, are those Cubans who ride bicycles and get paid in national currency. These, he adds, are the vast majority of population, and are those who have to recur to three verbs, which raise suspicion: to invent, to solve and to escape. The formula, says Rivero, is what Fernando, 38 years old married man says to him: “(I invent) because my cousin brings me hams from the countryside, and I sell them to my neighbours and my friends.” Fernando has two children and a wife, and the salary that he makes as teacher is sufficient for only the first ten days of the month; the ration food only lasts the same first days of the month says Fernando. Thus, he and his wife have to bring, besides their salaries, something else to home. Also, they have to figure out how to supply clothing and shoes for their children; “I do not know how, but I invent something, I have to invent," says Fernando. (Rivero) Rivero the author of this interesting article called “Life in Red," was able to publish it in Le Monde in Paris, France in 1999; after almost a decade, one wonders if the population of the suspicious three verbs are still in business, or if their live has changed somehow by 2008.
Perhaps their lives remain the same, yet the government have changed; Raul Castro, Cuba's first new president in 49 years, has allowed Cubans to own cellular phones in their own names, buy DVD players, and more important, in reference to this write up, Raul Castro is allowing Cubans to own computers. However, after summarizing the concerns exposed previously, can we even consider that Cubans have the time and the energy to deal with challenges like Internet access? Surprisingly enough, yes. Nowadays the phenomenon is happening; many Cubans use public Internet access; nonetheless, it is not uncommon to have a vigilant person dedicated to monitor people surfing the net. The New York Times published an article by James C. McKinley Jr. on March 6, 2008, in which they are highlighting the fact that “a growing underground network of young people armed with computer memory sticks, digital cameras and clandestine Internet hookups has been mounting some challenges to the Cuban government.” McKinley affirms that in recent months, those youngsters are using blogs and spreading news that the official state sponsored media would never allow publishing. (McKinley)
Indeed, the media once again is helping the oppressed. Last month, for instance, some students in la Havana, at a computer science university, videotaped an argument between students and the president of the National Assembly. Apparently, Mr. Alarcón, the president of the National Assembly, was perplexed when some students questioned him on their deprived freedom such as travel abroad, earn better wages or being able to use search engines like Google; the shocking video has 100,800 views so far in YouTube. (BBC Mundo) Further, late January when a tax on tips of foreign companies was announced something similar happened; people used their cell phone’s cameras to register the event. Here, now in these times of erupted media, when somehow from the gathered population, at least a cell phone’s camera is available, a digital file to register the true is making the history.
On a separate note, not only Cubans have restrictions in communications, China’s government has been very well known for controlling media and the communications of its citizens. The BBC, The British Broadcasting Corporation, refers to media in China as tightly controlled by the country’s leadership. Beijing tries to limit access to foreign news providers, quotes the BBC, by control rebroadcast and the use of satellite receivers, and also, by overcrowding shortwave radio broadcasts, including those of the BBC, and by blocking web sites; in addition, very similar to Cuba, ordinary readers have no access to foreign newspapers. (BBC)
The Chinese government says that it only relays in foreign broadcasts that do not threaten “national security” or political stability; Beijing routinely blocks access to sites run by rights groups and some foreign news organizations; also the government has moved to control postings by a small, but growing number of bloggers.
The BBC also reports that in 2005 an international group of academics concluded that China has "the most extensive and effective legal and technological systems for internet censorship and surveillance in the world". In addition, the media rights group RWB, Reporters Without Borders, describes the country as the world's "largest prison for journalists". (BBC)
Nevertheless, Peter Winter, a junior majoring in International Relations and East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California, states that text messages have taken on a new purpose in China that overpass the joking text messaging to quickly becoming a popular preferred way to express public opinion. He states that especially younger generations are using the “digital freedom of speech.”
Furthermore, Richard Baum, a UCLA political scientist and professor, who also has written several books, expresses that the increase of new communication technologies, principally cell phones and the Internet, have “exponentially increased the flow of spontaneous, unscripted and unsupervised information in China.” Baum assures that the most revolutionary developments, essentially in regard to the Internet have already taken place. Nowadays there are more than 144 million Internet users, 85 million internet-connected computers, and 750,000 Chinese-hosted websites. And on average, a blog is posted every second in China. Additionally, he states that more important developments have been made in the frequency and usage of Short Messaging Services (SMS). In 2006, 449 million cell phones in China sent over 392 billion text messages. (Baum)
The two conclusions, one from Peter Winter, a junior majoring on one side, and the other from Richard Baum, a UCLA political scientist and professor are giving us a compelling case to infer that new media is an undeniable tool for civil disobedience. It is in fact, even in one of the most effective legal and technological systems for Internet censorship and surveillance in the world, as China.
One could wonder if perhaps Cuba, along with its new freedom to owner cell phones and computers, would also have to face the same extreme censorship as China. However, no one would expect that the reality of Cuba explained above covers merely part of Cubans. Cuba has to faces and is the ordinary people only who has to endure, the frightened censorship that we recognize in Cuba.
“Tropicola” a feature length fiction film shot in Havana by Steve Fagin, a UCSD Visual Arts professor, captures many different stages in the Cubans daily life. As part of the process to show the normal regular life for Cuban people in this film, Fagin had to opt for hiring actors; he states that the ordinary people were afraid to speak out about the regime in any way, and that their freedom was obscured by scepticism. He explains that somehow Cubans covered by a role as actors, they feel the freedom necessary to behave in their regular way of usual life. Perhaps as important as his very interesting film, is the experience that Steve Fagin had as a result of it. His perception of Cuba and Cubans with the eye of a master that wanted to portrait the truth about Cuba is genuine and very well analyzed; Fagin states that indeed ordinary people struggle in their daily basis, but also when asked if Cubans have access to Internet and cell phones he responded immediately, of course. They have had access not just now but long ago, he added. He clarifies his statement and conveys that indeed Cuba is a country of two sides. The other side of Cuba is the one normally people do not know about. For instance, that the Cubans that have access to technology are not precisely the ones that want to leave Cuba; those Cubans have a very different type of life compared with the ordinary Cubans. They have access to almost every place that they can afford; and also they travel internationally and come back to Cuba because that is the place where they want to live in. Fagin also states that a strong generation of entrepreneurs is emerging with many different ideas about business. (Fagin)
For sure, those entrepreneurs are not the ones that want to abandon Cuba in an unsafe boat; with Fagin’s sketch of the Cuba, one could conclude that the Communist country is not different that any other “democratic” country; full of promises of equality but in reality with three classes: the low class, the middle class and the wealthy.
Dominic Walsh wrote recently for The Times magazine in June 2, 2008, an article called “Cuba Plans Luxury Golf Resort To Boost Economy,” in which he states that the Cuba’s Minister of Tourism will reveal “with the ink barely drying on Fidel Castro's resignation as President after half a century in power,” plans to build one of the most capitalist of institutions, a luxury golf resort with multimillion-dollar villas. The British company in which Sir Terence Conran, one of the world’s best-known designers, restaurateurs and retailers, is involved, has a strategic partnership with the ministry to develop the first of several golf resorts on the Caribbean island. The €350 million (£275 million) development is proclaimed as the tourism plan for Cuban Government to boost its economy. (Walsh)
This push in business confirms why a new class of entrepreneurs is blooming, as Fagin registered in his adventure in Cuba. But even more important than just register the new type of business in which Cuba is entering, is the new, yet old, type of administration that the government is propounding for Cubans. Those who once believed in the “revolution” and fought for the communist ideals, and protested against the old Cuba as being the playground for capitalist’s countries, would have to understand that the new Cuba would be very similar to the one in yesteryears. On the other hand, those Cubans that belong to the other side of Cuba would be delighted with the vast possibilities in business to come.
In terms of this document one would have to consider two factors that are directly related: the way that the Cuban government plans to handle its economy and the way the government plans to regulate the communication technologies, essentially cell phones and the Internet. If Cubans’ ideals of communism would prevail, then the model would be more similar to China’s restrictions. However, we have to remember that China, as one of the most powerful countries in the world, has a very extensive and effective legal and technological system for Internet censorship, and that China can afford such as sophistication. In contrast, it is uncertain that Cuba, with its weak economy, could consider a refined technological system for Internet censorship like that; also the need to please its fresh investors can force the Cuban government to have an open a free communication in behalf of their approach to progress.
50 years later, after the “revolution,” one can see the communist Cuba in its knees to capitalist’s countries; a new privileged generation of entrepreneurs eager for progress, and also a very fresh group of students that ask questions and demands right in name of the revolution. The latter are the ones that are taken advantage of the “new digital freedom of speech” that with luck will increase as the entrepreneurs bring new income to poor ordinary Cubans so they will be able, at least, to have a cell phone, the most simple, yet advanced tool for civil disobedience, and as in China the easiest way to convey public opinion.
Works Cited
Alarcón enfrenta cuestionamientos de estudiantes. BBC Mundo. 6 Feb. 2008.
Video. You Tube, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MNX8skoZNc
Alvarez, Jose. “The Issue of Food Security in Cuba.” July. 2004
University of Florida, IFAS Extension. 10 May. 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMl3JFulO0A
Fagin, Steve. Personal interview. 9 May. 2008.
Ferriol Muruaga, Angela. Cuba Crisis, Ajuste Y Situacion Social.
London: Kennikat, 1921.
Havana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 1990.
foxnews.com. 12 April. 2008. Housing Reform Allows Cubans to Gain Titles to Homes.
9 May. 2008
McKinley Jr., James. “Cyber-Rebels in Cuba Defy State’s Limits.” The Associeted Press. 2 July. 2007.
The New York Times. 6 March. 2008.
The Washington Post. 4 May. 2008.
