Cuba: Gov’t defends internet restrictions but supports open-source software

Cuba’s Communications Minister defended government limits on internet usage on the island which is open only to tourists, academics, and government workers. ``The wild colt of new technologies can and must be controlled,'' said Minister Ramiro Valdes; according to the Cuban press, Valdes blamed the U.S. embargo against Cuba (a tactic which has been taken in the past):

“Part of the hostile US policy is to frustrate exchanges with the island by means of pressures exerted on other governments, and includes the persecution of commercial, economic and financial actions against Cuba…the most difficult challenge Cuba faces is because of the US blockade that forces Cuba to access the Internet via satellite instead of by underwater fiber optic cables”.

However, the Castro administration is entering in a new venture with the Venezuelan government in converting computers used by the state to open-source software. In doing so, both countries would join other nations such as Brazil, Peru, and Norway in rejecting the Microsoft monopoly over computer operating systems in order to embrace Linux.

Here is a stirring video (via YouTube) where a student publicly speaks to a Cuban minister and defends Internet usage as a “weapon for combat” in the “fight for truth.”

Links- Kansas City Star, Periodico 26, The Latin Americanist, Reuters, Newsday