Let freedom ring — oh hey, it's polyphonic
By Austin Modine → More by this author
Published Wednesday 21st May 2008 18:49 GMT
Nail down your security priorities. Ask the experts and your peers at
The Register Security Debate, April 17, 2008
Americans will soon be able to send cell phones to Cubans, President
Bush announced today.
Does this bother you? I'm not touching you.
The move is apparently meant to be an experimental prod at Cuba's
President Raul Castro, who has relaxed a number of restrictions on
consumer electronics since replacing his brother Fidel in February.
"Cubans are now allowed to purchase mobile phones, DVD players and
computers, and they have been told that they will be able to purchase
toasters and other basic appliances in 2010," Bush said at a White House
ceremony marking Cuba's 106th anniversary of independence.
Despite Cuba recently lifting its ban on mobile phone use by its
citizens, the cost remains upwards of about six times the average
monthly salary.
Bush said today that it's the "height of hypocrisy to claim credit to
allow Cubans to purchase appliances that virtually none of them can afford."
"If he is serious about his so-called reforms, he will allow these
phones to reach the Cuban people," Bush said.
But don't regard it as a change in the US policy towards the island,
cautioned Bush administration officials.
Dan Frisk, National Security Council senior director for Wester
hemisphere affairs told the Associated Press that the US government is
not loosening the longstanding economic embargo against Cuba. He said
the move is a merely change in regulations for gift parcels, and the
administration will be watching to see if Cuba allows the cell phones to
enter the country.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/21/bush_tests_castro_with_mobile_phone_gifts/
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