The chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Michael Parmly, said
Washington "would not be opposed" to granting Cuba cable access to the
Internet if the Castro government allows all Cubans to utilize it, the
Spanish news agency EFE reported Saturday. "U.S. technology companies
are ready at this moment -- now -- to connect Cuba to the Internet and
our government would not be opposed," Parmly was reported as telling
guests at a Fourth of July party. "The only thing missing is for the
Cuban government to lift its restrictions, lose its fears and begin to
trust its own people." The U.S. trade embargo bars Cuba from tapping the
underwater Internet cable that runs from Miami to Cancún, Mexico, only
20 miles from Havana, so Cuba must use satellite connections, which are
more expensive than cable and technologically more restricting. For that
reason, Cuba limits its citizens' private use of the Internet, favoring
its "social use" by state-run institutions. Parmly's comment may have
been in response to criticism of Washington's Internet policy voiced
frequently during the Journalists' Union congress last week in Havana.
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.
July 06, 2008
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2008/07/internet-access.html
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