As published in the International Business Times, “Orlando Matillo hit the refresh button and stared hopefully at the screen of his laptop personal computer. He had been attempting to connect to Facebook and talk with family overseas for more than an hour through one of the rare Wi-Fi networks available in Cuba.”
“This time, it will work,” he says as he maneuvered his keyboard once again. “In Cuba, you have to have a little patience.” However, the screen remained unchanged. “You’re not connected to a network,” it read.
The article mentions that “Cuba remains one of the world’s most repressive environments for the Internet and other information and communication technologies,” according to a recent report by Freedom House, a civil-rights group based in Washington. “There is practically no access to Internet applications other than email, given the slowness of the country’s connectivity and high prices, and most users are restricted to an intranet for obtaining information.”
According to Carlos Leyva, owner of a popular computer repair shop in Camaguey, Cuba, “right now, it feels like the 21st Century has left us behind. Even when you can get online, it’s so slow, you are there for hours waiting for the information to download. But we’ve been paying attention. People in my field are ready for Cuba to have Internet, whenever that day comes.”
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