As published in Motherboard, “The most telling tidbit of information from President Obama’s visit to Cuba thus far was this disclaimer sent in an email to reporters by Laura Haim, a White House correspondent for the French TV station Canal Plus: ‘Apologies all for the delay / wifi problems.’”
The article mentions that “Cuba has bad internet access by design, and Google coming to the country doesn’t necessarily mean the communist government there is going to change its decades-old policy of controlling people’s access to information. Google or not, the Cuban people will get full access to the internet only when the Cuban government decides that they should have it.”
“As long as Cuban State Telecom Monopoly, ETECSA, remains the sole or even primary provider of internet in Cuba, companies like Google will be providing limited support in the expansion of internet,” Jose Luis Martinez, Communications Director for the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba and the Connect Cuba campaign told Motherboard reporter Jason Koebler. He went on to tell Vice Media’s ech vertical that “Any expansion will be solely on the Cuban government’s terms, including ongoing issues with regards to censorship and retaining tight political controls.”
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