(RSF/IFEX) – The Cuban government has banned the sale of personal computers to the general public except in cases of special need, when official permission must be sought. The ban, reported by the online newspaper “Wired News” (www.wired.com) on 25 March 2002, was confirmed by several RSF sources in Cuba who said it had been […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The Cuban government has banned the sale of personal computers to the general public except in cases of special need, when official permission must be sought. The ban, reported by the online newspaper “Wired News” (www.wired.com) on 25 March 2002, was confirmed by several RSF sources in Cuba who said it had been imposed in Havana in mid-January and extended to the rest of the country on 1 February. “Wired News” said the measure, which had caused a row inside the government, was contained in decree 383/2001, banning the sale of “computers, offset printer equipment, mimeographs, photocopiers and any other mass printing medium” to “associations, foundations, civic and non-profit organisations and Cuban private individuals.” If such equipment, spare parts or accessories, were considered essential, authorisation would be needed from the Internal Trade Ministry. A source in Havana told RSF that a notice pinned up in a shopping centre in the capital’s La Playa district announced that computers, spare parts and accessories could not be sold to individuals as of 16 January. Other shops confirmed this although one store in La Playa was still selling computer equipment to individuals.
The sale of any kind of printing machinery has always been strictly controlled by the government to prevent the emergence of independent publications, but the purchase (in dollars only) of personal computers and fax machines had become easier in recent months. However, the new measure comes after the illegal Cuban Institute of Independent Economists, headed by the well-known dissident economist Marta Beatriz Roque, launched an Internet website (www.cubaicei.org) on 7 December 2001. Cubans’ access to the site, which is administered in Miami but is the first one to carry news wholly supplied by dissidents inside Cuba, was blocked by the government less than a week after it was launched.
The Cuban government spokesperson in Washington, Luis Fernández, was evasive when questioned by “Wired News” about the ban, saying that “if we were not facing an embargo, there would be computers for everyone.” Sergio Pérez, then head of the state enterprise Teledatos, said in a 7 February 2001 article in the official daily “Granma”: “In a country that is the victim of an embargo and where medicine is in short supply, how can you not also expect restrictions on Internet access?” However, such problems in Cuba go beyond economics. Access to the Internet is strictly controlled. Its use is conditional on respect for “the moral values of Cuban society and the laws of the country” and only foreign companies and government institutions are allowed access. There are two cybercafés, but one is reserved for tourists and the other is restricted to members of the governmental association of Cuban writers and artists (Union de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC).
Since September, Cubans have been able to get an e-mail address and access the Internet at four post offices in Havana. However, surfing is limited to a collection of government-approved sites known locally as the “Intranet.” Furthermore, access is expensive, at US$4.50 (5 euros) an hour, when the average monthly wage is only US$12. Civil society and human rights organisations, which are not recognised by the government, regularly send articles by phone and fax to be published on Miami-based websites.
In Cuba, where the constitution states that “freedom of expression and the media is subordinate to the goals of a socialist society”, only a government-controlled media is allowed. A hundred or so independent journalists, grouped into about twenty news agencies and other associations not recognised by the government, are constantly harassed and since 1995, about 50 journalists have fled abroad.
