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A group commissioned by the government of US President Donald Trump to promote the flow of information in Cuba is examining options to expand Internet access on the island, a move Havana has denounced as "subversive and interventionist."
The Internet Task Force on Cuba, chaired by Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere John S. Creamer, met on Wednesday for the first time in Washington.
Its main objective, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of State, is "helping the Cuban people to enjoy the flow of free and unregulated information."
"The group will examine during the next year the technological challenges and the opportunities to expand Internet access in Cuba," reads the statement.
The Cuban government maintains that the group seeks to subvert order in the island and "results in a reissue of old plans whose antecedents go back to the very beginning of the revolution" in 1959, according to Granma, the newspaper of Cuba's ruling Communist Party.
The government of President Raul Castro protested in January, when the formation of the Task Force was first announced, describing it as an "interference" in Cuba's internal affairs.
At the meeting in Washington, the group created two subcommittees: one in charge of exploring the role of the media and freedom of information in Cuba, and the other concerning Internet access on the island.
The subcommittees will provide the working group with a preliminary report with recommendations within six months. They are due to meet again in October to review the reports, as well as prepare a final text with suggestions for President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
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