Despite the US Telecom Blockade, Cuba Communicates Its Truth

The impossibility of accessing technological platforms whose companies are subject to U.S. laws is one of the blockade's visible faces, especially as it applie to the telecommunications sector.

RELATED:

Cuban FM Denounces Twitter's Destabilization Maneuvers

Over 60 computer programs, sites and services are restricted for Cuba, which has lately faced, on social networks, an intense media campaign with the use of robots and algorithms, aimed at destabilizing of the country in the worst scenario of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The restricted list is made up of more than 20 Google websites, including Zoom, a well-known video chat tool, which gained momentum during COVID-19 times, according to an article by Rosa Miriam Elizalde, National Journalism Award winner and PhD in Communication Sciences, published in the Mexican La Jornada newspaper.

Contradictorily, the centers of power and the major international media try to impose the narrative that "the US blockade does not exist," although Cuban citizens encounter warnings such as "Access Forbidden Error 403" when trying to surf the Internet.

Just a few weeks ago, a new service was added to the list of banned platforms: Wetransfer, useful for the transfer of heavy computer files and used by Cuban professionals in various sectors.

Its company, headquartered in Amsterdam, Elizalde's article mentions, suddenly decided to abide by U.S. laws and deny access to Cubans.

The expert affirms that Cubans are the target of a rise in fake news; proliferation of clearly manipulated videos; use of cyber-attacks on press media and institutional websites; and threats to leaders, artists and public figures—all fostering a climate of hatred and violence.

In that context, it is striking that the United States has decided to provide Cuba with a "new free Internet infrastructure," the reporter explains.

The journalist also reflects in her article that a podcast between members of the intelligence community and high-ranking officials of the US Federal Communications Commission reveals pressure on the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to "turn a blind eye" to those incidents.

She also mentions the introduction of satellite telephones used in espionage and criminal plots against Cuba; the use of the Psiphon application in connecting to the web; and the money promised to telecommunications companies to violate Cuban legislation.

All of that just when in the period from April to December 2020 the U.S. blockade generated damages to Cuba estimated at a value above 65 million dollars, in the telecommunications sector alone.