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U.S. blockade affects Internet use
• It not only prevents Cuba’s
connection to international optic fiber cables and
financial transactions on the island, but also the
downloading of free software and information on the
web, states Minister Ramiro Valdés on opening
Informatics 2007, attended by more than 1,600
delegates from some 60 countries
BY LILLIAM RIERA—Granma International staff writer—
THE U.S. blockade extends over
Cuba’s use of the Internet, according to Commander
of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés, minister of
informatics and communications (MIC), on opening the
12th International Convention and Exhibition
Informatics 2007.
The persecution of Cuban
commercial, economic and financial activities in the
network of networks is part of the U.S. policy of
aborting such exchanges via pressure and threats on
governments all over the world, he noted.
Valdés emphasized that those
conditions imposed by the blockade, among many other
limitations, prevent us from connecting to the
Internet via international optic fiber cables that
pass very close to the Cuban coasts, thus forcing
the nation to use a satellite channel.
He added that it not only
prohibits the acquisition of equipment and
informatics programs from U.S. companies, but also
prevents U.S. institutions and citizens utilizing
the web for electronic transactions with Cuban
agencies, while blocking the downloading of software
and information – including free items – if the IP
address is identified as Cuban.
Nevertheless, he highlighted that
the island has trained 15,000 students in computer
science in higher education and 38,000 at technical
level.
Moreover Cuba has promoted
600-plus Youth Computer Clubs, institutions to
facilitate the mass use of those technologies.
The island is also developing
telematic networks in various sectors of national
life, such as public health, culture, science and
technology and others.
“It is essential to find
strategic alliances to stand up to hegemonic
attempts in this new battlefield and that will make
it possible to impose a new seal on the sovereignty
of our peoples,” he affirmed.
In fact, as part of a series of
16 new cooperation agreements signed by the
governments of Cuban and Venezuela on January 24, a
submarine communications cable between the two
countries, which will also offer access to others in
the region, is to be installed.
U.S. INTERNET ESPIONAGE
On the other hand, Ramiro Valdés
warned of U.S. intelligence agencies’ use of
information technology at global level.
The MIC minister explained that
those agencies are developing means and programs to
intercept communications, access to systems and data
bases of all nations, at the request of the U.S.
government and with the assignation of very large
funds.
He exposed the secret
relationship between Google, the well-known and
popular Internet search engine, and the U.S.
intelligence community, to which it facilitates
information on users, personal data, key words and
behavior patterns.
Valdés similarly recalled
Microsoft’s acknowledgement of its exchange and
collaboration with those agencies, a highly relevant
point given that 90% of the world’s computers use
that corporation’s operational systems.
Under the Patriot Act, adopted in
the United States in the wake of the September 11,
2001 attacks, Washington is sheltering itself via a
supposed anti-terrorist crusade, which is a
smokescreen for its real hegemonic interests, he
observed.
Under the theme Information
Technology and its Contribution to a Better world,
Informatics 2007 is in session with the attendance
of 1,600-plus delegates from some 60 countries.
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