Cuba confirms undersea cable carrying data traffic

[MADem]

17. Nice try....you didn't read the "but but" bit that followed, did you?

Yes, the embargo was (past tense) an issue, but four years ago, Obama offered a tech assist that was TURNED DOWN. That's right there IN the article.

The thing that has held it up for the last four years is lack of funding and government interaction--or more appropriately, deliberate government INACTION.

Read the whole article. Don't cherry pick.


The Cuban government is AFRAID of Facebook and Twitter:

In a video circulating in Havana, probably leaked by the government, an official promises to fight back against the American government's use of social-networking sites to promote dissent. “They have their bloggers and we have our bloggers,” he says. “We will fight to see who is stronger.” Recently, for the first time in three years, Cuban internet users could access the website of Yoani Sánchez, an opposition blogger. Along with her many supporters abroad, a handful of government backers have taken to posting their hostile comments. A virtual battle has begun.
http://www.economist.com/node/18285798

Statement from Cuban gov't on VZ cable:

“The ALBA-1 fiber-optic underwater telecommunications cable linking Cuba with Venezuela and Jamaica has been operational since August 2012, initially providing service to voice traffic for international telephone calls,” said the company.

The note adds that “testing of the quality of Internet traffic has been performed on the system since January 10. The same has been done on real traffic to and from Cuba in order to standardize this communication link.”

Notwithstanding, ETECSA notes that after the tests are completed, this “does not mean there will be an automatic increase in opportunities for access. Investments will need to be made first in the internal telecommunications infrastructure as well as an increase in foreign exchange resources.”

The Cuban government has thereby ended its official silence on the issue while closing the door to immediate changes in internet service on the island.

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=86444

Translation--they don't have any MONEY to do an upgrade.