FRFI 219 February / March 2011

In January 2011, the US-based video- sharing website YouTube censored the channel of popular website CubaDebate.cu for publishing a video which criticised international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles – responsible for many Cuban deaths and currently on trial in Miami for lying to immigration authorities. Google, which owns YouTube, cut access to CubaDebate’s videos for hosting alleged copyright material of Carriles talking outside court with his lawyers. They refer specifically to a fragment of video which formed part of the presentation from the Miami Legal Fund for Carriles.

YouTube proceeded by eliminating the entire CubaDebate channel, which included a catalogue of over 400 other videos including exclusive interviews, music video clips and documentaries. CubaDebate had accumulated around 1.5 million views before being removed from the site.

CubaDebate, which is made up of Cuban and international journalists, condemned YouTube for its actions. The journalists initiated a discussion page on Facebook to demand the reopening of the YouTube channel whilst establishing clone channels such as CubaDebatecu and CubaDebate1 on YouTube to restore some of the censored media. Hundreds of messages circulated on Twitter. Clearly, the Cubans understand the modern ways in which information flows to online communities abroad, even if it means using corporate US-owned websites, which can block Cuban users simply for being Cuban under the absurd laws of the US blockade.

ALBA breaks US communications blockade of Cuba

Venezuela and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), a ‘trade treaty of the people’, are helping Cuba break the US blockade on telecommunications to the island. Between 22 January and 8 February a high speed fibre optic cable, ALBA-1, is being laid to connect Cuba to Venezuela. The $70 million project, expected to be fully operational by July, will give Cuba a data transmission speed of 640 gigabytes, 3,000 times more than the existing slow, expensive satellite link which Cuba is obliged to use because it is not permitted to connect to the dozens of optic fibre cables which circle the island. Under the US blockade, the French ship laying the cable will not be able to dock in the United States for six months after landing in Cuba.

This new technological break-through is part of wider Cuban efforts to improve the country’s internet infrastructure and online presence. Priority internet access will be given to Cuba’s local computer clubs, work places, schools, universities and government ministries, improving their operational efficiency. Individual residential connections will be addressed later.

Websites like CubaDebate are among the new and exciting ways in which Cubans are using the internet to engage with others and combat the barrage of reactionary propaganda websites and blogs online, which are often directly and indirectly funded by anti-Cuban government organisations like USAID.

Anthony Bairstow