We need to carpet bomb Cuba....with USB flash drives

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/world/americas/06cuba.html?ei=5124&en=eff6
155b2c2d280d&ex=1362546000&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink&pagewanted=pri
nt

 

March 6, 2008


Cyber-Rebels in Cuba Defy State’s Limits 


By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

HAVANA — A growing underground network of young people armed with computer
memory sticks, digital cameras and clandestine Internet hookups has been
mounting some challenges to the Cuban government in recent months, spreading
news that the official state media try to suppress.

Last month, students at a prestigious computer science university videotaped
an ugly confrontation they had with Ricardo Alarcón, the president of the
National Assembly.

Mr. Alarcón seemed flummoxed when students grilled him on why they could not
travel abroad, stay at hotels, earn better wages or use search engines like
Google
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/google_inc/index.html
?inline=nyt-org> . The video
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MNX8skoZNc&feature=related>  spread like
wildfire through Havana, passed from person to person, and seriously damaged
Mr. Alarcón’s reputation in some circles. 

Something similar happened in late January when officials tried to impose a
tax on the tips and wages of employees of foreign companies. Workers erupted
in jeers and shouts when told about the new tax, a moment caught on a
cellphone camera and passed along by memory sticks.

“It passes from flash drive to flash drive,” said Ariel, 33, a computer
programmer, who, like almost everyone else interviewed for this article,
asked that his last name not be used for fear of political persecution.
“This is going to get out of the government’s hands because the technology
is moving so rapidly.”

Cuban officials have long limited the public’s access to the Internet and
digital videos, tearing down unauthorized satellite dishes and keeping down
the number of Internet cafes open to Cubans. Only one Internet cafe remains
open in Old Havana, down from three a few years ago. 

…

 

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