Cuba loosens reins under Raul Castro, allows first home computers
By Leslie Poston
Cuba has been cut off from technology and the rest of the world throughout Fidel Castro’s regime. Now that his brother Raul is in charge, the winds of change are finally starting to blow through. One of the biggest recent changes is that Cubans are now allowed to own home computers, and home computers can be sold in the country, as well as cell phones, DVD players and other once restricted goods.
This may not seem like a big deal to Americans, but when you have been cut off from the world on a daily basis for so long, as Cuba has, the implications of this are huge. However, there are obstacles remaining, even in the face of new freedoms. One of the biggest is the fact that so many in Cuba are poor, barely making as little as the equivalent of $20 USD a day.
Home computers are being priced out in Cuba at around $800, making them an unattainable goal for many individuals. However, some there have extra income from outside sources, and many pool their resources. That means a few individuals may get their hands on one right away, and that people may bond together in groups to share a computer purchase and its use.
Currently Cuba restricts internet access. There are no obvious plans to bring internet access to the masses, so most people will still have to find a local university or other public connection to use to log on. Hopefully that will change in the future as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez begins constructing an undersea cable that may eventually bring more internet reliability to its ally island nation.
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May 3rd, 2008
If they are Windows computers, who supplied them? Isn’t there a trading embargo in effect? How can MSFT legally allow activations of XP or Vista in computers in a country that has a trading embargo with the United States?
Unless they are bootleg copies of Windows or MSFT and the State Department are looking the other way?
If the computers were bought from China or through some other third country, and activated there and then sold in Cuba.
Then what difference would it be if we had stores here in the United states selling Cuban cigars ? Or stores that bought Cuban cigars from Canadian or Mexican importers and then sold here.
If there is a law, enforce it and make companies be liable for breaking the embargo laws…or do away with the embargo entirely.