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Wired News
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51270,00.html?tw=wn_ascii
Cuba Bans PC Sales to Public
By Julia Scheeres
2:00 a.m. March 25, 2002 PST
The Cuban government has quietly banned the sale of computers and computer
accessories to the public, except in cases where the items are
"indispensable" and the purchase is authorized by the Ministry of Internal
Commerce.
News of the ban was first reported by CubaNet , an anti-Castro site based
in Miami. According to the organization's correspondent in Havana, the
merchandise -- which had been sold freely in the capital since mid-2001--
was yanked off store shelves in January.
The computer departments of the retail stores were divided into two zones:
a well-stocked area for government buyers, and a smaller area where the
public could buy diskettes, CDs and other such items. A store employee told
the correspondent she was forbidden from discussing the move, which was
also referred to briefly in a newsletter published by the U.S.-Cuba Trade
and Economic Council.
Early attempts to confirm the information independently were unsuccessful.
Dozens of messages to Cuban retailers and government officials in Cuba went
unanswered. Cuba's spokesman in Washington, Luis Fernandez, was
consistently evasive.
"If we didn't have an embargo, there could be computers for everybody,"
Fernandez replied when asked this question: Are computer sales to the
public banned in Cuba?
Several weeks later, a government employee in Cuba sent Wired News, through
a Web-based e-mail account, a copy of a resolution mandating the ban. In an
interview using an instant-messaging service, the source -- who asked to
remain anonymous -- criticized the decree and said it had generated a great
deal of controversy within government circles after it was unilaterally
mandated by the Minister of Internal Commerce, Bárbara Castillo.
According to Article 19, Chapter II, Section 3 of the ministry's Resolution
No. 383/2001: "The sale of computers, offset printer equipment,
mimeographs, photocopiers, and any other mass printing medium, as well as
their parts, pieces and accessories, is prohibited to associations,
foundations, civic and nonprofit societies, and natural born citizens. In
cases where the acquisition of this equipment or parts, pieces and
accessories is indispensable, the authorization of the Ministry of Internal
Commerce must be solicited."
The source's decision to send the information was especially daring in
light of a gag law that mandates a 3- to 10-year prison term for anyone who
collaborates with "enemy news media."
Because government officials refused to comment on the ban, the reason for
the move is a matter of speculation.
The rise of independent journalists in Cuba, who published articles on the
Internet criticizing the Castro regime, may have something to do with it.
The correspondents, who risk jail time for their "subversive" reports, send
their stories by fax, e-mail or phone dictation to supporters in Miami.
"We believe our website had something to do with it," said Manrique Iriarte
Sr., who helps run the website for the Cuban Institute of Independent
Economists, which launched a few weeks before the ban was passed in late
December.
The economists' site offers a sharp contrast to the rosy Marxist dream
proffered by Castro, including news of opposition arrests and detailed
reports on the decrepit state of the island economy. The site is blocked in
Cuba.
Iriarte said he visited several Havana stores in January where employees
told him computer equipment was only available for "accredited state entities."
The move didn't surprise Cuba-watchers in the United States.
"This just reflects a further restriction on communications with the
outside world," said Eugene Pons, of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban
American Studies at the University of Miami.
The government already requires Cubans who can afford Internet accounts --
which cost $260 a month, while the average Cuban salary is $240 a year --
to register with National Center for Automated Data Exchange (CENAI ), Pons
said. For those who do manage to log on, the Internet experience is
limited: The government-controlled ISPs block links to certain foreign
media, anti-Castro sites and pornography.
The government has also admitted to monitoring e-mail. To circumvent such
spying, residents use Web-based e-mail accounts and chat services to make
their communication harder to trace. Indeed, the Cuban source used a
Web-based account to reply to a message sent to the person's government
account.
"If I disappear from cyberspace one day, it's because they found out I was
talking to you," the source said.
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