[Marxism] response wanted to Reuters criticism of life in Cuba

[Dbachmozart at aol.com]

Cuban university  students, in a rare public challenge to authorities, openly 
criticized  government restrictions on access to  the Internet, hotels and 
travel  abroad, reports Reuters (Feb. 8, 2008):

Their  criticism in a video came as more Cubans begin to speak out about the  
shortcomings of Cuba's socialist system, a debate encouraged by acting 
President  Raul Castro since taking over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro in 
2006. In  the 52-minute video, students at the University of Information Sciences 
demanded  explanations from National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon on a 
series of  issues;

The Jan.19 town-hall style meeting was shown over  the closed-circuit TV 
system of the 10,000-student university built on the site  of a former Soviet 
electronic listening post on the outskirts of Havana. The  video has since been 
circulated secretly on computer memory cards, although it  has not been seen by 
most Cubans. "Why can't the people of Cuba go to hotels or  travel to other 
parts of the world?" asked one student, who identified himself  as Eliecer Avila;

Only foreigners are allowed to stay at  hotels at beach resorts. To leave the 
island, Cubans need a permit from the  government, which particularly 
restricts travel by young people. Avila, who  studies at Cuba's elite school for 
computer sciences -- a pet project of Fidel  Castro's before he fell ill-- asked 
why the government had banned the use of Web  sites Yahoo! and Google for 
e-mail and messenger services. Internet connectivity  in Cuba is lower than in 
Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest country, and all  servers belong to the state. 
Many Cubans with Internet access provided by the  government can use e-mail but 
not surf the Web, only an intranet of Cuban Web  sites;

Alarcon, the speaker of Cuba's legislature, dodged  some questions, saying he 
did not know about monetary and Internet matters. The  students criticized 
Cuba's leadership for being out of touch with the people and  asked the 
government to be more forthcoming with proposals on how to solve  pressing problems, 
from poor public transport to low wages.



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