Cuba sent US a note of protest due to the initiatives of the Internet

The Cuban foreign Ministry presented on Wednesday a protest note to the chargé d’affaires of the USA in the Caribbean nation Lawrence Gumbiner in connection with the initiative of the American administration on the expansion of Internet access on the island. This is stated in a statement posted on the website of the Cuban foreign Ministry.

“The note contains a requirement for the US government to stop the illegal and subversive activities against Cuba, directed against the stability and constitutional order and called for respect for Cuban sovereignty, international law and the principles of the UN Charter,” he said in a statement.

The Ministry of foreign Affairs of the island States protested against the attempts of the U.S. government “grossly violate the sovereignty of Cuba regarding the right to independent regulation of information flows”.

The note also says that Cuba will continue to regulate the dissemination of information. “This is its sovereign right and a common practice in all countries, including the United States,” – said the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Caribbean States.

The same note was transferred to the state Department by the Embassy of Cuba in the United States.

On 23 January, the state Department announced the establishment of a working group with the purpose “to promote the free and unregulated flow of information in Cuba”. It is expected that the group will include representatives of various agencies of the U.S. government and experts working in non-governmental organisations.

The Internet in Cuba

Cuba remains a state with one of the lowest levels of Internet penetration in the world, but the authorities are making serious efforts to remedy the situation. In 2015 Cuban state telecommunications company ETECSA started equipment in parks public wireless connection. Now across the country about thousands of such zones, including 60 in Havana. To connect to Wi-Fi to residents of Cuba need to purchase special cards; one hour of Internet it costs $1.

Last year ETECSA started the Internet in homes. To do this, access your home network on the island were only a few categories of citizens, doctors, journalists, teachers, researchers and members of the government. Moreover, they are required to obtain a special permit.

According to the authorities, in 2017, around 40% of Cubans had access to the Internet – 37% more than in 2010.

Reaction to trump statements

Statements by the President of the United States Donald trump against Cuba during a speech before both houses of Congress offensive. This was stated on Wednesday by the Director of the U.S. Department of the Cuban foreign Ministry Josefina Vidal.

Trump has acted with the annual message “state of the Union”

Speaking on Tuesday with his first annual message to Congress “On the situation of the country,” Trump said he believes Cuba and Venezuela dictatorships.

“The US government is once again trying through offensive and disrespectful statements to justify the intensification of its unfair, unlawful and condemned by the international community of the embargo policy against Cuba,” wrote Vidal in his Twitter. According to her, the American administration keeps trying to impose on Cuba the government, in the interests of Washington.

In June last year, Trump announced tougher policy toward the Caribbean country and canceled a number of previous decisions of Washington aimed at normalizing relations with Havana. The policy of improving bilateral relations was conducted from 2014 by the previous U.S. administration led by President Barack Obama. But in recent months, relations between Havana and Washington is even more aggravated because of some “acoustic attack”, which, according to the state Department, Cuba has suffered more than 20 American diplomats.