Cuba is evolving into something different and something better. The days of Fidel Castro’s staunch communist rule have come to an end, and quite frankly, most people don’t know what to do. The Cuban government isolated the country from outside media and influence. Imports and exports were extremely limited, with most Cuban people still driving cars made before Castro took his rule in the 1950’s.
Cuba has been frozen in time for decades, and it’s finally beginning to thaw. Travel was opened up. Real Cuban cigars became legally accessible on the open market. They began to build infrastructure to encourage tourism. Cuba is entering a more relaxed state following a stringent dictatorship, and the population is being afforded with new freedoms. Among these freedoms are the internet, and the internet is the key to unlocking even more freedoms.
As Cuba’s internet infrastructure is established, its government will begin to face unique challenges in maintaining control over the information that enters and exits the country.
The Internet’s Impact on Cuba
The majority of Cubans have access to the internet in some fashion, with other 70% connected via home device or smartphone. Since widespread connectivity became the new norm, stories of anti-government protests and calls for democracy from Cuban citizens have entered the global stage.
Before connectivity, the Cuban government was able to deny that the majority of the country’s population was unhappy with the political state of their country. Now, the government can no longer control the narrative.
This is a pivotal moment for the future of Cuba. People now have the platform to express the things they want to express, including their distaste for the current political state of their country and restrictions imposed on them by the state.
The Government Isn’t Sure What to Do
Although logic should have dictated that the moment the people had a platform would be the moment people expressed their opinions, the Cuban government failed to consider the ramifications of the situation. Cuba’s extended period of isolation from the rest of the world and its technology means that the government doesn’t have what they need to control the internet.
The Cuban government has established a basic blocking system to address certain websites with undertones directly critical of their political choices. They do not yet have the capability to roll out widespread blocking and filtering technology similar to the Great Firewall of China.
While there’s no way to know for sure that Cuba will use the same tactics, it’s reasonable to expect that a country with a history of strict information control would have the desire to use a model similar to China’s censorship model.
What Cubans Should Do Before That Happens
Cuban citizens would be wise to start using a stealth protocol VPN while they’re still ahead of censorship. Stealth protocol VPNs allow people in countries where the government blocks or censors parts of the internet to access anything they please. Stealth VPN use cannot be detected. If the government were to attempt to identify VPN activity or people bypassing blocks, they would never know someone was using a stealth VPN.
TorGuard’s VPN works for people in Cuba who want to continue to express themselves freely and enjoy the conversations, news, arts, and culture of the rest of the world. It’s better to start using a VPN now than it is to wait until the government figures out how to crack down.
