Cuba: A rare insight

Cuba is some 90 miles off the US mainland. Fidel Castro is still hanging in there as a now very long serving dictator. In fact Cuba is a last-gasp communist bastion in an otherwise very different world. Perhaps in typical blinkered fashion the US doesn't recognise Cuba even if it's on its doorstep.

We rarely get an insight into Cuba other than when Castro makes some statement or other which attracts attention.

Antony Loewenstein, writing in The Guardian, provides a rare insight into Cuba, in particular how the population seeks to harness the internet and all it has to offer:

"Cuba is the least technologically connected country in Latin America, falling way behind in mobile phone and internet penetration. The Castro regime has blamed the long-standing US embargo for the communication restrictions - and must utilise satellite technology as a result - but the situation is far more complicated than the government likes to publicly admit. For example, Cubans are required to obtain a permit to buy a computer or subscribe to an ISP, therefore making regular contact with the outside world a virtual impossibility for the vast majority of citizens."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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