Recent measures by Cuba’s Telecommunications Company ETECSA have sparked social debate in Cuba. Our correspondent Fabiola Lopez tells us what the public thinks, teleSUR
00:00Recent measures by Cuba's telecommunications company Etexa have sparked social debate in Cuba.
00:07Our correspondent, Fabiola Lopez, tells us what the public thinks.
00:15In the last days in Cuba, everyone is talking about the same thing.
00:18The topic is on the streets and on social media.
00:21Cuban telecommunications company Etexa is increasing internet access rates
00:25to prices that, for many, are far from the reality of their salaries.
00:29The measure is causing dissatisfaction and is being described as unpopular.
00:33Many agree that the decision was not adequately explained and that communication failed.
00:40The people were not informed in advance.
00:43Look, we are going to take this measure because there are problems with the company.
00:48We need investments. In other words, to have an open discussion.
00:53But this never happened.
00:55The public opinion was bad.
00:58I feel disappointed because it affects me and it affects everyone.
01:03I believe that aside from the fact that the measure is unpopular due to its content, it was very poorly communicated.
01:09It is true that it affects the research for our school projects, but we must understand the need the country had to take this measure.
01:19It was not taken lightly or arbitrarily. It was done out of a need for foreign currency.
01:24Cyber space is on fire and social media are extremely active.
01:29Many are warning of the political cause of the measure, while others argue that the internet on the island is on the verge of collapse
01:36and that the next headline may not be about a new rate, but rather a nationwide service outage.
01:41Authorities insist that there is a real emergency, as the blockade is brutal and the situation is extremely critical due to the lack of foreign currency.
01:49We are facing debts today that we cannot pay, which means that we cannot import more technology, that we cannot import supplies, that we cannot import these things that we must buy abroad, the things that serve us, that we need in order to continue, not to develop and grow, but to maintain the services we currently have.
02:11Memes and fake news are running wild, but fate and opportunism arise.
02:17Some try to advance their anti-government and counter-revolutionary agenda under the pretext of new internet rates.
02:23However, the University Student Federation takes a stand against those who seek to undermine the country's stability.
02:29Executives from ATEXA, together with the party and the government, are engaging in constructive dialogue with the students to find solutions.
02:36I was talking about how irresponsible it is in the complex situation we are experiencing to incite violence, disorder, disobedience and chaos.
02:51Because first of all, in Cuba, which is imperfect but improvable, we have an institutional structure that is not the result of the will of the government,
03:05but rather the result of a tradition of popular participation that goes back more than 60 years of revolution built with the people, and that tradition provides the space for dialogue.
03:19There were calls to rallies and sit-ins on the university steps, calls that have not come from the University Student Federation.
03:26For Professor Ernesto Teuma, the increase in fees, which many consider disproportionate, has resulted in a conflict that does not necessarily have to be seen as negative.
03:36It is an adjustment in the midst of the consumption crisis, the responsibilities of public companies, a conflict in which students and other organizations have played a leading role, which would be from a civic perspective above all for access and guarantee of certain rights.
04:01However, it has been quickly exploited by agendas that seek to turn these conflicts into irreconcilable hostilities.
04:10Through his ex account, President Miguel Díaz-Canel insists that the revolutionary government is working to provide well-being to the people in the midst of the most criminal siege,
04:20and explains that options are being sought out for the most vulnerable sector.
04:24Many say that what is at stake here is not internet access fees, but the credibility of a project that the vast majority is still willing to defend.
