Broadband cable on its way to unplugged CubaFibre-optic cable laid from Venezuela brings the promise

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Guardian

Broadband cable on its way to unplugged CubaFibre-optic cable laid from Venezuela brings the promise of speedy internet to one of the world's least connected countries
Rory Carroll in Caracas guardian.co.uk,
Sunday 23 January 2011 20.18 GMT

http://static.guim.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pixies/2011/1/23/1295813808026/Cubans-in-Havana-007.jpg

Cubans look at computers in Havana. Soon they should be able to get speedy
internet connections to go with them. Photograph: Ramon Espinosa/AP

Cuba is set to join the high-speed broadband era with an undersea fibre-optic cable laid from Venezuela, bringing the promise of speedy internet to one of the world's least connected countries.

A specialised ship sailed from Camuri beach, near the Venezuelan port of La Guaria, this weekend, trailing the cable from buoys on the start of a 1,000-mile journey across the Caribbean sea.

Venezuelan and Cuban officials hailed the project as a blow to the United States' embargo on the island. It will make Cuba's connection speed 3,000 times faster and modernise its economy.

~snip~
he 50-year-old US embargo prevented Cuba tapping into Caribbean fibre-optic cables, forcing it to rely on a slow, expensive satellite link of just 379 megabits per second.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/broadband-cable-unplugged-cuba

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Good for them.

I think it's high time they had an up-to-date computer link. And I also think it's high time we normalized relations with Cuba.

Our attitude towards them is reprehensible.

[EFerrari]

2. The US government has been obstructing internet access for Cuba

and then, turns around and claims Cuba limits internet access to the Cuban people. :crazy:

[DCKit]

3. C'mon Liz, isn't that what you'd do?

It's just "Diplomacy" ya know.

[EFerrari]

6. I'm so old (how old are you) I remember our president TALKING to Kruschev.

That was diplomacy. This is what playground bullies do. :)

[DCKit]

10. Yeah, that pretty much sums up the state of U.S. diplomacy toward a lot of countries.

I was really hoping things would undergo a seismic shift with this Administration.

It's quite interesting to look at how we treat different countries depending on what advantage we might gain, or how they thwart the goals of our Kleptocracy.

[EFerrari]

12. It looks like the US projects its power to the rest of the world

in part based on its control of this hemisphere. But we don't notice much because we're taught as children that the US is a champion of democracy.

I had some hope for Obama but that was shredded when his first speech to a major Latino group was at CANF, a Florida anti-Castro Cuban org that has in the past funded acts of terrorism both in Miami and in Havana. To be fair, it looks like no Democratic president since Carter has been able to effect real change in our hemispheric foriegn policy. Maybe the executive just doesn't have the juice any more. Neither Clinton nor Obama seemed to, in any case.

[DissedByBush]

7. Cuba has been on the Internet for a while

The government does strictly control use though.

There's a big black market for stolen passwords using university or other government access.

This will put a bigger pipe into the island, as well as Jamaica, Haiti, Curacao and Trinidad.

But the government will still control access by the people.

I do expect it to get more liberal in the years to come though.

Just think, a couple years ago the government graciously authorized regular people to buy computers and cell phones.

Now that's progress!

Such a free country to ALLOW people to possess things we regularly walk into a store to buy.

[EFerrari]

8. Yes, it's nice to be part of the NSA network!

lol

[DissedByBush]

11. You are making no sense

You (falsely) complained our embargo is keeping Cuba off the Internet.

That would mean us not selling Internet access to Cuba.

If we were selling Internet access to Cuba, that would put Cuba on the same "NSA network" that you are talking about.

This is aside from the fact that you are now completely sidestepping the point.

You have to, because you know Cuba censors the Internet and will punish people who try to access it without authorization.

It has nothing to do with the embargo.

[DCKit]

13. Practice makes perfect.

Keep practicing.

[EFerrari]

14. The State Department will not allow Cuban companies

access to the cable that runs within 30 kilometers of Cuba but the island's lack of access has nothing to do with the embargo? Okey dokey then. :)

[DissedByBush]

17. First, the island has access

People can get on the Internet right now in Cuba -- if they have permission from the government, or have bought access on the black market (and thereby risking arrest).

Second, you dismissed the ubiquitous access we here have by saying we're on the "NSA Network."

That is nonsensical in your complaint about the embargo, because should we give Cuba access, they would be on that very same "NSA Network."

That is also grossly dishonest, as it implies the US government controls/monitors/censors the Internet to the same extent Cuba does.

Such assertions are absolutely absurd.

[emsimon33]

4. Good! Maybe we can travel one day to Cuba for decent medical care

since it is not available here in the U.S.

[DissedByBush]

18. Of course we could

As health tourists we would get the nice, modern hospitals that the Cuban proles don't get to go to.

We of course have to pay cash.

[Judi Lynn]

21. You are choosing to ignore the stats which have been in evidence for decades showing Cuban health

rising steadily since the Revolution to the highest standards in Latin America now, with infant mortality astonishingly low, childhood diseases, longevity equal to the U.S., etc., etc., etc. whereas at the beginning of the revolution there was widespread hunger, people commonly living with intestinal parasites, apalling sanitation, food standards, etc., etc., etc. for the common man/woman, not to mention the assurance of shortened lives, lived in deepest poverty, in unclean, desperate conditions, and no chance whatsoever of a future outside the seasonal work in the fields.

Blast on, as you will, but you're releasing very little beyond hot air for public consumption. Most people are certainly bright enough to see right through the radical spin.

[DissedByBush]

29. Statistics?

We know what Mark Twain had to say about that.

Basic fact: The hospitals tourists are allowed to visit to show how good healthcare is are not for the common people.

Most Cuban hospitals available to the common people are run down.

The common people could probably use the nice hospitals if they had the hard foreign currency Castro wants.

Just as in our healthcare system, cash is king.

The system puts cash into the government, which keeps the Castros in power.

Just like the slave doctors Castro pimps out to foreign countries to make a profit off.

[ngant17]

30. you don't like statistics when it disproves your statements

The Cuban medical system is second to none in Latin America. It has one of the best health care systems in the world.

The exterior walls of some Cuban medical buildings do not imply unsanitary conditions inside.

The "common people" are the Cubans who work in the medical system. Cardiologists, for example, are paid no more than a cook or a mechanic.

Cuba has invested in biotechnology and has international patents on vaccines. The government, not private enterprise, owns the medical system.

Cuba sufficiently trains enough medical technicians and doctors to have a surplus and send them to undeveloped countries.

It will not allow medical and scientific professionals to legally immigrate from Cuba for 5 years after initial date of application. This is to help protect its intellectual rights which can be quickly exploited by other countries. I think this is completely warranted, given the fact that education and professional training is free for all Cubans.

[DissedByBush]

34. So funny

"The exterior walls of some Cuban medical buildings do not imply unsanitary conditions inside."

Shall I do a quick image search for "cuba hospital"? I promise not to post any outside shots, only inside.

"Cuba sufficiently trains enough medical technicians and doctors to have a surplus and send them to undeveloped countries."

Ah yes, the slave doctors. Castro charges several thousand dollars to the host country, pays the doctor $600 a month, and pockets the rest.

"It will not allow medical and scientific professionals to legally immigrate from Cuba for 5 years after initial date of application."

What would you have said had Bush proposed to prevent American citizens from leaving the country for five years?

[DissedByBush]

35. Whoa, I just totally missed that!

They need PERMISSION to leave their country?

WTF?!

Oh, I forgot, that's mainly a feature of your beloved communist governments.

It's kind of an alien concept to those of us who live in free countries.

[joshcryer]

36. Nice hospitals are not the same thing as good health care.

Good health care begins with preventative care, that is, avoiding things that make you unhealthy. OK, so they do have a lot of smokers (nearly 50% of the males smoke), doesn't change the fact that they have good diets overall and have the best preventative health care in the world.

[joshcryer]

33. Lest we forget that the "revolution" was forced to adapt when it no longer sold the USSR cash crops.

They were effectively forced to start growing their own organic food. It was not some magical prescription from the bureaucracy.

[joshcryer]

32. Cuba's medical care is preventitive care by and large.

If you need medical care you're far beyond the preventative aspect, and on to, you know, needing care, which Cuba isn't going to be able to offer a foreign pleb.

We could take a lot from Cuba as far as preventative medicine goes, but we're a corporate capitalist society, and that's kinda against everything we believe in. Yeah, you can brush your teeth three times a day, ain't going to prevent soda from eating them away.

[DCKit]

5. If the goal was to bring Democracy to Cuba, the US would have pushed for this.

However, if the goal is to turn Cuba into another Haiti... well, you can't say we haven't tried.

Technology and South American despots continue to plague U.S..

[EFerrari]

9. John Pilger calls US policy in Latin America and the Caribbean

"the war on democracy" and he's right. I used to think people who said that kind of thing were over the top. Wrong.

[DissedByBush]

19. Calling our actions against Cuba a "war on democracy" is idiotic

It's not exactly a democracy down there. Oh, sure they have elections, but Castro's people are always in charge. Speaking out for change can still get you put in jail.

That doesn't mean what we do is right. The embargo and lack of formal diplomatic relations is just as idiotic.

We have relations with other totalitarian regimes, such as China.

There's no real excuse, except the fact that China gets a pass because of money.

[EFerrari]

25. When you call Pilger idiotic, it doesn't make him look bad. n/t

[bitchkitty]

26. LOL n/t

[DissedByBush]

27. So "idiot" is a compliment given his current state? n/t

[Judi Lynn]

28. Not one bit! n/t

[ngant17]

31. China gets a pass because it won't allow US-based terrorism

to randomly attack its population, as they have enough firepower and military resources to retaliate for any acts of terrorism that the US might be so foolish to attempt.

Cuba can not completely stop US-based terrorism from attacking the Cuban people and destroying infrastructure, but it has impressive defensive and intelligence capabilities to effectively counter the lion's share of it. Especially I hold the CDR in great esteem, it is a wonderful organization and should be a model for any smaller country to try and emulate, especially when under continuous attacks by a larger country or superpower such as ours.

Cuban democracy is also a great example of a working-class, grass-roots democracy. It's what the Paris Commune would have become, had it not be overthrown by the French aristocracy in 1871. Too bad Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart can't comprehend this, he still has those illusions of grandeur, to run for President of Cuba while living in Miami.

[DissedByBush]

37. I've heard of the CDR

Basically, the equivalent of the East German Stasi informer network.

They are the ones who report "counterrevolutionary" thought to the thought police, who ensure the offender gets his Room 101 if necessary.

They are also a very efficient method of disseminating the official propaganda down to the neighborhood level.

[watrwefitinfor]

15. Now, if they could just figure a way to get it to rural South Carolina.

(Happy for Cuba, though!)

Wat

[ProgressiveProfessor]

16. Have to wonder how long before it is taken out

[Judi Lynn]

20. Venezuela, Cuba Launch Undersea Cable Project

Venezuela, Cuba Launch Undersea Cable Project
Work begins on Venezuela-Cuba fiber-optic cable; link to improve communications on island
The Associated Press

A specialized ship began laying an undersea fiber-optic cable Saturday between Venezuela and Cuba, a connection that will dramatically improve Cuba's telephone and Internet services. Officials of the two countries launched the project in a ceremony at Venezuela's Camuri beach near the port of La Guaira, where the cable was suspended from buoys behind the French-flagged ship that will run the cable along the sea floor to Cuba.

Alcatel-Lucent SA of Paris is carrying out the project for the two countries' state telecommunications companies. Cuban officials have said it is expected to cost about $70 million. The ship is scheduled to reach Cuba about Feb. 8, and the cable will be functional in late June or early July, said Jose Ignacio Quintero, a manager for Alcatel-Lucent.

The cable will span about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) across the Caribbean Sea to Siboney in eastern Cuba. A second segment of about 150 miles (245 kilometers) will extend from Cuba to nearby Jamaica.

Cuba is the only nation in the Western Hemisphere that is not linked to the outside world by optical fiber. Instead, it relies on slow, expensive satellite links because the U.S. government's embargo has prevented most trade between the island and the United States and has made companies in other countries shy away from doing business with Cuba.

More:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=12738851

[boppers]

22. Again? This is starting to look fishy.

2008: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-9994491-94.html
2009: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKJfAD1XyYmEJNez4EESiv5H0fDg
2010: http://particularcuba.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/fiber-optic-cable-linking-cuba-to-venezuela-jamaica-to-come-online-in-2011/

Are people's memories really that short?

[Judi Lynn]

23. You posted 3 articles discussing the planned work.

I posted two articles discussing the work which is underway now.

Where is the connection between your post and this thread?

http://a.abcnews.com.nyud.net:8090/images/Technology/f43603e53b484c44a14ce3512377b668_mn.jpg

Guarded by a police helicopter and a police boat, a specialized
ship rolls out a fiber-optic cable off La Guaira, Venezuelan coast, Saturday,
Jan. 22, 2011. The fiber-optic cable that will eventually link Venezuela to
Cuba has begun today to be rolled out and, according to Alcatel-Lucent, a
Paris-based company that is carrying out the project, it is scheduled to be
functional in July. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) (AP)

http://a.abcnews.com.nyud.net:8090/images/Technology/51ed364b2cd640d590a8610ca84d8bdb_mn.jpg

A fiber-optic cable, suspended from buoys, is
rolled out by a specialized ship off La Guaira, Venezuelan
coast, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. The fiber-optic cable that
will eventually link Venezuela to Cuba has begun today to be
rolled out and, according to Alcatel-Lucent, a Paris-based
company that is carrying out the project, it is scheduled to
be functional in July. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) (AP)

[boppers]

24. They keep "starting" it.

"Installation of 1,630 kilometers (1,013 miles) of fiber optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela will start Wednesday"... in 2009.

It has been planned, and "started", repeatedly, going back to documents in 2006. We're over 5 years out, and they're "starting" again.

[Prometheus Bound]

38. Your 2010 article says it is due to start operating in July 2011.

In the article in the OP, "Cuba's government said the cable should be in use by June or July."

So what is your point?