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[Adventurer]

Page last updated at 04:34 GMT, Saturday, 3 May 2008 05:34 UK

Cuba lifts ban on home computers
By Michael Voss
BBC News, Havana



The computers cost almost $800, while the average wage is under $20

The first legalised home computers have gone on sale in Cuba, but a ban remains on internet access.

This is the latest in a series of restrictions on daily life which President Raul Castro has lifted in recent weeks.

Crowds formed at the Carlos III shopping centre in Havana, though most had come just to look.

The desktop computers cost almost $800 (�400), in a country where the average wage is under $20 (�10) a month.

But some Cubans do have access to extra income, much of it from money sent by relatives living abroad.

Since taking over the presidency in February, Raul Castro has ended a range of restrictions and allowed Cubans access to previously banned consumer goods.

In recent weeks thousands of Cubans have snapped up mobile phones and DVD players.

But only now have the first computer stocks arrived.

Internet access remains restricted to certain workplaces, schools and universities on the island.

The government says it is unable to connect to the giant undersea fibre-optic cables because of the US trade embargo. All online connections today are via satellite which has limited bandwidth and is expensive to use.

CUBAILOVESALSA

[catman]

Are they allowed to surf porn?

Only then will they taste true freedom.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Cuba's Revolution Of Rising Expectations


Today, as never before, Cubans are voicing their dissatisfaction with the hardships they face. Surprisingly they've been encouraged to do so by none other than Raul Castro, who officially blessed opening the floodgates during a speech last July.

According to Castro, who has now officially replaced his older brother Fidel as president of the country, some two million different complaints were culled from the debate.

Topping the list: the inadequacy of wages, the housing and transportation crisis and the deterioration of the health and education systems, once the pride and joy of the Revolution.

The government has a lot to do before the standard of living can be raised, says Triana. Among the problems to be solved: the deterioration in technology; inefficiency in agriculture including in low production, low mechanization, and the failure to generate highly productive jobs.

There is some speculation that the government will try to respond to popular demands for change by moving on issues that do not first require improvements in production and services.

Several sources say that immigration regulations will be relaxed so that people seeking to leave the country, either permanently or temporarily, will have an easier time of it. Others say Cubans with cash will be allowed to stay at hotels previously closed to all but foreign tourists thus increasing profits for hotels operating at half capacity, and that Cubans will be allowed to open cell phone accounts.

All these changes would give an appearance of greater openness. However, most specialists believe that tackling low wages, high prices and the dual currency will take a while.

More of this article at: http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/cuba/5533.html

[Adventurer]

I think Raul feels he must start somewhere. What has he done? He has made some cosmetic changes that will allow some form of capitalism to emerge in Cuba. He has increased the wages of some civil servants, farmers, and allowed those who have cash from abroad to have more choices when it comes to spending and this would bring in more revenue to the government which could then increase salaries further in the government sector.

[mises]

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/05/02/not-as-good-as-it-seems/