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FROM
CUBA
Six Internet cafes closed in Camag�ey 23836
HAVANA, Cuba, August 29 (Ariel Delgado,
UPECI / cubanet.sergipeconectado.com) - Government authorities
closed six Internet cafes in Camagey,
saying they "didn't fulfill any social
objective."
The cafes, run by the Cuban Postal service,
offered e-mail service at a rate of 3 dollars
an hour, or 78 pesos. The average salary
in Cuba, according to official statistics,
is on the order of 250 pesos a month. The
cost also has to be seen in light of the
fact that s are not allowed to take
in diskettes, so that outgoing messages
have to be typed while the hour runs.
Only one outlet now remains open in the
provincial capital, at the main offices
of ETECSA, the Cuban phone company. The
cost there has gone up from 3 to 6 dollars
an hour.
In spite of the government's "social
objective" statement, the six cafes
usually had long lines of customers waiting
to use the service.
A young of the service commented:
"So, communicating with one's family
is not a 'social objective.' Maybe they
would rather we use the medium to promote
the freedom of the Five (five Cubans imprisoned
in the U. S. after being convicted of spying)
but all I want to know is how my family
is, my mother and my brothers, and what
is happening with the paperwork for getting
me out."
Versin
original en espaol
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