Speaking at the Communication and Information Commission of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), First Deputy Minister Wilfredo González said that the US blockade is the main impediment to broad and better access to the Internet.

In spite of this, Cuba is working so hard on creating bases for the Digital Transformation of Society, based on the concept that this is a process of cultural change.

González added that mobile service reached 7.6 million active lines and Internet access is currently 70%, that is, around eight million of Cubans have access to the Internet.

González explained that the use of Cuban payment platforms support the digital transformation process, together with the existence of a prepared human capital, with skills and ready to face the new challenges of this strategic activity.

He meant that the economic damage and harm caused to the communications system is evident throughout the sector: in telecommunications; information technologies and postal services, with a direct impact on the population.

“We have repeatedly denounced how our access to digital platforms and services widely used by anyone anywhere in the world (for example, the ZOOM platform widely used for distance education) is limited, he stated.

In addition, they block our accounts in social networks and hinder investments for the development of telecommunications infrastructures, he added.

The Cuban representative pointed out that the economic damage caused by the U.S. blockade to the telecommunications sector in the last 10 years exceeds USD$500 million.

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