Cyber revolution in Cuba

For decades, many of us Cubans only read from national press, and only have access to state television, and this made us to believe that the world somehow is unreal, and everything in Cuba is good, and everything abroad is catastrophic.

People and power

Ron E Dee, an editor from BBC London introduced me to his newly edited documentary film named People and Power.

Like hundreds of millions of people in Cuba, blogger Joanne suffered the blocking of the information flow from state media control.

Since 1959, Cuba government carried out the strict censorship on national press, and very few people got chances to access internet, and get to know the other parts of the world.

Along the digital revolution sweeping the whole country, as a citizen journalism pioneer, Joanne blogged her personal life, feelings and sharing her opinions about social issues of Cuba at her family home.

However, sometimes she still needs to go to internet cafe for updating her blog if the government cut off the internet connection.

Joanne's husband, a former journalist was sacked by government due to his controversial article discussing younger generation's dream of pursuing more freedom.

Her husband said that when he was entering journalism industry, he did not understand that he could only practise propaganda instead of real journalism.

In the student petition condemning government abusing their right to access internet, one of the students was allegedly arrested according to western report.



Collaboration

Since 1962, America implemented ecomonic sanctions on Cuba, "...Waken the economic life of Cuba...denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation, and overthrow of government."

The country's situation is in fragile, an artist and cartoonist who previously departed to US illegally (arrested afterwards) was now collaborating with Joanne and her journalist husband, "I illustrate political posters and nothing harmful, we're just joking about social issues, and about the problems in Cuban society."

"And we're telling peopel what's really happening in this country, because media there is controlled by government, and it just says things that benefit government, and they say everything here is ok, is fine. but what's the reality? We're just saying the trueth."

Great expectation for change

"Things growing much better in the recent months," said editor from Convivencia, an online social issues site, "People are expecting the greater changes."

He added that his site articles mainly about telling people about the Declaration of Human Rights, which he believes that the government deliberately prohibits to teach school pupils. Many of the Cubans even do not know the existence of the Declaration.

Joanne's husband also said that they're not in the 80s, or 90s, people can speak out more freely compared with past time.