Cuba Bans PC Sales to Public
By Julia Scheeres

2:00 a.m. March 25, 2002 PST

The Cuban government has quietly banned the sale of computers
and
computer accessories to the public, except in cases where the
items
are "indispensable" and the purchase is authorized by the Ministry
of
Internal Commerce.

News of the ban was first reported by CubaNet, an anti-Castro
site
based in Miami. According to the organization's correspondent
in
Havana, the merchandise -- which had been sold freely in the
capital
since mid-2001-- was yanked off store shelves in January.

The computer departments of the retail stores were divided into
two
zones: a well-stocked area for government buyers, and a smaller
area
where the public could buy diskettes, CDs and other such items.
A
store employee told the correspondent she was forbidden from

discussing the move, which was also referred to briefly in a

newsletter published by the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.


Early attempts to confirm the information independently were

unsuccessful. Dozens of messages to Cuban retailers and government

officials in Cuba went unanswered. Cuba's spokesman in Washington,

Luis Fernandez, was consistently evasive.

"If we didn't have an embargo, there could be computers for

everybody," Fernandez replied when asked this question: Are computer

sales to the public banned in Cuba?

Several weeks later, a government employee in Cuba sent Wired
News,
through a Web-based e-mail account, a copy of a resolution mandating

the ban. In an interview using an instant-messaging service,
the
source -- who asked to remain anonymous -- criticized the decree
and
said it had generated a great deal of controversy within government

circles after it was unilaterally mandated by the Minister of

Internal Commerce, Bárbara Castillo.

According to Article 19, Chapter II, Section 3 of the ministry's

Resolution No. 383/2001: "The sale of computers, offset printer

equipment, mimeographs, photocopiers, and any other mass printing

medium, as well as their parts, pieces and accessories, is prohibited

to associations, foundations, civic and nonprofit societies,
and
natural born citizens. In cases where the acquisition of this

equipment or parts, pieces and accessories is indispensable,
the
authorization of the Ministry of Internal Commerce must be solicited."


The source's decision to send the information was especially
daring
in light of a gag law that mandates a 3- to 10-year prison term
for
anyone who collaborates with "enemy news media."

Because government officials refused to comment on the ban, the

reason for the move is a matter of speculation.

The rise of independent journalists in Cuba, who published articles

on the Internet criticizing the Castro regime, may have something
to
do with it. The correspondents, who risk jail time for their

"subversive" reports, send their stories by fax, e-mail or phone

dictation to supporters in Miami.

"We believe our website had something to do with it," said Manrique

Iriarte Sr., who helps run the website for the Cuban Institute
of
Independent Economists, which launched a few weeks before the
ban was
passed in late December.

The economists' site offers a sharp contrast to the rosy Marxist

dream proffered by Castro, including news of opposition arrests
and
detailed reports on the decrepit state of the island economy.
The
site is blocked in Cuba.

Iriarte said a colleague visited several Havana stores in January

where employees said computer equipment was only available for

"accredited state entities."

The move didn't surprise Cuba-watchers in the United States.


"This just reflects a further restriction on communications with
the
outside world," said Eugene Pons, of the Institute for Cuban
and
Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami.

The government already requires Cubans who can afford Internet

accounts -- which cost $260 a month, while the average Cuban
salary
is $240 a year -- to register with National Center for Automated
Data
Exchange (CENAI), Pons said. For those who do manage to log on,
the
Internet experience is limited: The government-controlled ISPs
block
links to certain foreign media, anti-Castro sites and pornography.


The government has also admitted to monitoring e-mail. To circumvent

such spying, residents use Web-based e-mail accounts and chat

services to make their communication harder to trace. Indeed,
the
Cuban source used a Web-based account to reply to a message sent
to
the person's government account.

"If I disappear from cyberspace one day, it's because they found
out
I was talking to you," the source said...