The Political Economy of the Internet in Cuba

There are many misconceptions in the United States about the technological and social status of the Internet in Cuba, in part due, perhaps, to the still considerable isolation of the island under the U.S. trade embargo and, consequently, the relative lack of field research on this and other subjects of contemporary interest concerning Cuba. The lack of knowledge about the state of the Internet in Cuba obtains notwithstanding the work there of noted American Cubanologists, since their research has not, for the most part, incorporated the issue. Another consideration, the specialized and technical nature of the subject, may account, more generally, for the dearth of studies on the Internet in Cuba from any source, at least ones that involve economic as well as social and technical analysis: Several of the outstanding ones available have been cited herein.