Impact of the Internet on the politics of Cuba

In this paper, I examine the dramatic growth of the Internet and look at how this new communication paradigm has presented the government of Cuba with an opportunity to overcome the hegemony of the Western media and promote its own views on the world stage. I will also look at how the Internet is being used to promote Cuba as an upmarket tourist destination, tourism now being Cuba's most valuable source of foreign currency and, therefore, critical to its ailing economy. Cuba's telecommunications infrastructure is poor and outdated which, when combined with the severe restrictions placed on the Cuban population, makes Internet access beyond the reach of most Cuban citizens. Cuban opposition groups, based mostly in the United States, do not face these barriers and, in the second part of this paper, I will examine how a number of these organisations are using the Internet to promote their anti-Government agendas and counter the state 'propaganda' machine