Criminalization of the Internet in Cuba - Yenisel Rodriguez Perez (HT)

Another blogger from Generation Y sounds of (this time from Havana Times).

Criminalization of the Internet in Cuba - May 7, 2011

Yenisel Rodriguez

The Cuban state and government have deployed a mass media campaign to politically criminalize the Internet. The argument is that it is part of one of the strategies for political intervention by the United States into Cuban affairs.

Once again the logical fallacy is being applied, according to which there exist only two political positions in the country: leftist anti-imperialism of the socialist brand (though actually statist nationalism) and the extreme right position that favors annexation by the US.

Based on the ideology of the false dilemma, they've constructed a performance in counterpoint between the well-known dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez and a blogger defending the regime (an angelical nationalist blond). According to the line of the media campaign, these two sides represent the political positions of Cuban cyberspace. The "good guy," of course, they define as the angelical blogger upholding the regime.

Nevertheless, we know that the Cuban political situation is much more diverse and complex than that presented by this false dilemma. For example, there exist online spaces such as Havana Times, where the diversity of opinions goes beyond ravenous annexationism and cheap nationalism.

HT is a vehicle, in my very personal opinion, of a common interest for generating democratic consensuses on the principal problems that affect our country. Free of the doctrinal complicities of the Cuban regime and with no ties to financial contracts of the empires to the north, its bloggers hold diverse political opinions when it comes time to formulate and publish their ideas.

I personally know social democrats, anarchists and communists of the old guard (to borrow from the old phraseology) to only mention three classic molds. Nevertheless, I don't fail to recognize that political positions exist that are not included in the debates presented by Havana Times.

Therefore, how can one define from the ideology of the false dilemma the diverse lines of Havana Times? This is an indispensable question around which plenty of debate could be generated.

In any case, the new government offensive against debate in cyberspace, that some of us Cubans have access to, is worrisome. It is an orthodox assault by the regime that is taking advantage of the difficult international situation to settle some of its old accounts before an international opinion dizzied in the face of war.

In the present political conjuncture we need the unity of all of us Cuban bloggers who don't accept the reductionist duality promoted today under the ideological fallacy of the false dilemma. Prior to any authoritarian assault against the new socio-virtual networks, we must consolidate our forums for debate.

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Yenisel Rodriguez Perez: I graduated in socio-cultural studies and I like anthropology. I'm a member of the Haydee Santamaria Collective and the Critical Observatory, initiatives for critical thought and action. My daily actions are inspired by the aim of every individual and workplace participating in the design of their own social reality. I promote cooperative work and self-management solidarity. I belong to a generation that must reconstruct civic culture in Cuba, that's why I am writing at this site.