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Cuba + internet = democracy (?)

Many people think the internet holds the key to establishing a liberal capitalist democracy in Cuba. But this view is simplistic and deterministic. Español. Normal 0 false false false ES-TRAD JA X-NONE

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A shirtless Cuban man stands on a dirt road with livestock in rural Cuba.
A shirtless Cuban man stands on a dirt road with livestock in rural Cuba.

The US and Cuba recently normalised relations after a 52-year embargo. Demotix/Juliette Atkinson (c)

On 17 December, Barack Obama and Raul Castro simultaneously announced the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba. The US had decided to drop its obtuse 50-year-long position and recognise the failure of the embargo with which it had tried to suffocate the Castro regime. Its new policy is based on engagement, a strategy that seeks to ease the opening of the regime doors so that Cuban citizens can see and taste ‘the benefits of the free capitalist world.’ 

The US decided to drop its obtuse 50-year-long position and recognise the failure of the embargo.