In Cuba, Google Executives Make the Case for Internet Freedom
Cuba is the country with the lowest level of Internet access in the Western hemisphere, according to a report from Reuters.
Of the country's 11.2 million people, only 2.6 million have access to the Internet, the report said.
But Google is looking for ways to fix that, according to company Chairman Eric Schmidt, who said on Monday that he and other executives had traveled to Cuba to advocate for better Internet access in the country, a CNN report said.
"If Cuba is trapped in the 1950s, the Internet of Cuba is trapped in the 1990s," Schmidt wrote in a blog post, according to CNN. "Access to the Internet can bring better education, better business and a more open, accountable government to Cuba."
Schmidt traveled to Cuba with the other Google executives to promote a free and open Internet, the CNN report said. The four were able to make the trip with a U.S. Treasury business license
The Internet in Cuba isn't open and is almost completely restricted to government-run centers, foreign companies and hotels, Reuters reported. The people who do have access to the Internet are only allowed to surf a limited number of state-approved websites, CNN said.
At the government-run Internet centers, an hour of browsing costs $4.50 (U.S.) in a country where the median salary is $20 (U.S.) per month, according to CNN.
Neither Google nor the Cuban government has made any official statement about meetings or discussions, news reports say. But the Google executives did meet with government officials, according to Reuters.
This isn't the first time that Schmidt and other Google employees have reached out to other countries in support of a free and open Internet. Last year, Schmidt went to North Korea with just such an agenda and has also traveled to Myanmar, CNN and Reuters reported.