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US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

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Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#61

Post by tomp »

morgante wrote: post #43
tomp wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right... as if the US could not do anything else to help Cuba and it's people. (E.g. abolishing the trade embargo.)

There's no reason those options have to be mutually exclusive. Sadly, I doubt ending the trade embargo would by itself push Cuba to allow free speech and open dissent.

Well, you can't have free speech without media. Cuba first needs some economical growth, so that people get (physical) access to the internet, TV, mobile phones... Then we can talk about de-censoring their media. Also, I heard that they still have rationed food. Free speech is important, but survival is more important.

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#62

Post by diab0lic »

tomp wrote: post #40
morgante wrote: post #29

I'm sure this will bring me lots of downvotes, but I actually applaud these tactics. Helping people in oppressive regimes to communicate freely with each other is one of the more humanitarian actions the US can take, and this sort of connectivity is critical in allowing people a degree of freedom even under totalitarian governments. Truly repressive regimes are out there, and without foreign interference and investme…

Right... as if the US could not do anything else to help Cuba and it's people. (E.g. abolishing the trade embargo.)

One of the key words in the article's title was "secret" and further from the article "There will be absolutely no mention of United States government involvement,". If the intention were specifically to cause unrest without drawing attention to the states, then lifting the embargo is far too public.

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#63

Post by jacobolus »

jbooth wrote: post #33
morgante wrote: post #29

I'm sure this will bring me lots of downvotes, but I actually applaud these tactics. Helping people in oppressive regimes to communicate freely with each other is one of the more humanitarian actions the US can take, and this sort of connectivity is critical in allowing people a degree of freedom even under totalitarian governments. Truly repressive regimes are out there, and without foreign interference and investme…

Well, the US has a pretty checkered history regarding Cuba if you're going to talk about altruism. I'd say we've done more to inadvertantly prop up that regime than to undermine it. There are 3 nominally communist countries left in the world, from a high of dozens -- Cuba's one of them, and probably the closest to actually being communist (China and North Korea being technocratic-capitalist and pharaonic, respectivel…

To be fair to the Cuban regime, during the period from the 1960s through at least the 1980s, Cuba did better (in terms of health, education, political stability, lack of large-scale violence, (relatively) responsive government, etc.) than most other countries in Latin America or the Caribbean, arguably largely because the US wasn’t able to replace the government with a right-wing dictatorship like the ones that dominated most of the rest of the region.

Obviously Castro is no saint, and had no qualms about repressing political dissidents (and I think those on the left in the US and Europe who hold up Cuba or Venezuela as some kind of bastions of freedom are delusional), but on the whole, Cuba actually did reasonably well for itself, especially considering the economic difficulties caused by the U.S. embargo.

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#64

Post by mcintyre1994 »

morgante wrote: post #29

I'm sure this will bring me lots of downvotes, but I actually applaud these tactics. Helping people in oppressive regimes to communicate freely with each other is one of the more humanitarian actions the US can take, and this sort of connectivity is critical in allowing people a degree of freedom even under totalitarian governments. Truly repressive regimes are out there, and without foreign interference and investme…

Bringing internet to oppressed people, great! Trying to push those people to dissent in the light of recent events seems dangerous and irresponsible, and gathering their data for "political purposes" is pretty lame. As usual I'm on the fence.

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#66

Post by nraynaud »

[deleted] wrote: post #18

[deleted]

'reminds me of Chile, they had a precursor of the internet for communication to the Capital.

Then the CIA had this barbecue party on the 10th of September 1973 in Viña Del Mar. And on the 11th, the country got freed, people were rounded in the soccer stadium in Santiago for a big freedom party. 'never heard again of this network and of 38000 people either for that matter. But the Chileans got 17 years of imperialist-supported freedom (3200 confirmed deaths). That's what's important.

Saudis also are very happy for this democracy that the US big brother brought to them, same for Turkey, Pakistan.

Let's stop being ironic and talk about countries who actually have had free elections since an actual open US intervention: Afghanistan and Iraq. But life expectancy there predict that you probably won't survive to the next poll anyways.

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#67

Post by mladenkovacevic »

morgante wrote: post #29

I'm sure this will bring me lots of downvotes, but I actually applaud these tactics. Helping people in oppressive regimes to communicate freely with each other is one of the more humanitarian actions the US can take, and this sort of connectivity is critical in allowing people a degree of freedom even under totalitarian governments. Truly repressive regimes are out there, and without foreign interference and investme…

And I know I'm going to get down voted for this, but that is the most naive thing I've heard all week.

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#68

Post by davidw »

paulhauggis wrote: post #59
moo wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Human well-being, along with literacy, are Cuba's strong suit. They send doctors all over the world, such as during environmental disasters. During the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the U.S. sent troops, weird. But I guess the Haitians are free to eat mud cakes. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/29/food.internatio...

why are all of the anti-us comments being up voted and the the reverse down voted? I feel like the voting system here on hn does nothing but push one specific agenda/view

That (or the opposite) is a sign that this is a political article, and as such should simply be flagged and removed as off-topic.

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#69

Post by pearjuice »

Little less than a week ago I commented:

"It is no secret that the protests and revolutions in Syria, Egypt, Tunis and the like were caused by internal fabrications from American soil so they could use the uproar for settling marionettes and proper satellite states instead of having to deal with nations which are against America and [its allies]."[0]

I got down voted into oblivion but I didn't really care. I knew I was right. Hopefully all of you will realize this too, now. You really thought this is a new tactic? One case like this? Never done before? A "social experiment"?

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7481111

Re: US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' To Stir Unrest

#70

Post by gadders »

jacobolus wrote: post #63
jbooth wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the US has a pretty checkered history regarding Cuba if you're going to talk about altruism. I'd say we've done more to inadvertantly prop up that regime than to undermine it. There are 3 nominally communist countries left in the world, from a high of dozens -- Cuba's one of them, and probably the closest to actually being communist (China and North Korea being technocratic-capitalist and pharaonic, respectivel…

To be fair to the Cuban regime, during the period from the 1960s through at least the 1980s, Cuba did better (in terms of health, education, political stability, lack of large-scale violence, (relatively) responsive government, etc.) than most other countries in Latin America or the Caribbean, arguably largely because the US wasn’t able to replace the government with a right-wing dictatorship like the ones that domin…

For that whole period it was heavily subsidised by the USSR.
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