"Secret police" may have been the wrong term. The point is that the society is closely monitored by the authoritarian government and there is "widespread abuses of political rights and civil liberties". You and the author seem to imply that the problem is they need to lay more pipe, when the real problem is the authoritarian government is forbidding internet access in order prevent an Arab Spring in their country. This is a perfect example of why Obama's Cuba policy is such a fail. He could have easily negotiated freer internet access in exchange for U.S. trade agreements, but he did not, and the Cuban people are suffering as a result.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Cuba#Contempor...

Given that freer internet access could be highly politically destabilising for the current regime I seriously doubt that Obama could "have easily negotiated freer internet access". The opposite would seem far more likely.

The Cuban people were already suffering - the US' new policy can start to change that. Nothing else will.

Is the story that the "Committee for the Defense of the Revolution" is on every block in every city not real?

(Honest question: When I was there this seemed to be a thing?)

Would love to hear more!

The math is simple, the Cuban average salary is around $20/month, current public internet rate is $2/hour. So, at least you receive an extra money, either from a family remittance, personal business or in my case from working as a freelance (BTW using Internet), you can't pay for much access time.