ABSTRACT
In his book on the social dimensions of print literacy, Brian Street explains that “control of the means of communication…relates to political and economic control” (1995, p. 95). Currently, the long-standing contestation of power between the US and Cuba now takes place in another arena-the Internet. This chapter examines the social, economic, and material conditions related to Cuba and electronic literacy, considering, for example: the history of state support of education and literacy, especially demonstrated in the postrevolutionary literacy campaign; socialism-its structure and goals; technological difficulties with the country’s telecommunications infrastructure; the serious effects of the US embargo, particularly those manifested in the 1994 Helms-Burton Act; and the recent introduction of US dollars into the Cuban economy.
