International
Critics say new Cuba cybersecurity law limits freedom
AFP
Cuba published on Tuesday its first cybersecurity law, a move critics dismissed as a tool to limit political and civic freedoms on the Caribbean island.
The law, published in the official Gaceta newspaper, comes just over a month after unprecedented anti-government protests broke out all over the country.
The subsequent government crackdown left one dead, dozens injured and hundreds arrested. Havana blamed the unrest on foreign powers manipulating its citizens through social media.
The legislation laid out online activities that constitute a crime, such as cyberterrorism, cyberwar, calls for public disturbances as well as spreading information that is deemed to be false or hurts the image of the state.
“For the first time, the country will have a legal standard for cybersecurity incidents,” Pablo Dominguez, the cybersecurity director at the Communications Ministry, told the official Cubadebate news website.
Deputy Minister of Communications Wilfredo Gonzalez defended the law, telling AFP it would allow Cubans to “protect their personal data” and “their privacy,” and make sure that “no one is able to distort the truth, so that no one can denigrate an official of our country or our revolutionary process.”
Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said the law would enable internet providers to cut off access based on the government’s interpretation of fake news. “Cuba tightens the grip on the internet,” he said.
The news provoked an immediate reaction from Cubans on social media.
“We have the right to disagree and express it,” said user @SailydeAmarillo.
“Cuba is a dictatorship and is criminalizing freedom of expression,” tweeted Karly, a Cuban living in Costa Rica.
Mobile internet, which only arrived in Cuba in 2018, has quickly become crucial to citizen groups that want to express their frustrations and demands.
Last week, the government accused the United States of “aggression” after the US Senate adopted an amendment that would see Washington provide Cubans with internet access to help them circumvent Havana censorship.
“We are not going to allow that interference,” Gonzalez said of the new US policy.
Following the July 11 protests, the Cuban government cut internet access for five days after social media was used to spread the word about the historic demonstrations.
International
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
The Venezuela Command, the campaign team of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, denounced the “kidnapping” and subsequent release of political leader María Corina Machado after she led a protest in Caracas on the eve of the Venezuelan presidential inauguration.
In a post on X, the opposition team stated that the former lawmaker was “intercepted and knocked off the motorcycle she was traveling on” after leading a rally in the Chacao area of the Venezuelan capital.
“Gunshots were fired during the incident. She was forcibly detained. During her kidnapping, she was forced to record several videos, and then she was released,” the statement added, which was made public nearly two hours after Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela, reported that she had been “violently intercepted.”
International
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition
Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González expressed her sorrow over Venezuela’s political crisis on Thursday and voiced her support for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, just one day before President Nicolás Maduro is set to take office following the controversial July elections.
“I think it is sad that the Venezuelan people have to suffer the consequences of a dictator who came to power by deceiving the people. I recognize Edmundo González for his leadership,” the governor stated during a press conference, coinciding with a day of protests by Venezuela’s opposition.
“The Venezuelan community has my full support, and, as we have done in the past, we will maintain that line of communication with whatever we can collaborate on,” assured the Puerto Rican head of government.
González Urrutia is currently in the Dominican Republic, the last announced stop on his American tour, where he was accompanied by Dominican President Luis Abinader and former Latin American presidents from the Spain and Americas Democratic Initiative (Grupo Idea).
International
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
Dozens of Venezuelans demonstrated in central Rome on Thursday to show their support for opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia and demand a “democratic change,” on the eve of the presidential inauguration that has deeply divided the country.
The protest took place in the Roman square of Largo Argentina and gathered several members of the Venezuelan diaspora and refugees, who sang their national anthem and displayed signs with the slogan “Glory to the brave people.”
Around 150 participants were present, according to one of the coordinators of the protest, Celeste Puerta from the ‘Aiuto Venezuela’ Civic Movement, who spoke to EFE.
Similar actions have been organized in other Italian cities, including Bologna, Florence, and Milan in the north.
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
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