Cuba’s new Wikipedia-style encyclopedia EcuRed aims to share views of Cuba and the world from a Cuban perspective.
According to the homepage of EcuRed, the site was born from the desire to “create and disseminate the knowledge of all and for all, from Cuba and with the world.”
“Its philosophy is the accumulation and development of knowledge, with a democratising, not profitable, objective, from a decoloniser point of view.”
The Spanish-language site already has over 20,000 entries and is set to be officially launched today. The site is currently experiencing difficulties, however, due to high traffic volumes.
EcuRed has some interesting posts about the US, which are particularly revealing in light of the tense relations between the US and Cuba since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
Reuters reported today that EcuRed describes the United States, as “the empire of our time” and “the most powerful nation of all time.”
It also says the US has taken “by force territory and natural resources from other nations, to put at the service of its businesses and monopolies.
“It consumes 25pc of the energy produced on the planet and in spite of its wealth, more than a third of its population does not have assured medical attention.”
Apparently, users will be able to update entries, once they get approval from EcuRed administrators.
Internet access – Cuba
Internet access from private homes remains limited in Cuba, however. Cuba’s National Office of Statistics released a report in October, which found that just 5.9pc of the interviewed sample had private internet access.
The report, which was carried out between February and April 2010, also found that just 9pc of those surveyed had been able to have direct access to the internet in the last year.
