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HAVANA-[[[Cuban university students, in a rare public challenge to authorities, openly criticized government restrictions on access to the Internet, hotels and travel abroad.]]]Their criticism in a video circulated this week comes as more Cubans begin to speak out about the shortcomings of Cuba's socialist system, a debate encouraged by acting President Raul Castro since taking over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro in 2006.In the 52-minute video, students at the University of Information Sciences demanded explanations from National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon on a series of issues.The January 19 town-hall style meeting was shown over the closed-circuit television system of the 10,000-student university built on the site of a former Soviet electronic listening post on the outskirts of Havana. The video has since been circulated secretly on computer memory cards, although it has not been seen by most Cubans."Why can't the people of Cuba go to hotels or travel to other parts of the world?" asked one student, who identified himself as Eliecer Avila.Only foreigners are allowed to stay at hotels at beach resorts. To leave the island, Cubans need a permit from the government, which particularly restricts travel by young people.Avila, who studies at Cuba's elite school for computer sciences-a pet project of Fidel Castro's before he fell ill-asked why the government had banned the use of Web sites Yahoo! and Google for e-mail and messenger services.Internet connectivity in Cuba is lower than in Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest country, and all servers belong to the state. Many Cubans with Internet access provided by the government can use e-mail but not surf the Web, only an intranet of Cuban Web sites.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
