Cubans Find a Way Around Government Controlled Media
Most of us are used to the fact that if we want to watch the latest movies or TV shows, they’re only a click away. Online streaming services, music streaming services, YouTube, and social media is all right there at our fingertips. Most of us probably take it for granted that we can access this much information and entertainment effortlessly.
But in Cuba, only 5 percent of the population has access to the internet. And Cubans cannot simply turn on the TV to get their fix of American programming because the only legal source of media in Cuba is the government.
Cubans, however, have come up with ways of getting around this media blockade.
Specific people are tasked with gathering the latest media from the U.S. and elsewhere. One person gathers movies, while another gathers TV shows, and others will source smartphone apps, videos, and music. Each person fills a 1 terabyte hard drive and delivers it to the kingpin of this underground enterprise.
This person then fills flash drives with the media and makes what is known in Havana as ‘The Weekly Package.’ As the name suggests, citizens can expect a new flash drive every week, with all the latest entertainment in full HD. If a show airs in America on Friday, it will be in Havana by Monday.
Runners then distribute the package to the citizens of Cuba, who pay $2 for it.
There are in fact many enterprises distributing their own weekly packages, and this encourages competition. Some runners even fly to far-flung corners of the island in order to get a leg up on the competition.
The Cuban government may well have the power to ban foreign media, but The Weekly Package shows that if Cubans want information or entertainment, they’re going to find a way to get it.
