Tania Elena Velázquez Rodríguez, the executive president of the state telecommunications monopoly ETECSA, has been included in the List of Repressors on the Represores Cubanos portal for her direct role in establishing prohibitive rates for internet access in Cuba, a measure regarded by organizations and analysts as a form of digital rationing and economic repression.
The decision is based on her television intervention from June 1, where she publicly justified the price increase as a “necessity” to inject foreign currency into the state enterprise, amidst a severe economic crisis, as well as other statements that followed on state television.
The new pricing scheme establishes that 3 GB costs 3,360 CUP, 7 GB costs 6,720 CUP, and 15 GB costs 11,760 CUP. Meanwhile, the average salary in Cuba was 5,839 pesos in 2024, and the minimum wage of 2,100 CUP, which makes even the most basic package inaccessible for millions of Cubans. In contrast, in the U.S., the average mobile data consumption was 22 GB per month in 2024.
The United Nations (UN), which has recognized access to the internet as a human right since 2011, establishes that connectivity services should cost less than 2% of the monthly per capita income in low or middle-income countries. The Cuban case far exceeds that threshold.
During his television appearance, Velázquez Rodríguez justified the increase due to a lack of foreign currency, financial fraud, and an accumulated debt that hinders technology imports. He stated that the company needs 150 million dollars a year to maintain its infrastructure.
However, the newspaper Miami Herald revealed that RAFIN S.A., a financial entity of the military group GAESA with a stake in ETECSA, had 407 million dollars in cash as of last August, which calls into question the claim of insolvency.
An engineer from the company stated to Diario Las Américas that ETECSA “is not a company at the service of society, but rather a slush fund for the regime”, which collected between 8 and 12 billion dollars from 2012 to 2020, investing only between 7% and 11% of that revenue in infrastructure.
The file against Tania Velázquez includes the following offenses:
- Violation of the freedom of opinion, expression, and information (Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
- Internet is inaccessible due to high prices.
- Violation of the right to access information and communication technologies.
These charges categorize her as a "white-collar repressors," a term used to describe civil officials who suppress through administrative decisions with systematic impacts.
Analysts warn that the so-called rate hike has a twofold purpose: to force relatives abroad to cover the high costs of the service, benefiting the state economically, and to limit access to the internet as a means of organization, protest, and idea dissemination, at a time of growing social discontent.
The measure has caused student discontent at least at ten universities across the country, and a wave of visible outrage on social media.
While the Cuban regime promotes an image of modernization and technological sovereignty, millions of citizens remain disconnected, not due to lack of infrastructure, but because of deliberate policies that make internet access a privilege for the affluent.
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