Leer en Español
Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, of Cuban origin, asked entrepreneur Elon Musk that, just as he had done to provide satellite internet access to Ukraine, through his Starlink network during the Russian invasion, he should do the same for Cuba.
Recently Musk, CEO of SpaceX, announced the shipment of 50 Starlink terminals to Ukraine to help the country counter internet access difficulties created by Russian interference during the invasion.
“I thank Mr. Elon Musk, and I would love for him to do the same for Cuba,” Salazar told Fox News Digital in an interview that was published on the website.
Salazar, a Republican Party Representative, said that after learning that Musk responded to a call from the Ukrainian government to provide them with Internet access, she has been trying to communicate with him to do the same in Cuba, so that the people, in this case, can freely access the web without cuts or censorship.
“It´s basically (Musk) sending a message to those people (Ukrainians): You are not alone,” said Salazar, who wishes the Cubans could feel the same way.
Since the protests that erupted in Cuba last July, Salazar, daughter of Cuban exiles, has been trying to find solutions to guarantee connectivity on the island other than that provided by the state communications company, which acts under the orders of the regime.
Last August she introduced a bill to deploy stratospheric balloons, aerostats or satellite technology capable of fast wireless Internet access from anywhere on the planet, from the stratosphere or higher.
“If the Biden Administration had provided Internet connectivity to the Cubans, you would have had five million Cubans on the streets of Havana,” Salazar said at the time. “It is impossible for the Cuban regime to put in jail five million people. And that would have been the beginning of the end,” she pointed out.
Last Thursday, SpaceX put into orbit a new batch of 47 broadband satellites for its Starlink Internet network with a rocket launched from Florida, the sixth such launch since the beginning of the year.
SpaceX began building the Starlink network in 2019, and has since put more than 2,000 satellites into low-Earth orbit.
According to Space.com, SpaceX has permission to launch 12,000 satellites but has sought approval from an international regulator to launch up to 30,000 more.
