HAVANA, (Reuters) – Britain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond yesterday praised Cuban President Raul Castro for embracing the realities of the modern world after a meeting with the Communist leader that marked a further step in Cuba’s thaw with the West.
He is the first British Foreign Secretary to set foot on the Caribbean island since its 1959 revolution, and his visit follows one by U.S. President Barack Obama in March.
Hammond said he had a “long and interesting discussion” with Castro about the octogenarian leader’s push to update one of the world’s last Soviet-style command economies.
“He is espousing a program of gradual change, embracing the realities of the world we live in,” Hammond said in an interview at the British ambassador’s residence in Havana.
“I was very struck by the fact that he described the Internet as the reality of our world, spoke positively about the benefits the Internet could bring.”
Cuba still has one of the world’s lowest Internet penetrations with access expensive and restricted.
The state says it wants to expand access and has been installing Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country. But change is slow and critics suggest the government fears losing control of media and seeing new avenues of political opposition open up.
