26 July 2021 | For: Institutional Communication Directorate
The Minister of Communications, Mayra Arevich Marín, addressed a letter to the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), in which Cuba denounces, as a member state of the ITU, the events that occur in the country through the use, since the United States of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in order to incite criminal and terrorist activities, including cyberattacks on government sites and information media. The letter was delivered through the Cuban ambassador in Geneva, Juan Antonio Quintanilla Román. The communication expresses that these hostile actions with the use of ICT are contrary to the principles included in the preamble of the ITU constitution where it is stated that the purpose of this organization is: "to facilitate peaceful relations, cooperation between peoples and economic and social development, through the proper functioning of telecommunications ”. The rejection of the application of unilateral coercive measures, the use of social networks to promote hate speech, incitement to violence, subversion, the dissemination of false news, the misrepresentation of reality for political purposes and as a pretext for the unleashing of a war or a military intervention. In the letter it was recalled that these acts of instigation to violence, to public disorder that have been manifested since the end of 2020, intensified as of June 15, 2021. They have used technological platforms of companies incorporated under US law such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, which have allowed these operations that are in violation of their own policies and procedures in relation to the observance of their terms and conditions of use. Many of these events are made from accounts and devices that are under the jurisdiction of the United States. Since July 12, cybersecurity incidents, mainly denial of services attacks, have intensified, affecting the visibility of government sites such as the Presidency of the Republic, MINREX, among others, and important media such as Granma and CubaDebate. Based on the above, the ITU was requested to intervene so that these actions against Cuba cease and the US government is urged to stop and prevent the illicit use of ICTs in its campaign against Cuba.
The commitment made in the declaration of Principles of Geneva during the World Summit on the Information Society was reiterated to prevent the use of ICTs for purposes incompatible with international stability and security, which may affect the integrity of national infrastructures in To the detriment of their security, the need to avoid the use of these resources for criminal and terrorist purposes is also emphasized.