GIGABYTES -CUBA'S- REVOLUTION

HAVANA : A young man posts images of street flooding in the neighborhood of Centro Habana on social media. 

His neighbors take to the Internet to voice their complaints, demanding that the government repair the sewage system.

Sixty years after the triumph of the revolution, Cubans are still not allowed to express their discontent in the public plazas, so they make the most of these virtual spaces to call for action by the government.

On Dec 6, a new line of communication opened for the more than 11 million people inhabiting this Caribbean island.

As on the day our child was born or we heard that Fidel Castro had died, we Cubans will remember what we were doing when mobile Internet services were rolled out here for the first time.

We all know how and when this new era of connectivity started, but few dare forecast how far it will go.

The prospect of of increased interconnectedness amongst the public must now be Revolution Square officials' worst nightmare.

Deals offering four gigabytes of data for web browsing cost $30 a month, roughly the same as most Cubans' monthly salary.

With prices that high, most people cannot afford it. Many are forced to choose between browsing online or eating; chatting with a friend or replacing a light bulb; watching a video on YouTube  or paying for their shared taxi to get to work.

But that doesn't mean that Cubans aren't taking advantage of the service. A good portion of the bills incurred by web surfers are being paid by expatriates who want to keep in touch with their families in Cuba.

Those who were criticized by the government for leaving the island instead of staying to build Utopia are the primary supporters of those who remained behind.

This contradiction has gone unnoticed, giving rise to a new way to refer to exiles : ''de traidores a tredaedolares'' or ''from traitors to dollar bringers.''

The honor and serving of the latest  operational research on Cuba and Quality of Life, continues. The World Students Society thanks author and researcher Yoani Sanchez.