Cuba's wired generation

Castro: Keen to promote computer skills

Cuba's Fidel Castro has ambitious plans to create a generation of computer programmers and engineers. But he faces numerous obstacles, as Thembi Mutch writes in her second report from Havana.

Rodolfo Garcia is one of a rare breed in Cuba. He is one of the handful of people on the island who makes a living designing websites.

This was not his first choice of career. He started as an artist, but found it hard to make ends meet.

So three years ago, aged 22, he applied to the Department for Culture to become a web designer.

But it was some time before he was allowed access to the internet.

Rodolfo worked for a year designing and drawing until he had proved his trustworthiness - in other words, showing his devotion to the revolution.

Jose Illufio, a senior official at the Cuban Film Institute, put it bluntly: "For the revolution, anything. Against the revolution, nothing."

Work and surf

Now despite having his internet access regularly checked, Rodolfo is able to spend all day online if he wants.

"Before the internet, I worked and worked, all the time," he says.

The day isn't long enough for all the things I want to do with the web

Rodolfo Garcia

"Now I work, surf, work, surf. The day isn't long enough for all the things I want to do with the web. It's like climbing on to a satellite and surveying the world for a day."

Cuba wants to create a generation of software programmers that can rival their counterparts in the West.

But the biggest obstacle for designers and software developers in Cuba is the lack of software, partly due to the US economic blockade.

People like Rodolfo regularly use the net to download free versions of programs and access online tutorials.

Making ends meet

His biggest problem still remains - making a decent living. He cannot survive on the state wage and the hurdles to earning extra cash as a freelance designer are huge.

At the moment I am one of three or four people in the country who can do my job

Rodolfo Garcia

It is illegal to advertise or run a private business in Cuba. It is also illegal for individuals to issue contracts, binding agreements, write or receive cheques, or own credit cards.

For the first two jobs he did on the black market, Rodolfo never got paid. The third time, he asked for half the money up front and then only handed in the product when he was paid.

In all cases, he was working for foreigners, as no Cuban could afford him

Most bizarrely, he is totally open about what he is doing.

"At the moment I am one of three or four people in the country who can do my job," he says.

"If I supplement my income, that's because I need to live. My bosses know what I am doing."

On Saturday we will be reporting on the difficulties in getting hold of a computer in Cuba.