‘Bienvenida Cuba! Netflix is now available’

Thus, with a greeting to the island from its Twitter account, the company that revolutionized the distribution and enjoyment of audiovisual content over the Internet, lands in a country where barely 26 percent of the population have access to the Web, the average download speed is 2.3 Mbps and people earn an average of US$20 a month.

On Jan. 15, the Obama administration announced, in a broad package of measures, that communications enterprises would be authorized to invest on infrastructures and sell services, software, apps and equipment to the Cuban state. In addition, restrictions on credit institutions and airlines would be relaxed.

U.S. companies reacted at once. MasterCard and American Express announced that their users could utilize their cards even when they were issued by U.S. entities.

Numerous airlines expressed their desire to participate in the market of travel to Cuba. Other business sectors are climbing on the bandwagon to take part in the island’s future economy.

The fact that most of the Cuban population lives in a precarious economic situation and that the lack of adequate infrastructures hinders the accessibility of certain services does not seem to be an obstacle.

Some of these companies are working on gaining visibility and brand recognition. Others trust that the Cuban-American émigrés will be the main users of the new possibilities.

Thus, it is not unreasonable to say that, at first, many of the subscriptions to Netflix — whose plans for Cuba begin at $7.99 per month — will be paid by relatives and friends abroad. In fact, these foreign benefactors could even share the costs.

Netflix is a rental service for movies and the broadcast of audiovisual content — movies, series, documentaries and TV programs — through the Internet.

Founded in 1996, the firm has a catalog of more than 2,500 movies and TV programs available to users in the Americas, parts of Europe and South Africa.

The payment of a minimum fee guarantees unlimited access for a month to all offers, in a data stream that automatically adapts to the band breadth the client has.

Also, charging other rates, the company rents up to three DVDs simultaneously, which are sent and returned by postal services.

The system’s entire operative base works exclusively through the Internet. Exploring its catalog, choosing the movies or paying for the service is done online. To activate it, the client needs an e-mail address and a credit or debit card.

One of the characteristics of the company is that it includes in its offers the productions from those countries where it’s present. In a statement apropos the announcement, its executive director, Reed Hastings said that “We are delighted to finally be able to offer Netflix to the people of Cuba […] Cuba has great filmmakers and a robust arts culture and one day we hope to be able to bring their work to our global audience of over 57 million members.”

In this sense, the platform could become a unique vehicle for the distribution and commercialization of Cuban audiovisual programs. Not only “official” productions but also those made by amateur filmmakers, the Hermanos Saiz Association, the International Cinema School at San Antonio de los Baños, and the budding independent filmmakers would have an ever expanding space for promotion.

Obviously, the fact that a service is available does not imply it’s accessible. With Netflix, Master Card, American Express and the predictable increase in companies open to “the Cuban people,” we see a paradox of existing services at a client’s full disposal, yet without the necessary infrastructure for its enjoyment.

Many businesses or state-run service enterprises have not implemented the collection of fees through credit or debit cards, and the private sector has no way to obtain that kind of service.

The low level of penetration of the Internet, along with the low wages, does not allow us to be optimistic that Netflix will have, at this moment, a large number of clients on the island.

Someone suspicious might think that the new way in which the U.S. is approaching Cuba seeks to make evident Cuba’s shortages, leaving to its government to solve the incongruities. What’s certain is that the measures implemented and the interest and speed with which U.S. companies have responded indicates that the next step is up to the Cuban authorities.

The expansion of access to the Web in Cuba can no longer be postponed — it is legitimate and necessary. Regardless of the possible “cyberphobias” or ideological reticence of hard-line sectors on the island (as well as those in the U.S. that may try to rebuild the structures of hostility), the challenge lies in seeing how these measures, and the interest of the business companies, become palpable improvements for the ordinary people.

The Internet is not only a vehicle for information or the transmission of content but also a tool that invigorates the economy, reduces bureaucracy and favors efficiency.

Cuba’s cultural authorities have demonstrated various degrees of aversion when dealing with audiovisual suppliers who operate alongside state-run suppliers.

In a move highly unpopular and loudly criticized, in November 2013 the Council of Ministers ordered the immediate shutdown of “cinema outlets that include 3-D theaters.”

In the same manner and just as harshly, Abel Prieto, former culture minister and now adviser to President Castro, criticized the contents of the “weekly package.”

And here’s another paradox. Some audiovisual works that don’t pass muster and are vetoed by the circuits of distribution and consumption could be offered (if conditions are right) through the Netflix service being offered to Cuba.

Netflix is edging into a space that is highly sensitive to the Cuban authorities. The transmission and distribution of audiovisual contents are controlled and selected in accordance with standards that are not always logical. Most often they are gauged by personal interpretations of what is correct and what isn’t.

In a country where the nationwide telecast of “Strawberry and Chocolate” was censored, and where the showing at the Cinema Festival of “Return to Ithaca” was cancelled, the Netflix experiment is a challenge because, once the service has been paid and the access has been granted, it is impossible to censor the movies’ contents.

Facing a possible U.S. strategy of delving into areas watched excessively by the government, the answer should not be restrictive. To retrench behind old barricades would be counterproductive and might lead to a delay in the normalization of relations between the two nations.

The presence of Netflix on the island, as well as the liberation of Chrome and the access to the services of Play and Google Analytics last November, widens the gap between the availability of services and the possibility of access to them.

In Cuba, this contradiction — beyond the economic conditions and the development of needed infrastructures — stands on the slippery slope of politics.

The question is whether the start-up of a service by a company that operates exclusively through the Internet and requires electronic forms of payment is part of a strategy to preserve hostilities or is a marketing plan to achieve visibility avant la lettre.

In any case, it is a simple reconnaissance feint. Behind Netflix might come Amazon, eBay, Hulu, or Craigslist. To grant access to them will depend — a lot — on the political will of the Cuban authorities.

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