Changing times result in new communication channels. National and global media consumption studies on citizens of different ages and tendencies reveal that, at this point of the 21st century, people are no longer satisfied simply watching or listening to the news on radio or television, or reading something they don’t have the tools to endorse or refute.
Citizens want direct interaction, and better still with figures with high socio-political and economic decision-making power. The web offers that possibility. Social networks facilitate the immediacy of messages and responses, while websites guarantee access to direct publications from information sources.
October 10, 2018, the 150th anniversary of the beginning of Cuba’s struggle for independence, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez became the most senior political figure of the island to open an official Twitter account. The social networking site is one of the most popular among global leaders seeking more direct interaction with their peoples and other political figures.
Díaz-Canel had made the promise to do so at the close of the 10th Congress of the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC), in July, where he began his speech by announcing, “Before December, I’ll be on Twitter.”
At that time, both on Facebook and Twitter, various opinions were expressed about whether or not the President should open an account.
Many happily welcomed the news of the upcoming presence of the Cuban President on the global networking site, viewing it as an opportunity to learn first-hand about his work and thoughts.
But there were also those who criticized the move, whose questioning was based on the conditions under which the internet is accessed from the island. This despite the existence of 755 public Wi-Fi sites and 211 navigation centers.
Also, as recently announced by Mayra Arevich, Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) executive president, around 51,728 families have the Nauta Hogar home internet service; while 3G technology has been installed across all municipalities, with the capacity to offer this service to 65% of the population.
The Cuban President’s presence online will also serve to strengthen ties with Cuban communities abroad, who will now have a simpler and faster way of interacting with one of the island’s leading political decision-makers.
Regarding the international context, Twitter is considered a useful political communications tool, even more so than Facebook, and especially for leftist leaders in those nations whose realities rarely receive accurate coverage in the mass media.
According to global public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller’s Twiplomacy Study of the presence of world leaders on social networks, Twitter is particularly used in Latin America, where presidents tend to tweet personally.
According to the Twiplomacy Study 2018, published in July, the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, was the last South American leader to open a personal Twitter account; 91% of all South American governments are on Facebook; and Argentine President Mauricio Macri is the most active world leader on Snapchat, and one of the most followed on Instagram.
As part of research on 951 accounts of heads of state and government, foreign ministers and their institutions in 187 countries, it was also shown that the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro – the frequent target of a right wing that dominates and uses technology in order to consolidate its hegemony – occupies 12th place among the 50 most influential world leaders on the platform founded in 2006.
Cuba has an extraordinary tradition of political communication that transcends the traditional use of newspapers, radio, and television.
Comandante en Jefe of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, taught the Cuban people to demand information and accustomed them, through his constant practice, to receiving a detailed explanation of each situation and government measure adopted.
Examples that remain imprinted on the collective memory of the country are his extensive speeches in the midst of squares overflowing with people; his participation on the Mesa Redonda show; his tours of the most unexpected sites to talk with families; his responses to letters sent to the Council of State and the PCC Central Committee; and his Reflections, originally published on Cubadebate, a digital media site founded to confront distorted media coverage of the island.
“The internet seems to have been invented for us,” the founder of the Revolution said in a meeting with UPEC members.
Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that modern times have driven the embracing of social networks, starting with Twitter, as part of the government strategy of communication with the people. Especially when the current President of Cuba has publicly and explicitly declared the political will to increasingly extend the use of technology to the Cuban population.
One of the priorities of the Comprehensive Policy for the Perfecting of the Computerization of Cuban Society, approved in February 2017 and published on the Ministry of Communications website, is the implementation of Electronic Government to improve information and services offered to citizens, as well as encourage their participation. Díaz-Canel took an important step toward that goal this October 10.
However, those who don’t use or understand Twitter need not worry. In his almost six months in office, the Cuban President has reiterated that regular contact with the people through trips to all the country’s provinces will continue as one of his fundamental work methods. In addition, traditional communications channels will be maintained and, who knows, they may even be enriched by the experience.
If, on the other hand, you are a social media user, you can now take the opportunity to follow firsthand the President of Cuba’s tweets, and interact with him. The path we are beginning will contribute to strengthening the ways in which we interact with (and from) the government, and we can all be part of that.
