Because This Is Why Cubans Want to Get Online

Always on the cutting edge of technology trends, the Cuban dictatorship today launched EcuRed, it's homegrown and government-run version of Wikipedia (as of yet no word on the development of Wikileaks.cu, I'm afraid). According to authorities, readers can append and edit articles, pending the approval of a government administrator and provided the user can find a way to get online. Reuters has all the gory details:

EcuRed contains an extensive biography of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, including his role after the illness that made him cede power to brother Raul Castro in 2006.

"Today he writes and participates in the struggle of ideas at a global level. For his moral authority, he influences important and strategic decisions of the Revolution," it said.

There is also an article about Raul Castro, who officially replaced his brother as president in 2008 and is described as a "revolutionary combatant, political leader, statesman and military chief."

"He has contributed relevant support to the struggles of the Cuban people in defense of their sovereignty and independence," said the entry.

At $1.50 an hour for Internet access, it would cost about a month's salary to clean up that passage.

The Daily Caller translates some of EcuRed (and we have to take their word for it, because the site is intermittently accessible). My favorite, from the entry on George W. Bush: "In the presidential election campaign of 2000, Bush declared himself a 'compassionate conservative,' but he did not know how to stay quiet and keep to himself his past as a drug addict." Yeah, a free press makes information suppression rather difficult.