Recently, William Pérez González, Deputy Chief of the General Customs of the Republic, denounced an increase in attempts to introduce Starlink terminals into Cuba. On the other hand, Carlos Prieto de la Lastra, Director of the Technical Budgeted Unit for Radio Spectrum Control (UPTCER), warned that these devices, designed to provide high-speed internet via low-orbit satellites, are being smuggled in, often disguised as household appliances or personal luggage. This has created an ecosystem of illegal installations operating within the national territory.
On the black market, Starlink terminals are currently being sold at prices ranging from $1,300 to $1,800, equivalent to over 500,000 Cuban pesos. To these costs, installation, configuration, and transportation fees to the provinces are added, which can reach up to $300. To activate the service, international bank cards are required, with Starlink’s roaming plan, costing $165 per month from the United States, being the most common option, although some opt for cheaper activations from countries like Mexico or Paraguay. This evidences a lucrative business for a network of intermediaries operating within this framework.
The illegal operation of terminals on the island is generating serious technical consequences, especially for the ETECSA network. Kevin Castro Rodríguez, Deputy Director of the Network Operations Vice Presidency, pointed out that illegal antennas and repeaters, including those from Starlink, cause interference that affects 6% of the mobile phone cells nationwide and up to 12% in Havana. These interferences degrade the quality of data and telephone services, exacerbating connectivity difficulties in a context of network saturation.
According to UPTCER, at least four U.S. regulations are being violated in the commercialization of these equipment to Cuba:
The Cuban Assets Control Regulations, administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), prohibit financial transactions with Cuba without authorization, but Starlink evades this rule by processing payments through intermediaries in third countries.
The Helms-Burton Act punishes the use of properties confiscated after the Cuban Revolution, so installing Starlink terminals in nationalized homes could expose SpaceX to multimillion-dollar lawsuits.
The Export Administration Act classifies terminals as dual-use technology, which requires export licenses, but there is no evidence that SpaceX has obtained them.
The regulations of the International Telecommunication Union, of which the United States is a signatory, require authorization from the country where the radio spectrum is used, a requirement that is ignored by operating without a license in Cuba.
The introduction of Starlink is not a matter of chance or coincidence, but the continuation of a history of aggressions in the digital spectrum, orchestrated by CIA subsidiary agencies, such as USAID. Two emblematic cases illustrate this pattern. Zunzuneo, a covert program between 2009 and 2012, known as the “Cuban Twitter,” sought to create a social network to attract Cuban users and manipulate them with subversive content that incited protests and destabilization. Similarly, Alan Gross, a USAID contractor, was detained and prosecuted for illegally introducing telecommunications equipment into Cuba with the aim of creating a network outside state control. These covert U.S. operations, disguised as humanitarian aid and freedom, seem to be repeating the playbook with Starlink.
In July 2021, State Department spokesman Ned Price announced that Washington would work with the private sector and Congress to ensure uncensored internet in Cuba, a statement that has become a demand of the most radical anti-Cuban sectors in Florida. In this regard, Ron DeSantis pressured the White House to use hot air balloons, a method unsuccessfully used by Radio and TV Martí for decades, to send internet to Cuba. This project was dismissed due to its high cost, although part of the budget was not left unused. Since then, the use of the Starlink station in Punta Gorda, Florida, has been considered as an alternative, which theoretically has coverage over much of Cuba.
In 2024, the State Appropriations Act, driven by congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez, and María Elvira Salazar, allocated $5 million to the Open Technology Fund to develop technologies that circumvent internet restrictions in Cuba. In addition, it increased funds for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which operates Radio Martí, and allocated $43.6 million for technologies that promote “internet freedom” in countries like Cuba.
María Elvira Salazar, in particular, has led a campaign to introduce satellite internet in Cuba, urging Elon Musk to deploy Starlink on the island, as he did in Ukraine after the start of the war in 2022. In a recent meeting with Musk, appointed by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, Salazar stated that “the technology exists and only the will is lacking.”
Musk himself had previously fueled the possibility of reaching Cuba. In 2022, he responded with an “OK” to a question on Twitter posed by Agustín Antonetti, an operator of the Open Society Foundations, about the possibility of bringing his satellite system to the island to ensure a “free internet.” This brief response, although brief, aligns with the non-cancellation of the terminal’s operability in a prohibited country and the absence of an official statement from SpaceX or the U.S. government on the introduction of these systems, which reinforces the perception that this tolerance is part of a destabilization strategy.
Promoting a “free internet” from Washington is another chapter of the hypocrisy of that government and its politicians, while they maintain censorship of Cubans’ access to hundreds of websites and digital services. Platforms like Zoom, GitHub, PayPal, and Cisco Webex are blocked for users in Cuba due to OFAC sanctions, limiting their participation in the digital economy, online education, and global communications. In addition, the United States prevents Cuba from connecting to the fiber optic cable network of the Florida Strait, which would substantially increase bandwidth. The U.S. discourse of “freedom” is merely a facade to manipulate, not to liberate.
In conclusion, we are facing a new deliberate aggression that uses technology as a weapon in a hybrid war. Far from being a spontaneous act, the Starlink operation is part of a strategy where it is not a “digital lifeline,” but a Trojan horse that seeks to open the doors of Cuba to domination and intervention.
(Taken from My Cuba Forever)
