Airbnb pushed into Cuba back in April, shortly after President Obama announced the start of normalized relations with the Latin American country. And now, Hillary Clinton wants other tech companies to follow.
Today, during a speech at Miami's Florida International University, the former Secretary of State made a case for ending the long-standing embargo with Cuba, arguing that by isolating the country, America is "strengthening the Castro's grip on power, rather than weakening it." And she made it clear that the Internet, and tech companies at large, have an important role to play in ending that isolation.
As Clinton noted, only about 5 percent of Cubans have access to the open Internet. "We should make it clear, as I did as Secretary of State, that the freedom to connect is a basic human right, and therefore do more to extend that freedom to more and more Cubans," Clinton said.
She called on businesses to build joint ventures with Cuban companies and find ways to expand operations there. "I'm told that Airbnb is already getting started," Clinton said, noting that Google and Twitter "are exploring opportunities, as well."
