<CPOV> Cuba launches its own Wikipedia: Ecured.cu

Sabine Niederer sabine at networkcultures.org
Wed Dec 15 14:42:53 CET 2010


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/20101215425691693.html 

Cuba launches its own Wikipedia
Online encyclopedia set up with the goal of presenting Cuba's version of the world "from a decoloniser point of view".

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EcuRed's entry about the US says it has historically taken "territory and natural resources from other nations" by force. 

Cuba has begun its own online encyclopedia, similar to Wikipedia, with the goal of presenting its version of the world and history.
It describes its longtime ideological enemy, the US, as "the empire of our time" and "the most powerful nation of all time." EcuRed was launched officially on Tuesday, with more than 19,000 entries.
It was developed "to create and disseminate the knowledge of all and for all, from Cuba and with the world," the site said. Users supposedly will be able to update entries with prior approval from EcuRed administrators. "Its philosophy is the accumulation and development of knowledge, with a democratising, not profitable, objective, from a decoloniser point of view," the site said.

US criticism
Cuba and the US, where Wikipedia was created, have been at odds since a 1959 revolution put Fidel Castro in power. The introduction of EcuRed's entry about the US said it had historically taken "by force territory and natural resources from other nations, to put at the service of its businesses and monopolies." "It consumes 25 per cent of the energy produced on the planet and in spite of its wealth, more than a third of its population does not have assured medical attention." About US-Cuba relations, it said from the late 18th century, US leaders looked upon Cuba with greed "like those who admire a beautiful fruit that will end up falling in their hands." According to a government survey conducted earlier this year, about 15 per cent of Cuba's 11.2 million population have access to the internet.

http://www.ecured.cu/


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