Google’s Eric Schmidt travelled to Cuba to promote open Internet

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt doesn’t stay put for long. After visiting North Korea and Myanmar last year to advocate for increased internet and mobile connectivity in those countries, Schmidt reportedly visited Cuba this week. As Cuban blog 14ymedio reported, Schmidt and a delegation of other former Googlers and open internet advocates contacted them on Friday night and toured Cuba’s University of Information Sciences in Havana today. It’s unclear just how Schmidt and his delegation traveled to the island and through what legal channels. American citizens have been technically banned from spending money on the Communist island nation since the Cold War tensions of the 1960s, making travel there for Americans often prohibitively difficult. But there are a variety of ways around the restrictions, and the Obama Administration has sought to make it even easier for Americans to visit in recent years.

A team of top Google executives is visiting Cuba to promote open Internet access, according to a dissident blogger who says she met the group in Havana. The team, led by Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, met with Cuban officials as well as independent people in the technology and digital field, according to a report on the independent news website 14ymedio.com, which was started last month by blogger Yoani Sanchez. Google is on an official two-day visit “to promote the virtues of a free and open Internet,” the report said. Schmidt appeared to confirm the report when he retweeted a message on Twitter posted by Sanchez about the visit. Neither Google nor the Cuban government made any official statement about the executives’ presence in Cuba. Cuba does not allow open Internet access. Only 2.6 million out of a population of 11.2 million have Internet access, almost entirely limited to government-run centers, foreign companies and tourist hotels. Most of those who do have access are only been able to explore a limited, state-controlled basket of approved websites. Schmidt, who was Google’s chief executive from 2001 to 2011, is becoming more visible on issues involving technology and world affairs. His mandate as executive chairman involves government outreach, thought leadership and building partnerships and business relationships, according to the company. Schmidt was accompanied by Jared Cohen, director of Google Ideas, as well as two other staff, Sanchez said.