From a Cuban Emailer, An Explanation

I interrupt this continual coverage of my trip to Southeast Texas for a poignant reminder that the world close to us is indeed not free. I just got an email from a man whose first name is Rolando, who lives in Cuba. I had noticed that someone was sending out many long messages in Spanish using our “Send this Page to a Friend” feature on GoNOMAD. This is a link at the bottom of all of our pages that allows people to share articles they like. I was frustrated seeing these continual messages that I thought were spam in Spanish.

So I sent the address a terse email saying ‘stop using our send service to send email spam’ and today got a reply from Cuba. It’s reprinted below.

Mr. Max Hartshone: This is not a spam message. I’m using your service to establish comunication with my brother, since I can’t use e-mail services. In my country (Cuba) I have not free access to internet e-mail service. This is prohibited. Then, he send e-mails to me trough another acount, which have not this privilege …! Excuse me, please. May I continue the use of this page? Sincerely, Rolando M—

I wrote him back and expressed my solidarity with him, and sent him a wish that he didn’t have to use this convoluted method to simply email his brother. I told him I hope that I can visit him in Cuba some day and that he can show me his country. I told him that I also hope that some day he has the same freedom as we do here in the US.