Vistar is Cuba’s first independent magazine dedicated to art, culture and nightlife. The people behind this start-up are young, inexperienced and enthusiastic.
Founder Robyn Pedraja is a hipster kid with disheveled hair and a couple of fast computers. The biggest problem for Pedraja and his crew of 25 collaborators? Their new rag is digital the public can only see it online. This for a public with almost no access to the Internet.
“Not having Internet is tough. Just to get e-mail, I have to go stand outside a hotel. I pay 6 or 7 Euro for an hour to download my messages. Then I come back. So I’m going back and forth.”
Cuba’s one party state has worked hard to keep Cubans offline, out of fear. The President Castro has promised limited home access by 2020.