HAVANA--Cuba's recent social and economic reforms do not include allowing greater access to the Internet, authorities in the Americas' only one-party communist state said.

"Cuba is not concerned with the individual connection of its citizens to the Internet," said deputy minister for Computer Science and Communications, Boris Moreno, on Friday.

"We use the Internet to defend the Revolution and the principles we believe in and have defended all these years," added Moreno, quoted by the official Prensa Latina news agency. He said preferential access to the Internet went to medical centers, scientific facilities and schools.

Rights groups such as Reporters Without Borders and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission have criticized Cuba for its tight regulation of the Internet.

Internet access is available in some hotel lobbies for short periods of time, but paid for in hard currency.
The price is astronomical for most Cubans who earn the equivalent of less than $20 a month.

Cuba blames US sanctions for not allowing more abundant and affordable Internet access, claiming it is forced to use costlier satellite access. But potential capacity may get a boost in a few years with the planned connection to an undersea fiber optic cable by ally Venezuela.

Raul Castro, 76, took over as president in February after his ailing brother Fidel Castro, 81, left Cuba's helm after almost 50 years as leader.

In March Raul Castro authorized the sale of personal computers to Cubans, and sales began this month, drawing new attention to restrictions on the Internet. Computer sales were banned in 2003 with Cuba blaming a nationwide power shortage.

Raul Castro also has launched other reform measures including allowing Cubans to stay in tourist hotels, take out mobile phone contracts, and buy appliances such as computers, motorbikes and pressure cookers.

The government also is carrying out some farm reforms hoping to boost food production, which Havana calls a top national security issue.

But Cuban authorities have refused to give a travel visa to a Cuban blogger who was to have flown to Spain to receive a top journalism award.

US President George W. Bush on May 7 urged Cuba to free political prisoners, dismissing as "cosmetic" social and economic changes Raul Castro has made since becoming president.