EcuRed is a
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
n
online encyclopedia
An online encyclopedia, also called an Internet encyclopedia, is a digital encyclopedia accessible through the Internet. Some examples include pre-World Wide Web services that offered the '' Academic American Encyclopedia'' beginning in 1980, Enc ...
built on
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is free and open-source wiki software originally developed by Magnus Manske for use on Wikipedia on January 25, 2002, and further improved by Lee Daniel Crocker,mailarchive:wikipedia-l/2001-August/000382.html, Magnus Manske's announc ...
software. The site was launched on 13 December 2010.
The name is an
acronym
An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
from the Spanish phrase ' (literally "Cuban Encyclopedia on the Network").
Content
EcuRed was launched by the Cuban government, is based in
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
and its content is closely entwined with the
Cuban Revolution.
The project is written from a perspective supportive of the Revolution. For example, EcuRed's writes about Fidel Castro saying "Today he writes and participates in the struggle of ideas worldwide. Due to his moral authority, he influences important and strategic decisions of the revolution", that
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
"continues a long family tradition of dirty business, cheating and government intrigue",
and describes the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
as "the empire of our time" and "the most powerful nation of all time."
EcuRed states on its webpage that its goal "is the accumulation and development of knowledge with a non-profit, pro-democracy aim from a
decolonizing point of view".
Reception
EcuRed was described by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' as a Cuban version of Wikipedia.
Activist
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, winner of the
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, accused the encyclopedia of "molding reality" and said it was "a perversion to destroy the mind".
The encyclopedia refers to the United States as "the empire of our time" and "the most powerful nation of all time", which has historically taken "by force territory and natural resources from other nations, to put at the service of its businesses and monopolies".
The encyclopedia describes blogger
Yoani Sánchez as a "cybermercenary linked to the United States government".
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2010 in Cuba
Online encyclopedias
Cuban online encyclopedias
Internet properties established in 2010
MediaWiki websites
Creative Commons-licensed websites