Google announced Wednesday that Internet users in Cuba will now be able to access its Chrome browser.
Cubans can easily download the browser directly to a computer or mobile device through google.com.cu, according to CNET. The search giant revealed that U.S. sanctions against the country have prevented Cubans from using Chrome.
"U.S. export controls and sanctions can sometimes limit the products available in certain countries," Google wrote. "As these trade restrictions evolve we've been working to figure out how to make more tools available in sanctioned countries."
Pedro Less Andrade, director of Governmental Affairs & Public Policy for Latin America at Google, said Google has spent the last few years making its web products available in U.S.-sanctioned countries, PC Magazine reported. Syria and Iran have also received Chrome and other services due to the U.S. lifting certain trade sanctions. However, Google did not mention such policy changes when it announced Chrome's availability in Cuba.
After being blocked by Google from downloading Chrome since 2008, Iranian users received access to the browser, along with Google Earth and Picasa, in January 2011, and Syrian users began to use these tools in May 2012.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman at Google, reportedly visited Cuba in June with other Google executives in order to bring more Internet access to the island nation. He toured through the country in order to assess the Cubans' struggle with getting web access, CNET reported.
Cuba has one of the lowest Internet usage rates in the world, with U.S.-based human rights organization Freedom House saying that only 5 percent of residents in the country can periodically go online. However, the country has been making improvements in giving its citizens more Internet access, having opened 118 public Internet centers last year.
