Read the following passage from an essay discussing the digitization of cultural heritage in Latin America:
'In recent years, the digitization of historical archives in Latin America has emerged as a democratic tool for cultural preservation, allowing remote communities to access documents long sequestered in metropolitan vaults. Project portals now offer high-resolution scans of colonial-era manuscripts and testimonies, fostering a decentralized reclaiming of historical narrative. Nevertheless, this digital transition is fraught with structural limitations that threaten to widen the cultural access gap. While researchers in urban centers celebrate the convenience of online repositories, many rural and indigenous populations remain offline due to systemic infrastructural deficits. Consequently, the virtual migration of these archives risks creating an exclusionary digital archive where only those with high-speed connectivity can participate in the curation of national memory. Furthermore, the prioritization of digital formats often diverts critical funding away from the physical preservation of original paper documents, leaving them vulnerable to decay in under-resourced local archives.'
Based on the passage, what is the primary rhetorical function of the transition word 'Consequently' in the author's argument?
- AIt signals a shift from an objective description of project portals to a highly subjective, emotional appeal.
- BIt introduces a concession that acknowledges the benefits of digital preservation for rural communities.
- It establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between infrastructural inequalities and the risk of cultural exclusion.Answer
- DIt provides a historical comparison between colonial-era manuscripts and modern digital repositories.