CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

December 12, 2001



FROM CUBA

Police and spectators clash in front of theater

HAVANA, December 10 (Carlos Alberto Domínguez, Cuba-Verdad / www.cubanet.org) - More than 1,000 theatergoers and police clashed in front of a theater December 6 when it became evident that an excess of tickets had been sold and not all waiting would get to see a Mexican film shown as part of the 23rd Latin American Film Festival.

Witnesses saw several people being helped off the scene by friends, but it wasn’t immediately known how many were hurt in the incident or how seriously. Many desisted from seeing the film and left after dozens of police started beating the crowd indiscriminately with batons. The fracas left the theater’s ticket booth broken, its glass shattered by the shoving.

The melee started when the would-be moviegoers in front of the Yara theater realized that somehow more tickets had been sold than the seats available and that some patrons would not get in.

Adela, a well-dressed woman of about 40, summed up the problem: "We all want to see the movie, because when the festival is over, it won’t be available any more, since the Cuban government does not have any money to buy films."

The Yara, a large, 1950s vintage theater, is still one of Havana’s finest; which explains why it was being used to host an international film festival and why the crowd waiting to get in was so numerous.

Across the street, at the popular Coppelia ice-cream shop, a man observing the incident who said he was 72 but would not give his name, said, "If they would only fight as strongly for their rights, there would be more liberty in this country."

Versión original en español


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