CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

June 7, 2001



FROM CUBA

Preferences of Cuban TV viewers: there's nothing else on

Lázaro Raúl González, CPI

HERRADURA, June - I must confess that I've never been a fan of television, but last weekend I took an interest in the options available to my fellow citizens and in their preferences.

My informal survey shows that every day, starting at 6 p.m., government-run television shows Open Tribunes and Round Tables. These are politically-oriented discussion groups that got their start at the time of the Elián González affair and have been going non-stop ever since.

On Friday, May 25, out of six TV sets in the building where I live, only one was tuned in to the day's Round Table. The others were off, since there is no alternative program running.

The next day in the morning, both national channels were broadcasting a "vibrant revolutionary act" live from Havana. I visited 20 households that own TV sets and only two were on.

It seems that in spite of the "revolutionary fervor" government spokesmen tell us can be found in the heart of every Cuban and the thousands of dollars spent in transporting marchers to the political acts, barely 10 percent of the citizens in my neighborhood chose to participate from home.

Yet, there was a marked change at about 10 that night, when 12 out of 16 homes visited were found to be enjoying the Saturday movie. In most of those, the whole family was in front of the set.

One minor enigma. How is it possible that in a country unanimously anti-imperialistic, whose people are endowed with unequaled revolutionary and anti-colonialist spirit and whose broadcast stations are controlled by the Communist Party, both films shown on Saturday nights are American-made?

The title of the first film shown on May 26 was translated into Spanish as "Convicts in the Air." It had plenty of violence, shooting, blood, deaths, blackmail and attempted rape. The main characters were homicidal criminals of every type driven by hate. All in all, a world that has nothing in common with Marxist-Leninist Cuba.

The next morning's opinion survey found that 99 percent of those asked thought the movie had been "very good" and one percent thought it had been "good." Asked why she liked that type of movie, one young Herradura resident said: "What am I going to do? There's nothing else on."

Versión original en español



CubaNet does not require sole rights from its contributors. We authorize the reproduction and distribution of this article as long as the source is credited.

[ BACK TO THE NEWS ]

In Association with Amazon.com

Search:


SEARCH NEWS

Search May News

Advance Search


SECCIONES

NOTICIAS
Prensa Independiente
Prensa Internacional
Prensa Gubernamental

OTHER LANGUAGES
Spanish
German
French

INDEPENDIENTES
Cooperativas Agrícolas
Movimiento Sindical
Bibliotecas
MCL
...Ayuno

DEL LECTOR
Letters
Cartas
Debate
Opinión

BUSQUEDAS
News Archive
News Search
Documents
Links

CULTURA
Painters
Photos of Cuba
Cigar Labels

CUBANET
Semanario
About Us
Informe 1998
E-Mail


CubaNet News, Inc.
145 Madeira Ave,
Suite 207
Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 774-1887