CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

August 20, 2002



FROM CUBA

Cuban customs service bans VCRs

HAVANA, August 16 (Víctor M. Domínguez, Lux Info Press / www.cubanet.org) - The Cuban Customs service (Aduana General de la República) issued orders to its officers August 10 not to allow video cassette recorders (VCRs) entry into Cuba.

Before that date, VCRs could be brought in by paying a levy equal to the original cost of the equipment, which is what Cubans visiting from abroad were doing, in order to leave the machines with their relatives in the island.

Recently, VCRs disappeared from the stores in the dollar sector of the economy, where they had been freely available previously.

The apparent scarcity of the machines, coupled to Cubans’ satiety with the mostly political fodder of the official TV channels has driven the street price of existing machines up: 300 to 350 dollars for machines that normally sell for 100 dollars or less elsewhere.

Yet, a reliable source who asked that his name be withheld said the warehouses for stores selling in the dollar economy "are brimming with VCRs that will go on sale shortly." No word, official or otherwise, on when, where, or for how much.


Versión original en español

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