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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