Héctor Maseda, Grupo Decoro
HAVANA, February (www.cubanet.org) - A million Chinese-made Panda-brand TV
sets, which have provoked lively debate as to how they are to be allocated to an
entertainment-hungry population, promise to be profitable to the Cuban
government, the only national entrepreneur on the island.
The terms of sale of the sets were negotiated by a high-level Chinese
delegation at the end of 2001, and included a credit of 100 million dollars, a
cost of less than 100 dollars per set, long-term amortization, and low interest
rates.
Cuban officials later announced that out of the one million sets, 200,000
would be sold through the dollar stores, at 430 dollars each. In order to ensure
sales, the government withdrew every other brand of TV from the shelves.
Another 700,000 sets are to be sold in the peso market at the equivalent of
a little over 150 dollars each. This translates to over 4,000 pesos per set, or
16 months' wages for a population with an average monthly income of 247 pesos.
Still, evidently more than 700,000 people want TV sets, because they are
being "awarded" only to those with impeccable revolutionary
credentials, as certified by the local Committees for the Defense of the
Revolution.
The remaining 100,000 sets are allocated for free distribution to deserving
social and educational programs, as determined by the government. Many here
maintain this means the TVs will end up in propaganda-rich environments.
Bottom line: Before withering away, the State, represented by its sole
agent, the government, will sell TVs costing 100 million dollars to the owners
of the means of production, a.k.a. the workers, for more than 190 million
dollars, or close to a 100 percent profit. All figures courtesy of Granma, the
Communist Party daily.
Versión
original en español
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