HAVANA, November 1 (Juan Carlos Linares / CubaNet) - Neighborhood assemblies
to decide the distribution of soon-to-be-available Chinese-made Panda-brand TV
sets are ending up in strife and enmity among the participants, according to
reports from different municipalities in the city.
"These meetings are invariably ending up in heated arguments in which
no one can agree on to whom to award the right to buy the set," said one
resident of Diez de Octubre municipality.
Out of one million TV set that will presumably become available, an
undetermined number will be set aside for retirees and for the handicapped that
don't have one now, but even these will be awarded by assemblies.
"Each Committee for the Defense of the Revolution will be assigned at
least one Panda, but actual delivery will depend on the candidate's
participation in revolutionary work," said one resident familiar with the
proceedings.
When the candidate is awarded the right to buy the Panda, he or she will be
given the official chit that authorizes the purchase.
"In my block, they have been debating the Chinese TV set for a week
now. It is humiliating," said one woman in Arroyo Naranjo municipality.
At present there are no TV sets available in Cuba because at the beginning
of August the government withdrew the ones being sold at the dollar stores. They
are said to be destined for schools, so that students will be able to receive
political orientation in what has come to be called "the battle of ideas."
A reliable source said the Pandas were initially meant to be assembled in
Cuba, but that idea has been abandoned. Later it was decided that they would be
manufactured without UHF circuitry so that Cubans would not be able to receive
foreign broadcasts. The Chinese were reportedly opposed to that idea, but the
sets were imported nevertheless.
"They are good quality sets," said the source.
Versión
original en español
Related stories
Tvs earmarked for neighborhood
watch members / Cuba-Verdad
Chinese TV sets to be sold
only to meritorious workers / Juan Carlos Linares
Government removes UHF tuner
from Panda TVs bought to China / Juan Carlos Linares
TV sets withdrawn from dollar
stores / Cuba Voz
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