Cuba shuts down private cinemas and video-game salons
POSTED BY: Geezer
UPDATED: Thursday, February 19, 2026 15:24
VIEWED: 6022
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Cuba has ordered the immediate closure of dozens of privately-run cinemas and video-game salons.
The government said they were never authorised, and that it needed to bring "order" to the management of independent businesses.
The Communist island recently relaxed restrictions on the private sector.
But some Cuban entrepreneurs had used restaurant and other types of business licences to operate backroom movie and entertainment parlours.
"Cinematic exhibition (including 3D rooms) and computer games will cease immediately in whatever kind of private business activity," read a government announcement in the state-run newspaper Granma.
It warned of decisive action against any violations of the law, and defended its decision to instil "discipline" in the private sector, adding that this was not "a step backward".
"Quite the contrary, we will continue to decidedly advance in the updating of our economic model."
'Huge blow'
President Raul Castro, who replaced his brother Fidel in 2008, has relaxed some economic restrictions on the set-up of private businesses in the communist island, where the state still employs 79% of the five million-strong labour force.
He opened up retail services to "self employment" in the form of nearly 200 licensed activities such as seamstresses, taxis and small restaurants.
But some residents had used these categories to operate cinema and video-game parlours.
The closure is a huge blow to those entrepreneurial Cubans who invested heavily, especially in 3D cinemas, importing equipment at considerable cost from abroad, says the BBC correspondent in Havana, Sarah Rainsford.
She adds that many 3D cinemas she tried to visit since the government announcement had been locked up and closed for business.
There had been hints this crackdown was coming. Cuban Culture Ministry officials talked of the "banality" and "frivolity" of films on offer, mostly produced in America, and out of line, they complained, with the cultural policy of the revolution.
Still, our correspondent adds, the hope was that the booming sector would be regulated, not closed down.
"The cinemas and games rooms were keeping us off the street, and out of trouble," Miguel, a young Cuban, told our correspondent. "Now where are we supposed to go?"
Another young Cuban, Yosvany, said: "I think a lot of people won't agree with this ban. 3D cinema was something new and popular."
Correspondents say private cinemas had become a popular alternative to poorly-maintained, state-run movie theatres that shy away from showing Hollywood and other mainstream films.
According to government figures, more than 400,000 people in Cuba are self-employed, of whom around 100,000 work as employees of small businesses.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24790569
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Quote:
The government said they were never authorised, and that it needed to bring "order" to the management of independent businesses.
Don't ya just LOVE how govt is suppose to keep order, in ALL aspects of our lives ? Healthcare, trans fats, soft drink sizes, ...
Oh, wait. This is CUBA you're talking about, right ? Not the USA ?
One seems a lot like the other these days.
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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Quote:And obamacare is worse than slavery.
One [USA] seems a lot like the other [Cuba] these days.
Yeah, we get that you're all jacked up. Sorry about your condition!
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Originally posted by SIGNYM:Quote:And obamacare is worse than slavery.
One [USA] seems a lot like the other [Cuba] these days.
Yeah, we get that you're all jacked up. Sorry about your condition!
Our HS football coach use to scream that, at pep rallies...
" Get jacked up! Get jacked up! "
We were amused.
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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Video Game Salon!!!!
What is that?????
I thought Super Mario Bros was addictive at 9 years old!
If I was getting happy endings, whether I finally found the castle the Princess was held in, well...
Ahhhh.... nevermind.... probably the same end result.
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Ay carumba! Vaya con Dios Senora PacMan.
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" I'm gonna wreck it ! "
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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I enjoyed that. Thanks! It reminded me a little of this ...
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This one came up on the same page. Irresistable.
The original Kim Kardashian?
Didn't some of those dancers make movies with Harry Reems?
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Glad you enjoyed. The 'arcade salons' took me back some, and yeah.. wrek it ralph was a perfect segue. Owl City, I must admit, is a guilty pleasure. Don't ask. But the auto-tune sound syncs perfectly w/ The Buggles...so yeah. Good call there.
ETA - The Buggles video still is a classic. Martha Davis ( The Motels ) as back up, was so prophetic to her success, and oh yeah, some how, Geoff Downs, on keyboards.
Just cool!
Also - Not only does Alan Tudyk star in 'Wreck it Ralph' , but the girls in the video from Owl City remind me a bit of Jewel, from her Space Cases days...
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen
Resident USA Freedom Fundie
" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall
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