Cuba has formally cracked down on its nascent arcade businesses, specifically forbidding their operation after they had opened and operated in a grey area uncovered by the law there for the past three years.
Arcades and movie theatres are banned — “immediately” — Cuba’s government said on Saturday, according to the CBC. These establishments are not among the 200 types of independent enterprises authorised by the Communist state.
But, explains the CBC, they had sprouted up using licenses for businesses that are — typically as independent restaurants, even though the food and refreshments they served were ancillary to the entertainment these parlors offered.
Some arcade and cinema owners had sunk large sums into launching or improving their businesses — “which range from modest to flashy and offer the latest Hollywood blockbusters and fast-paced video games,” the CBC reported.
Owners complained that they should have been given a window of time in which to wind down their operations — and potentially recover some of that investment. Parents and kids alike complain that there now is nothing to do.
Earlier, Cuba’s official newspaper for the Communist Party youth inveighed against the arcades, saying they promote “frivolity, mediocrity, pseudo culture and banality.” That put handwriting on the wall for a crackdown.
Cuba, in 2010, instituted economic reforms that allowed, among other things, the sale of homes and used cars, and authorised certain types of private-sector jobs. Cuba’s communist party newspaper said on Saturday that the elimination of cinemas and arcades was necessary to keep that economic reform program going forward in an orderly manner.
“This is not, in any way, taking a step back,” it said. “On the contrary, we will keep advancing decidedly in the updating of the Cuban economic model.”
Cuba Bans Video Game Salons, Private Cinemas [CBC, h/t a b]
Comments
5 responses to “Cuba Actually Had Arcades. Today They Were All Shut Down.”
Now I want to play Tropico.
Luckily Florida is just a short swim away.
Aww, no more Dance, Dance Revolución!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LkB8yqRb-k
Man Cuba is a funny place. On one hand they run some sort of pseudo communist policy, yet they also have that short list of 200 odd jobs to encourage entrepreneurship. You’re not allowed to run an arcade, however you’re allowed to be a:
– Door-to-door knife and scissors sharpener
– Mule Driver
– Operator of Children’s Fun Wagon Pulled by Pony or Goat
– Animal Hairdresser
The list goes on…
Obviously with the fun wagon the kids have all the entertainment they’ll ever need.
Cuba rocks!