After the regime published a list of 125 prohibited economic activities for non-state economic forms, a significant debate emerged regarding the ban on the so-called "weekly package."
The list, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba No. 78 of 2024, prompted the state-run Periódico 26 from Las Tunas to approach specialists at the Municipal Directorate of Labor with the question: “Will the weekly package and Turkish soap operas come to an end?”
Although the website originally published the post on its Facebook page, it later removed it. However, Raudel Rodríguez, a pro-government journalist from the provincial station Radio Victoria, shared the full text on his social media and added some reflections.
According to the shared text, specialists from the Municipal Labor Directorate explained that Decree 107 (Regarding unauthorized activities for micro, small, and medium private enterprises, non-agricultural cooperatives, and self-employed workers) includes in its Annex 1, Section I, paragraph 62 the activity prohibited: “Creation of record labels, music publishers, and entities for the commercialization of records and other phonographic media (5920).”
However, officials pointed out that “immediately following, the specific regulation states that ‘licenses for disk vendors that have already been approved’ are exempt from this prohibition.”
The text shared by the state newspaper clarifies that: "So far, self-employed individuals providing copying services for various audiovisual materials do so under the license for operating as a record seller."
However, the decree clarifies that "no new licenses will be issued for record vendors," noted Periódico 26.
Journalist Raudel Rodríguez expressed a personal opinion regarding the new decree: "The package remains unchanged. What will not be authorized are new licenses for record sellers (in this case, those who produce audiovisual recordings)."
Regarding the controversy surrounding the famous "weekly package" and the original post from Periódico 26, influencer Edmundo Dantés Junior remarked on Facebook: "The decree clearly states that no new licenses for 'record vendors' will be issued. However, it doesn't say anything at all about the weekly package."
The profile also added: "So I don't know if they were never going to remove it and we misunderstood (due to its wording), or if the journalists didn't eat enough to analyze that they weren't answered the question."
Finally, he sarcastically remarked, “Who buys music albums anymore? What is this, 1984?”, suggesting the absurdity of the new decree, which seems out of touch with current cultural consumption habits and how content circulates in society.
Furthermore, it highlights that the regime seeks to control the distribution of the "weekly package" by limiting the issuance of new licenses.
Last year, the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed that the content of that "weekly package" was a "concern," advocating for the inclusion of domestic production stories within it.
"It’s not just about the issue of 'the phones'; there could be more concerns regarding everything that comes to us through the package, through a movie. Are we going to stop watching movies? Are we going to stop using the phone?" he questioned during a meeting with Cuban lawmakers.
In 2018, the regime imposed censorship on this initiative by banning certain television shows produced in Miami, along with some news programs, including the newscasts from Telemundo and Univisión 23. At that time, the show TN3, hosted by the Cuban presenter Carlos Otero, was also removed.
Filed under: