By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Oct 9 2001 (IPS)

The upcoming launch of a television channel dedicated exclusively to “bringing culture to the masses” is much anticipated in Cuba, where TV broadcasting is limited to just two state-controlled stations.

“We will work to ensure that the new channel reaches the entire nation,” assured President Fidel Castro in a speech Oct 2 in celebration of the first anniversary of the “University for All” programme, an education-via-TV initiative promoted by his socialist government.

The official campaign to promote culture, which includes the introduction of the new TV channel, began in late 1999, following a meeting of municipal officials who listed the problems they had in bringing culture to the population in outlying areas.

The vice-president of the state-run Cuban Television and Radio Institute (ICRT), Mario Robaina, reports that there have been 826 hours broadcast in the last 12 months of more than 10 courses as part of “University for All”.

Among the courses taught through this medium are history, geography, narrative technique, dance and music appreciation, and English and French language skills – some of which are still under way and, in general, attracting large audiences.

The English classes, for example, captured a record-breaking TV- viewing public here, with 2.5 million people tuning in, according to reports in the local media.

“We run out of some of the pamphlets immediately,” said Esteban Ramos, who works at a news kiosk that sells the complementary materials for each course taught via television, printed as a newspaper supplement.

Meanwhile, the exact content of the new channel is still unknown, even among some of the creators in the television industry, who wonder if it will include foreign productions or if it will be dedicated exclusively to Cuban-made educational material.

In his speech, Castro said only that 10 new projects are being prepared, which include courses in Italian and Portuguese language, basic biotechnology and fundamentals in new information technology.

At first, the new channel will only reach Havana and the surrounding province of the same name, but by January it is expected to reach Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second largest city, located 861 km from the capital on the island’s eastern extreme.

“There is great demand for documentaries on cultural or nature themes, in the style of those produced by the US-based Discovery Channel, but we don’t know if they would be included,” said one ICRT official who requested her name withheld.

“Material like that has been broadcast here for some time, but it is still rare,” said the specialist, adding that, in addition to “opening spaces with educational aims, a radical change is needed in the quality of the programming.”

The television line-up is subject to systematic public feedback and receives critiques from the official media outlets, which generally find fault with the quality of the projects geared towards entertainment.

The lack of resources sharply limits the options for domestic production of variety shows, soap operas or other drama series, as well as the ability to purchase films or well-made programming from other countries.

The devices needed to receive satellite transmission are banned in Cuba, where even cable access is only permitted for embassies, foreign technicians, the accredited press, tourist resorts and specially authorised state-run institutions.

In spite of these limitations, it is common to find families in Havana who pay hundreds of dollars for codified cards that enable them to capture the television signals emitted by stations in the United States.

Culture Minister Abel Prieto asserts that “promoting culture for the masses in Cuba will never resemble the populism, mediocrity and dissemination of the substandard products that characterise the ‘yanqui’ entertainment industry.”

Prieto adds that the government is not seeking to create mass- produced professional artists, but to create a public that knows how to discern from among what is offered and choose the product of highest quality.

The crisis that has thrashed the Cuban economy since the early 1990s, resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union, resulted in the closure of many cinemas and theatres, a reduction in cultural programmes and fewer concerts and theatre tours outside the capital.

Noted actors in film, stage or television began signing contracts for work in other countries, writers began to send their works with foreign publishing houses, and nearly an entire generation of artists opted for exile.

Nearly a decade later, and amid signs of economic recovery, the Castro government decided to earmark 2.5 million dollars and nine million Cuban pesos (one US dollar is equivalent to 22 pesos) for restoring the national art schools on the island.

It also initiated training programmes for art instructors and installed solar panels at the country’s most isolated schools so that students would have electricity for television and computers.

Furthermore, several shops were opened for selling books in Cuban pesos, after several years when they were available only in dollars, and many works were published at prices more accessible for the general public.

For his part, Castro has joined the culture promotion campaign, lending his charismatic presence to spectacles of ballet, film and music, and even a concert last February by the British rock group Manic Street Preachers.

“It is crucial that this trend does not burn out,” says Víctor Ramos, a librarian, who like many Cubans fears that the new cultural policy may be just a campaign that could be “cast aside if there is a change in political or economic circumstances.”

Excerpt: