Few Phones for so many Mouthy Cubans

Many Cubans do not have a telephone in their homes, despite their penchant for talking all the time. There are 1.24 million landlines for a nation of 11.2 citizens. I imagine many of those lines belong to enterprises and offices.

Often times to call somebody at their home, one must call a neighbor's number. The instructions go like this: "Call 555-5555 and ask for Delia. When Delia gets on the phone ask to speak to me from Pedro's house down the block". Typically, Delia would dispatch her little daughter or another suitable courier to look for the call recipient. One then waits five to ten minutes for the person to come get on the phone.

Another variation is that one calls a number, and the person that answers says "Repeat the call" and hangs up. So one calls again and instead of the first person answering on the second ring, the intended party answers on the sixth. This way multiple households can share a single line.

So if you share a line with somebody, when you hear the phone ring twice, then another incoming call sounds seconds later, chances are its for you, answer it.

The shortage of telephone service is so severe and public discontent so chronic that there are entire episodes of the public commentary show, Libre Acceso, dedicated to addressing telephonic concerns. Often times the complaints or questions come via mail. Other times people borrow neighbor's telephones to call the show.

The panel receiving the questions is composed of journalists and officials such as representatives from the provincial parliament, institutional bureaucrats like those from the telephone company and, say, a member of the Communist party's municipal delegation.

The complaints voiced are all variations on a single theme: "We ordered a telephone line six years ago, and three years ago we were told it was to be installed, but we still dont have a line, and the local telephone company office just gives us the run around."

Invariably, the three hosts of the television program have no adequate response. Just as the complaint is always the same; so is the answer.

The underlying problem is based on access to technical equipment which cant be bought from the US due to the blockade, so must be purchased from farther afield at higher costs. But the hosts promise to look into the caller's particular problem.

Cuba has some very incisive sketch comedies on television (like Profe Mentepollo), but this is probably the funniest show on the air.

The lack of telephone lines makes it that much more hilarious that the Bush Administration took the bold step towards democratizing Cuba of allowing Americans to send cellphones to Cuba. The Bush Administration said something to the effect of cellphones allowing Cubans to speak freely in public.

If Bush really wanted to open up Cuba's communication, it would lift the blockade on materials required for telecommunications, including allowing Cuba expanded internet bandwidth. The US could even finance the installation of telephone lines in Cuba.

As it stands, Cubans will continue to shout and to debate loudly in person.