American News Ticker Goes Dark in Havana

Posted on Jul 27, 2009

cubaheadlines.com

Lights out: The scrolling billboard/news ticker in the U.S. Interest Section in Havana has been turned off since June.

After vexing Cuban officials (and citizens, no doubt) for three years, a U.S. government-sponsored electronic billboard that featured news and information blips tailored for a Cuban audience from an American-friendly angle has been switched off in the interest of changing the diplomatic tone between the two countries.

BBC:

It prompted what came to be known as “the battle of the billboards”.

Cuba’s then-leader Fidel Castro accused the US mission of becoming the “headquarters of the counter-revolution”.

He also ordered a million people to march around the mission in protest.

The ticked was turned off in June, but correspondents say that because of the obstructions erected by Cuban authorities, no-one seems to have noticed.

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