Summary

NAME: CUB SMOKING 070205N TAPE: EF05/0121 IN_TIME: 10:18:16:08 DURATION: 00:03:10:06 SOURCES: APTN DATELINE: Havana/Pinar del Rio - Recent/File RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST: File - No Audio 1. Medium shot of revolutionaries Fidel Castro, with cigar, and Che Guevara entering building 2. Medium shot Castro smoking cigar and talking with Che 3. Close up Castro taking large cigar from shirt pocket 4. Close up Castro and Che at cafe table; Che smoking cigar 5. Close up Castro handing out cigars to well-wishers in New York City File - Pinar del Rio - February, 2004: 6. Medium shot tobacco farmer with oxen on plantation 7. Tilt down from tobacco leaves to worker in dry house 8. Close up tobacco leaves drying 9. Medium shot rows of leaves being arranged for drying File - Havana - February, 2004 10. Wide shot exterior Partagas Cigar factory in Havana 11. Pan right, employees rolling cigars 12. Close up stacks of rolled cigars on employee's table 13. Tilt up from hands rolling to female employee smoking cigar File - Havana - 25 January, 2005: 14. Pan right Granma Newspaper, headline reading "Beginning February 7th, Measures to Protect Health" Recent - Havana - 5 February, 2005: 15. Close up sign and cigarettes in window reading "No sale of cigarettes to minors" and a sign with a cigarette package reading "Help your children to not smoke" 16. Close up no smoking symbol on glass door 17. Tilt down from hand-painted sign to man at table smoking, sign reading "No Smoking. Smoking is harmful to your health." 18. Pan left taxi driver in classic car with cigarette in his mouth pulling out into street 19. Medium shot old woman with cigar having her lighter refilled by street vendor 20. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Graciela Gonzalez, 86-year-old cigar smoker: "When you have a problem, this is the only thing that helps you forget. They can't take this away. No. I'd rather they take my food than my smokes." 21. Close up sign reading, "Eating is Prohibited. Smoking is Prohibited." 22. Close up cigarette advertisement reading "I am Rhythm. I'm Cuban. I'm Popular." 23. Medium shot bicycle-taxi drivers taking a break and smoking 24. Medium shot woman crossing the street and smoking 25. Tilt up from sign to cigarettes for sale, sign reading "We do not sell cigarettes to children under 16." Cigarette sign reading "Open Sale of Strong Cigarettes." 26. Medium shot man with cigar walking in Old Havana 27. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Fernando Sierra, 83-year-old cigar smoker: "I think they're doing the right thing. Do you know why? I'm a smoker, but it's bad for you. And the people who don't smoke are bothered by it." 28. Zoom out from cigars for sale on plate to woman smoking and selling cigars in street STORYLINE: Cuba, producer of top quality tobacco leaves forever romanticised in the eyes of the world by revolutionaries Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, has now joined the ranks of countries that combat smoking. On Monday, a new regulation took effect that, among other things, bans smoking in enclosed places, prohibits the sale of tobacco products to minors, and outlaws any future introduction of tobacco vending machines. The new resolution was published in the Cuban Communist Party's official daily newspaper "Granma" on 25 January 2005. The new regulation suspends all sales to minors under 16 years of age and in stores that are less than 100 metres (328 feet) from education centres. The habit will not be tolerated for employees who work in health or education. In work places that have no part in education or health, smoking will only be allowed in a restricted area outdoors. The ban includes theatres, buses, taxis (including the driver when he is by himself in the vehicle), cafeterias, and restaurants. "I think they're doing the right thing," said Fernando Sierra, a retiree who takes a daily walk through old Havana to smoke his cigar. Cigarette packaging has also changed to include large warning messages on one side, much like many European countries. Messages include "Tobacco is harmful to your health", and "Keep your children from smoking". Statistics show that at least four in 10 Cubans smoke. In other words, almost half the population consumes tobacco in one form or another. A symbol of Cuba, "la fuma" (the smoke), as it's always been called in this Caribbean nation, is rooted in the island's traditions and customs and an expression of freedom made famous by Castro and his revolutionaries in the early days of the Cuban revolution more than 50 years ago. Castro was an avid cigar smoker for decades until the 1980's when doctors recommended he stop. Cuban cigars are a 200 (m) million dollar a year business. According to government health records, 15-thousand Cuban nationals die every year from preventable cancers, of which 30 percent are tobacco related.