Page 13 - AHATA

A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 24 March 2026

An old Soviet-era Lada car drives past a truck belonging to
a private Cuban company (mipyme) parked in front of a gas
station with an IsoTank of imported fuel in Havana on March
19, 2026.

After Cuba beckons,

Miami entrepreneurs are

mostly reluctant to invest

in the island
A child poses as he plays a video game on a tablet on the online game platform and game
creation system Roblox developed by Roblox Corporation in Terville, northeastern France on
March 11, 2026. Miami, United States

No ‘silver bullet’ for video game age Havana announced this week that it would allow Cu-
ban emigrants to invest to address the communist is-
restrictions: PEGI chief land’s severe economic and energy crises. But in Mi-
ami, the epicenter of the diaspora, entrepreneurs are
generally reluctant.
“I don’t think a single businessman, not a single Cu-
Paris, France “especially games that will verification “sounds like it’s ban in exile, will invest in this island where there is no
The head of Europe’s video continually provide new going to fix everything... legal security,” said Ivan Herrera, director of the Uni-
game rating system, PEGI, updates”. data protection organisa- vista insurance company, calling the initiative “a huge
has warned against sup- Introduced in 2003, PEGI is tions are very concerned”, scam.”
posed “silver bullet” child the only media age classi- Bosmans said. The entrepreneur, whose grandfather was a political
protection solutions such as fication system harmonised “We first need to have a re- prisoner for 12 years before fleeing to Miami, refuses to
age verification, in an inter- across European countries, ally good conversation be- invest under what he calls the “criminal” government.
view with AFP. its chief noted although fore we start deciding on
A new set of PEGI (Pan-Eu- Germany has its own rat- where to apply it.” This opening by Havana, a serious breach in the island’s
ropean Game Information) ings. He added that companies anti-capitalist system, comes as the Cuban economy
age ratings, coming into As a self-regulatory mech- in the sector have wel- teeters on the brink of collapse. The shortage of essen-
force from June, will take anism by the games indus- comed the updated PEGI tial goods is worsening daily, and power outages have
into account factors in- try, its rules are applied by classifications. multiplied since President Donald Trump’s administra-
cluding in-game purchas- major console makers Nin- “They understand that by tion cut off Venezuelan oil supplies.
es, incentives to constantly tendo, Sony and Microsoft, making PEGI better and
revisit games or the ability as well as by Google on its stronger, they are better Carlos Saladrigas, president of the human resources
to limit in-game messages app store. protected against lack of company Regis HR Group and the think tank Cuba
from strangers. Apple has its own age rat- nuance, quick fixes,” Bos- Study Group, viewed the move as a step in the right
ing system, while the domi- mans said. direction, but said that Cuban authorities needed to
It had taken “a couple of nant PC gaming platform resolve many unanswered questions to attract invest-
years” for PEGI to work out Steam based in the US has - Parents needed - ment.
the new classification, its not implemented one. Bosmans also spoke out
director general Dirk Bos- against full-on bans of “Reintegrating the diaspora into the country’s eco-
mans told AFP. - ‘Regulatory pressure’ - games for children below nomic life is essential for Cuba’s future,” he said.
The games sector has in PEGI has updated its ap- a certain age as mooted “But behind their words lies an entire legal framework
recent years been the sub- proach in part in response by French President Em- that needs to be reformed,” Saladrigas said.
ject of debate, including to growing “regulatory manuel Macron last month “The government has to say: ‘We are going to discard
over allegedly addictive pressure” within the Euro- ahead of an expert inquiry. traditional socialism and a centrally planned economy
mechanics such as “loot pean Union, Bosmans said. “A ban is not very nuanced. and adopt market-based measures.’”
boxes” virtual items pur- Even as the EU has tight- It’s not very proportionate,
chasable for real money ened digital regulation no matter for what you ap- - ‘Extremely risky’ -
that contain a random in- in recent years, member ply it,” he said, recalling Hugo Cancio, owner of the digital media outlet On-
game reward. states are taking their own that PEGI was created to Cuba and Katapulk, an online supermarket that allows
steps including a draft law avoid just such a scenario the purchase and delivery of products in Cuba, was
PEGI’s new ratings will not in France barring under- in the early 2000s. more enthusiastic.
apply to games released 15s from social media, What’s more, in Australia “Of course I would invest in Cuba, and I would do so
before June this year even which the government has where social media has with great pleasure,” he said. “Do you know why? Be-
the most widely played warned would cover some already been banned for cause it’s not just an investment; I would be helping to
titles, such as “Fortnite” or online games with social under-16s “there is now rebuild my country.”
“League of Legends”. aspects, such as “Roblox”. concern that kids are pri- But Pedro Freyre, a Cuban-American lawyer special-
In future, “we will have to If passed, the law will re- marily busy with trying to izing in the island’s regulatory framework, considers
work out a plan of attack, quire all users to prove their circumvent the rules, some- Cuba an “extremely risky” investment destination.q
an approach to live service age from 2027. times with the help of their
games,” Bosmans said, While automated online parents,” Bosmans said.q