Nikon punishes Cuban boy for Castro

According to the Japan Times, Nikon refused to hand over the first prize to Raysel Sosa González because the digital camera contained parts that were on a list of things drawn up by the US that Cubans should not be allowed to own.

The US drew up the list in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis. Apparently it is very worried about 12 year olds getting their paws on digital cameras in case they disassemble it and build a nuclear missile.

The move played into the hands of the far-from-free Cuban press, which has branded Nikon as a Western capitalist running dog fellow traveller sort of a thing. Fidel Castro has presented a digital camera to González to make up for the loss in an archetypal propaganda move.

Meanwhile Nikon has admitted that it has made a huge PR stuff up and is working out if it can give González a digital camera that does not break the US embargo. So it looks like the boy could end up with a lot of digital cameras to pay with.

Give Nikon a Havana cigar!

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