Cuban Television Police Series 1969–1981: A Weapon for the Revolution

Abstract: This article analyzes the Cuban television production of police series between 1969 and 1981. It shows the relationship between the series, the cultural policy of the Cuban Revolution, and the primarily educational role of television after the 1959 revolutionary triumph. These series have been produced and developed, until today, under the strict supervision of MININT (Ministerio del Interior, Home Office) and the FAR (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, Revolutionary Armed Forces), and perceived mainly as an invaluable means of propaganda and education. First, the article establishes the relationship between the sociopolitical context of the moment, Cuban cultural policies in the 1970s, and the decision to begin production of homegrown police dramas. Then, the series Sector 40 and Móvil 8 are examined. Both screened during prime time on alternating weekends for a decade (1969–1979), depicting the Cuban security forces’ fight against counterrevolutionary groups and common crime. Next, the article focuses on a number of series that depicted the work of Cuban agents who had infiltrated counterrevolutionary groups. Finally, the series El regreso de David is considered, to show how, by the time it was screened (1981), the Cuban sociopolitical context had undergone deep transformations, which rendered outdated the original formula.