Havana: Cuba has limited access to social media and messaging platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram since Monday, the Global Internet Monitoring Company Netblocks said on Tuesday, in the midst of expanding anti-government protests.
Netblocks, based in London, said on its website that the platform in Cuba was still partly disturbed on Tuesday, which most likely limit the flow of information from Cuba.
“The government did not respond to a comment request immediately.
Telegram and Facebook Inc., which has Instagram and WhatsApp.
Twitter social platform Inc.
said it did not find the blocking of its services.
Thousands of Cubans joined demonstrations in cities throughout the country on Sunday to protest the Cuban economic crisis and handling pandemic, with several calls to end communism.
The government has said the demonstration is regulated by the counter-revolutionary which is funded by the US, manipulating frustration with the economic crisis which is largely due to the US trade embargo aged decades.
Underpointing the government’s concern, media managed reported on Tuesday that Raul Castro, who resigned as the head of the Cuban Communist Party in April, attended a meeting on Sunday the political bureau to overcome the “provocation.” The party leader and President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in April he was will continue to consult with Castro about the most important things.
US Secretary Antony Blinken said on Monday that believed that the demonstration directed by the US would be a “great mistake” and showed the government did not listen to the voices of Cuban people.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday, a difficult situation in Cuba was “basically” because of the US economic embargo on the country.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebard, said on Tuesday he had spoken with his partner Cuba to determine what kind of humanitarian assistance would help the Caribbean.
Protests, rarely in a country where differences of opinion are strictly limited, it seems that most dies on Sunday night because more police and military are deployed to the streets and Diz-Canel calls for government supporters to come out and struggle to maintain their revolution.
However, protests occurred in the outskirts of South Havana La Guinera on Monday, according to five local residents and video recordings obtained by Reuters.
Hundreds of protesters faced with the police, shouting “down with communism” and other anti-government slogans, said two residents who asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation, added that they had heard a shot.
About 150 people were arrested while following the biggest wave of protests in various cities on Sundays, according to the rights groups were exiled by Cubalex, and only 12 confirmed released so far.
“In some interrogation, we explained that no one directed us from abroad to be taken to the streets, that no one paid us one centave to do what we did,” The Junior Theater Director of Garcia, who was arrested in a protest at Havana on Sunday, write on the Facebook page.
He said he was released on Monday but police officials told him that he remained in the investigation.
The introduction of cellular internet two and a half years ago was the key factor behind protests in Cuba, gave Cuba more than the platform to express their frustration and allowed the word to come out quickly when people were on the road.
Reuters witnesses in the capital said on Tuesday they still did not have cellular data.
Cellular internet blackouts have increased this year.
The Kentik network monitoring company said it observed the entire country to be offline for less than 30 minutes around 4pm on Sundays, during the top of the protest in Havana.
The social media platform faces increasing demands from the government globally to reduce certain content, and in some cases see their services are limited or prohibited during the protest period.
Cuba curbs access to Facebook, messaging applications in the middle of protest
