The incident came after the New York rapper caused a crowd commotion by throwing hundred-dollar bills at hundreds of Cuban fans.
Cell phone service in Cuba was unavailable for several hours Thursday night in Cuba, an incident that occurred after New York rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine caused a commotion by throwing hundred-dollar bills at hundreds of Cuban fans.
“Mobile network services are starting to work again,” Cuba’s national telephone company Etecsa announced around 11:00 p.m. (0400 GMT Friday), adding that problems remained on some lines.
Mobile phone services – calls, sending messages and mobile internet browsing – began to be inaccessible around 7:00 p.m. local time (00:00 GMT Friday), several AFP journalists noted.
“We are informing our customers that there is currently a breakdown on mobile services. We are working to identify the breakdown for a recovery as quickly as possible,” Etecsa said on its Twitter account.
In addition to Havana, Internet users in the provinces have also expressed the unavailability of the service.
Emergency numbers out of service
Mobile internet has been accessible in Cuba since 2018, allowing citizens to express themselves more freely. However, during periods of social tension or demonstrations, the authorities reduce or suspend internet access.
“An hour without internet (even if it’s not uncommon), but without being able to make a call (…) and without texting. Even the emergency numbers are out of service, it’s really catastrophic”, has testified on Twitter a user identifying as Rosanna and living in the province of Camagüey (east).
Social media activity was very low, AFP found. The unavailability of the service came hours after several hundred young Cubans gathered outside a luxury hotel in central Havana in the hope of catching a glimpse of famous New York rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine.
Fans, mostly teenagers, had flocked to the scene in the afternoon after the rapper announced his presence in the Cuban capital on social networks.
“We don’t know if he’s going to give a concert (in Havana), but he showed images (of his stay) on his Instagram account,” a 17-year-old Cuban told AFP. of four friends.
Crowd movement and wads of cash
Accustomed to provocations, the rapper threw tickets to his fans, according to these witnesses, causing a crowd movement, as also shown by several videos posted on social networks.
On the videos, the crowd can be seen running towards the entrance of the hotel where the musician was.
“You could see how he was throwing wads of cash, (people) saying the bills were hundred dollar bills,” said another teenager in the group, acknowledging that he couldn’t get any money back.
According to these witnesses, the rapper then got into a car and the police began to disperse the crowd.
“The police had been there for a while, but since the riot hadn’t formed yet, the police hadn’t done anything, but when everyone rushed to the car, that’s when the police told people to leave,” said one of the teenagers.
Several hours after the events, the avenue where the hotel is located remained squared by the police, noted AFP.
Unstable internet services
Widespread internet shutdowns took place two nights in a row in October, after the passage of Hurricane Ian, when demonstrations took place in several Havana neighborhoods to denounce the slow return of electricity.
The service was also restricted days after historic protests on July 11, 2021, in which thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting “Freedom” and “We are hungry.”
Internet services have been particularly unstable for several weeks in the Cuban capital. The national company recently indicated that these difficulties were due to the increase in the number of subscribers without the possibility of expanding the infrastructure.
