The Government of Havana denied this Sunday the deaths of young people during the mass fight which took place on Saturday evening in the surroundings of the Finca de los Monos, a recreational space located in the Cerro municipality.
Hours after the news went viral on social networks and in the face of silence from the official media, the government entity decided to publish a statement on its Facebook page.
In the same, describes news related to the death of young people as false and explains that “the incident is related to an unapproved activity, where a disturbance of order occurred during movement to the exterior areas of the facility.”
“Unfortunately The incident caused two injuries, who received immediate medical attention without danger to life.. There are no deaths,” the text continues, after stating that the “Government authorities and the National Revolutionary Police intervened consistently to restore order.”
Likewise, the text attacks the media and network profiles that made the fact known: “Once again the unscrupulous attitude of people and media that try to discredit our society with falsehoods is revealed.”
Although the Government of Havana does not mention it, the reality is that the fight left horrifying images of gangs armed with machetes and other sharp objects, which demonstrates the high level of existing violence in a country that is experiencing the largest wave of migration of its history and whose population resists countless electricity outages in the midst of all kinds of deficiencies.
On Facebook, the user identified as Edmundo Dantes Jr. provided details of the unfortunate altercation: “Young people from different gangs are at the Finca de los Monos, where the beginning of summer called by the UJC was being celebrated.”
“According to what they say, the events were due to a ‘settling of accounts’. I can’t put the strongest videos. It didn’t end well, at least 5 did not survive, although they tell me that there are already 12, it is not confirmed and false photos are circulating. Many others are serious. Children from 13 to 15 years old,” added the Internet user.
According to their information, young people were reported dead in the mass fight. Rumors spoke of a dozen dead, plus an unknown number of wounded.
The images recorded on video and shared on social networks reveal an unusual outbreak of violence, with the presence of hundreds of young people, many of them teenagers and minors.
One of the videos captured the moment when police officers loaded an injured young man into a patrol car to take him to the hospital. “For him [hospital] Pediatric Center of Central Havana,” a police officer is heard saying, giving instructions to the driver of the police vehicle.
The revolt appears to have spread in time and space, as other videos showed scenes of fights at dusk and in other streets of the city. It is unknown what was the trigger for such an outbreak of violence, although there is talk of rivalries between gangs.
