It suggests that while the Cuban government tells its citizens to tighten their belts, the performers and associated activists stayed in a five-star hotel with uninterrupted power, implying that the government prioritises propaganda spectacles over the lives of its people. This specific claim has been amplified across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), often shared with language expressing grief and anger, making it a potent tool for discrediting the Cuban government.

Internet is divided

As the screenshots and posts spread, the global online community had a lot of thoughts to share. On one side, the narrative was taken at face value. On the other side, there is still scepticism. Many online began asking basic questions that the viral posts failed to answer. What hospital? What date did this happen on? Where is the evidence linking a concert to a specific power failure? The original posts provided no names, no concrete locations, and no photographic evidence tying the band to the alleged incident.

The claims are false: Cuba's energy crisis explained

The truth is far more complicated and far less sensational than the viral post suggests. Kneecap did perform in Havana, but the narrative about ventilators appears to be a fabrication designed to capitalise on the very real fears Cubans are facing.

However, the backdrop is a genuine and severe energy emergency. The current crisis is not the result of a single concert but of a perfect storm of structural failures and external pressure.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has stated that the island has not received any foreign shipments of oil for three months. This is largely due to intensified pressure from the United States. The Trump administration cut off oil shipments from Venezuela, Cuba's primary ally and supplier, and threatened tariffs on any other country that sends fuel to the island. Cuba relies on this imported fuel to run its ageing fleet of oil-fired power plants. Without it, the plants simply cannot operate.

Additionally, even if fuel were plentiful, Cuba's power grid is in dire condition. Many of the country's 16 thermoelectric plants are decades old, poorly maintained, and prone to frequent breakdowns. This is why a single technical fault often results in a nationwide blackout, as seen three times this March alone.

Looking at the facts, not the fiction

The story of a concert killing hospital patients is dangerous. It turns a complex humanitarian crisis into a simple, villainous narrative that serves political ends. The truth is that Cuba's energy crisis is a slow-moving disaster caused by decades of infrastructural neglect, a suffocating economic embargo, and the sudden collapse of vital oil imports from Venezuela.

Contrary to the viral claims, the hip-hop group travelled to Cuba as part of an international aid convoy, not to consume resources but to deliver them. They joined over 500 activists from 30 countries bringing more than 20 tonnes of medicine, food, water, and solar panels to help Cubans suffering under a US fuel blockade. Band member Mo Chara stated that as Irish people who understand colonialism and oppression, silence was not an option while the island was being "strangled". The group performed in Havana as part of their solidarity mission, using their platform to protest the blockade rather than to drain the nation's power.

While it is true that the government prioritises fuel for the tourism industry, and that this disparity is a source of frustration for locals, it is a world away from the claim that a rock band's performance was directly responsible for the deaths of vulnerable patients. As Cuba struggles to restore power to its hospitals and homes, it is crucial to separate fact from fiction.