Cuban Foreign Minister Blames U.S. Social Media Trolls for Historic Protests

Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, blamed social media activists in the U.S. for a campaign that led to Sunday's large anti-government march in Havana and smaller ones across the island.

Thousands took to Cuba's capital city streets, clashing with police and several thousand pro-government supporters.

One protester died while trying to overrun a police station on Sunday, the Ministry of Interior informed through a written communique late Tuesday.

During a press conference Tuesday evening, Rodriguez accused an anti-government Twitter campaign called #SOSCUBA for inciting people to riot.

"The so-called trending topics on social media are the result of an inorganic action from North American territory, with the support of trolls, Florida digital media, activists, automated systems," said Rodriguez.

Internet was cut around the island for several hours on Sunday, keeping people from communicating and transmitting live scenes from the protests.

By Monday, internet was restored, but cellphone data and public Wi-Fi hotspots are still blocked, leaving millions of people without access to the internet on the street.

Most Cubans do not have internet at home and depend on data packages they can purchase for their mobile phones.

When questioned by reporters about internet access and why data had not been restored, the minister talked about energy resources and power outages that also affect computer servers.

The island has been experiencing rolling blackouts, some lasting for most of the day, due to a fuel shortage and much-needed repair of their power plants.

But while that might partially explain the occasional lack of mobile phone data, it was not until Sunday afternoon that the cut-off was nationwide and still remains.

Rodriguez emphasised that "Cuba is not going to renounce its right to defend itself against any aggression at whatever level it may occur," leaving little doubt that the cellphone data outage and the inactive Wi-Fi spots in parks and public spaces could be a self-defense move on the part of government authorities.

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