“The resilience…” The lights went out before the Irish rapper Mo Chara could finish his sentence.
Kneecap was holding a press conference on Saturday in Havana’s Vedado neighbourhood as part of the Nuestra America Convoy, an international aid mission that had brought the Irish group to Cuba's capital.
Minutes earlier, they had played a three-song set to close the Festival de Primavera Pa’Cuba, while outside people ate, children bounced on trampolines and families played badminton.
Then, inside, darkness. The room fell silent. For a moment, no one spoke. Then a voice rang out from the front: “Cuba si, bloqueo no! (Cuba yes, blockade no).” It caught on quickly, filling the room.
Kneecap had led the crowd outside in chants of “Free Palestine”, “Viva Cuba”, and “Fuck Trump”. Now, in the dark, the politics of the moment were all too clear.
