The Monkeys Farm, the scene of a massive brawl this past Saturday that left at least six injured, admitted that "the event's pulling power was underestimated" and reiterated that there were no fatalities in the incident.
"We regret that such an important event for our teenagers has been spoiled, designed with and for them, with a suitable cultural program, affordable tickets, and gastronomic offers in order to provide them with a regular space for the entire summer, something so necessary at this time for this type of audience between 12 and 17 years old, who have so many deficiencies in similar spaces," wrote the entity located in the Cerro municipality in Havana on Facebook.
Next, not only did they reiterate that there were no deaths, but they also specified that "neither inside nor in the vicinity of the institution were there any injured to regret."
Finally, the entity acknowledged that they did not calculate the massive reach that the activity could have, and that "the event's calling power was underestimated."
The Monkey Farm - located in Santa Catalina and Palatino - concluded that the "usual figures" of attendance at all activities at the Technological Palace were excessively exceeded.
A poster promoting the event presented it as the "Start of Youth Summer 2024", scheduled to take place between 5 and 11 p.m., with an entrance fee of 100 pesos and the presence of young urban genre artists.
In the midst of the flood of reports surrounding the incident, Quinta de Los Molinos -another popular outdoor recreation area- took to their social media this Sunday to clarify that there had been no "public disorder" there, as some people mistakenly believed.
The Government of Havana denied this Sunday that there were any deaths during the massive brawl that took place on Saturday evening in the vicinity of the Finca de los Monos.
Hours after the news went viral on social media, the government entity released a statement qualifying the news related to the deaths of young people as "false." It explained that the incident was related to "an unauthorized activity" where "a disturbance occurred while moving to the exterior areas of the facility."
The official source initially stated that the incident left two non-life-threatening injuries and that authorities from the Government and the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) intervened to restore order.
The text also lashed out against independent media outlets and profiles on social networks that made the incident known.
Despite the clarifications, the fight left strong images of young people armed with machetes and other sharp objects, demonstrating the high level of violence in the country.
In the past few hours, the government spokesperson Humberto López raised the number of injured in the incident to six and reiterated the false nature of the information that went viral on social media.
Although Cuban authorities labeled the event as "unapproved activity," a video and promotional posts on social media revealed that it did indeed have the approval of the relevant authorities.
As usual, the official denial came too late, when social media was already on fire with inflated numbers of dead and wounded.
That reality, which is also recurrent in Cuba, prompted a brief but accurate reflection from the popular actor Luis Silva: "Do you know why there are so many Fake News? Because you take too long to give the Real News," the actor summarized his feelings concisely in his Instagram stories, in a clear - yet veiled - reproach to the government.
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