لنستخرج كنوزا من المعرفة و الإبداع و العلم و الأفكار
Many Cubans have seen their internet access cut off, according to multiple news reports, amid large-scale anti-government protests across the Caribbean Island.
The communist Caribbean Island has been seeing its biggest protests in decades.
Thousands marched in downtown Havana and elsewhere on the island on Sunday to demand President Miguel Diaz-Canel step down, shouting slogans like "freedom" and "unite."
There were also a smaller number of pro-government protesters that were chanting "Fidel," referring to Fidel Castro, Cuba's former long-time communist head of state.
Special forces jeeps with machines on the back were seen in the capital on Sunday night, with a heavy police presence even hours after most of the demonstrators went home in accordance with a 9 p.m. street curfew.
The demonstrations take place against the backdrop of the country's raging COVID-19 epidemic and its worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union, its old ally.
U.S. sanctions imposed during Donald Trump's presidency have further crippled the Latin American country's economy. Cubans have taken to the streets in the capital, as well as San Antonio de los Baños and Palma Soriano, to complain about food shortages and high prices amid the COVID-19 crisis. Clashes between demonstrators and police have been reported across the country.
There have been reports of Cubans' internet service being cut off across the country, potentially in order to allow authorities to limit the spread of videos of the protests.
The Associated Press reports that Cuban authorities shut down internet service throughout the afternoon. Amnesty International's Americas Director, Erika Guevara-Rosas, has also cited reports of internet outrages. Newsweek has approached the human rights organisation for comment.
