Viral Image Is Not From 2021 Cuban Protest Against Communism
The Claim
The following image was taken during a 2021 protest against communism in Cuba.
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Emerging story
In July 2021, thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the communist regime in Cuba. During the widely publicized demonstration, an image supposedly taken during the protests went viral.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar found several instances of the viral image being shared over the years, often labeled for entirely different events. We conducted a reverse image search and found that the oldest version of the photo was taken back in 2013; therefore, it could not have been from the current Cuban protests.
The 2013 image is entitled “Desfile por el 1ro de Mayo en La Habana,” which translates to “Parade for the First of May in Havana.” According to the caption, the image was taken by photojournalist Ismael Francisco for the Cuban news site Cubadebate.
The May 1 parade is held each year to celebrate Cuba’s International Workers' Day. The event is massive and often attracts more than a million workers who parade through Havana’s streets.
This isn’t the first time an image has been falsely attributed to the 2021 protests in Cuba. A July 12 Facebook post showed a 2011 photo of an Egyptian protest while insinuating the image was taken during the Cuban demonstrations.
