Kneecap have performed in Havana after arriving in Cuba on Nuestra América Convoy alongside Jeremy Corbyn. Watch the footage below.
Nuestra América Convoy is an international plan to deliver aid to Cuba in response to the country’s ongoing humanitarian and economic crisis. It was first intended to take the form of a flotilla, before expanding into a global mission that will deliver humanitarian supplies by air, land and sea.
The Irish rap trio arrived in Cuba on Saturday (March 21), reportedly alongside 300kg of humanitarian aid brought by the organisation, per the Irish Times.
During a press conference in the capital, Havana, Kneecap and Corbyn criticised Donald Trump’s fuel blockade of Cuba. The country is currently struggling to replace oil supplies from Venezuela, which have been blocked by the US since it captured president Nicolas Maduro in January.
“We see the island of Cuba being strangled,” said Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara. “It’s important that people who have a platform like us, who reach maybe a certain number of audiences… that we use that platform for what’s right and what’s good.”
He added that the Cubans were a “very resilient people”, which they related to. “We as Irish people were Britain’s first colony, we have grown up our whole lives with an understanding of colonialism and oppression and also forced starvation,” he said.
“We grew up with Cuban and Palestinian flags from we were kids,” he continued. “These were countries that always showed solidarity with us. And it is important that we return the favour. It’s our duty to return the favour to these countries, as long as there is injustice in these countries, you know, and as long as we have platform, we will continue to do the right thing.”
Naoise Ó Cairealláin, known as Móglaí Bap, added that the group wanted to raise awareness for the “collective punishment that has been dealt to the Cuban people,” per the Telegraph.
When asked if they would do a gig in Cuba, they joked: “No, Cuba has suffered enough,” though they did give a brief performance which you can see clips of below.
Recent weeks have seen Cubans protest on the streets amid power outages, with people banging pots and pans in the darkness. This form of protest has been used by Cubans on a few occasions in recent years, with citizens growing increasingly frustrated by issues including shortages, blackouts, rising inflation and currency depreciation.
Cuba relies heavily on imported oil, mostly purchased from Venezuela and Mexico. These shipments have been disrupted following a US military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, worsening fuel shortages on the island.
Subsequent blackouts and shortages, as well as the knock-on effects on healthcare and education in Cuba, have prompted the protests.
It’s been reported that the US is seeking regime change in Cuba by the end of the year, while President Donald Trump has urged Cuba to “make a deal before it’s too late” and suggested that the US could implement “a friendly takeover” of the country, per Reuters.
In other news, Kneecap recently spoke out about the “real issue” of anti-Semitism and reaffirmed that they are “against discrimination in any form”.
Mo Chara accused some people of diluting the term and using it as a way to quiet down people who speak out about issues with Israel’s government. “When you start labelling bands and people who speak out against Israel as anti-Semitic, what you do is water that term down,” he said, adding: “We are not anti-Semitic.”
The comments from the Irish hip-hop trio come following the High Court dismissing a terror charge against one of its members, Mo Chara, and later rejecting an appeal by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), was charged with the offence for allegedly displaying the flag of Hezbollah – a proscribed terrorist organisation – and shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” during a gig in London back in 2024. The band, who have continuously denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, argued that the footage from the gig had been taken out of context and described the legal action as a “carnival of distraction”.
The rapper also maintained that he didn’t know what the flag was when he picked it up, and the band invited fans to gather in support when they made three court appearances.
The decision to throw the charges out was reached in September, and was made due to technicalities relating to the way in which the case was brought about. An appeal was then made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in January, but was thrown out on March 11 after two high court judges stood by the initial decision.
In other news, the trio will release their new album ‘FENIAN’ on April 24. So far, they’ve already shared the single ‘Liars Tale’, which sees them criticise British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
It comes after Starmer expressed his frustration at the decision from the High Court dismissing a terror charge against Kneecap and later rejecting the appeal – saying that what the trio stand for is “completely intolerable”.
English (US) · 