Young Cuban teenager dies in Military Service in Holguín

A young Cuban died while fulfilling the Active Military Service in the Anti-Aircraft UnitHolguin, in an event that an official source described as an "accident."

“They tell us that the accident occurred when a generating set was being moved and the deceased tripped in front of the wheels of the equipment, and it ran over him”, reported inFacebook el perfil officialista Maximus Romus (Legionario Cubano).

The victim, identified as Ennier Hechavarría Silva, was rushed to the hospital after what happened, but died shortly after.

“They tell us that he was a disciplined young man and had good relations with everyone in the Unit. Thatin his town, Cauto Embarcadero, in the Río Cauto municipality, Granma, “He was loved by all the neighbors,” the source added.

The funeral of the young man - whose age was not specified - was attended by military chiefs of the Eastern Army, the Granma Military Region and the Río Cauto Military Sector.

The tragic death of Ennier Hechavarría Silva was spread and greatly lamented in the Facebook group "No more deaths in Military Service in Cuba", which has almost 4 thousand members.

"How many more have to lose their lives in these institutions? They are no longer isolated events, they happen every week, one due to accidents, others because they take their own life. "That is what the Revolution is, a general disorder, and all under a false concept of patriotism,"opined an Internet user reporting the death of the young man.

"They are our teenage children starting to live [...]Why do they want to have an army in which so many teenagers lose their lives if there is no military conflict?"he questioned.

CyberCuba has contacted family sources with a view to trying to gather more information about what happened in the case of the death of Ennier Hechavarría Silva, but as of the closing of this note, we have not received a response.

Unfortunately, the death of young Cubans during Military Service is not so uncommon, although in all cases the Cuban regime tries to silence such events or classify them as accidents.

Years pass and the families touched by the tragedy do not forget or manage to turn the page on an event that marks their lives forever.

At the end of May, the father of Orlando Lago Vega, an 18-year-old young manmurdered in a military unit in Havana While sleeping,He demanded justice three years after death of his son.

“I am the father of the child murdered while sleeping, undergoing Compulsory Military Service in Valle Grande, La Lisa, in Havana, Cuba. Just hours after completing three years of such a brutal murder of my son, under the care of the Cuban government, I can only report that it was never seriously investigated and there was no response to my claims, because there is compelling evidence from several people involved and officials, which were not clarified in the trial where impartiality was demonstrated among the prosecutors,” he noted.

Also in May, less than a month ago, the16-year-old teenager, Maikol Arcia Hernández, committed suicide. In that case, the grandfather of the young recruit explained that his grandson suffered from mental disorders that had not been evaluated by military medical authorities.

Government of Cuba denied before the UN that Military Service is mandatory

In May 2022, thousands of Cubans reacted indignantly on social networks when a diplomat of the regime stated at the United Nations, during a session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC),that military service in Cuba is “voluntary.” The statement manipulated the content of the National Defense Law, where its mandatory nature is explicit in the case of men.

In its Third Section (Article 77), this law establishes that “male citizens, during the year in which they turn sixteen years of age, are obliged to formalize their registration in the military registry.”

The regulations also establish that “once registered in the military registry, citizens are obliged to carry out the activities aimed at preparing them for incorporation into Military Service and to keep their situation duly updated.”

In 2019, Cuban military courts ordered compliance with sanctions for Military Service recruits who self-harm to be discharged, a common practice in recent decades, with many regrettable incidents as a consequence.

Although the mandatory nature of Military Service has been systematically criticized by Cubans,The recruitment did not stop even during the coronavirus pandemic, something that was severely questioned by citizens.