Holguin youths are dismissed for military service: "The highest duty is to defend the revolution."

A group of young people from the province of Holguin, who will undertake Active Military Service (AMS) and Female Voluntary Military Service (FVMS), was bid farewell this Tuesday with the call to "fulfill the highest duty of a Cuban: to be prepared to defend the achievements of the Revolution."

The officialist newspaper ¡Ahora! reviewed the "emotional meeting," in which various political and mass organizations highlighted their pride in seeing so many young people taking on one of the main tasks that the "new pines" have always been involved in.

"Entering the Military Service for Women is a pride as a woman in today's Cuba, because preparing for defense is the most important thing for any patriot. It will be a process of experiences and learning that I can take advantage of later as a future professional in the field of media," said Ana Laura Campello Pérez at the event, a future Journalism student.

In addition to the young people who will go to the SMA, there were also the girls who will study journalism, international relations, or will become a merchant marine, since currently, to study these specialties, it is a requirement to comply with the MVF.

The young Campello, with a romantic vision of military service in Cuba, pointed out that she, like the rest of the "children of the home country of Fidel and Raúl," will take advantage of this stage, which she described as a "personal growth," to reach her future projections for continuing her studies and entering the workforce.

Warning: This article contains sensitive information about suicides and deaths. Reader discretion is advised.

Although the note praises the participation of young women in the trenches, emphasizing their "immense responsibility and sacrifice," the triumphalistic text omits mentioning the difficult conditions faced by people who go to the SMA, which is mandatory, and have led many cadets to choose suicide as a way to escape the harsh reality.

Just two weeks ago, a 20-year-old soldier residing in the municipality of Santa Clara took his own life while being transported to Matanzas, where he was supposed to continue his Military Service Obligation.

Last April, a young resident of the community of Niquero, in the province of Granma, died while serving the Compulsory Military Service in Havana. This incident fueled criticisms of the regime for forcing young people to go through this stage.

A month earlier, in March, another soldier also died while on military duty. The mother of the young man wrote a message on Facebook apologizing to her son for not having acted in time, suggesting that the cadet chose to commit suicide due to the pressures he was receiving from an officer at the Military Unit.

"I'm sorry, my child, I'm sorry, because I couldn't get you out of that hell," said the woman in a touching text in which she also confessed to having been tied hand and foot to prevent them from taking her to comply with that demand from the Cuban regime.

In 2022, after the fire at the Matanzas Supertankers Base claimed the lives of several recruits, a campaign against Military Service in Cuba gained momentum on social media.

With the hashtag #NoAlServicioMilitarObligatorio, Cuban internet users demanded that the regime revoke the law that requires male teenagers to formalize their registration in the military registry when they turn 16 years old.