There has been significant outrage among several parents in Villa Clara regarding the fact that their children, who are fulfilling Active Military Service (SMA), are being forced to donate blood and threatened with additional night duties if they refuse.
The Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP) echoed on Facebook the outrage of parents and reported that young people in military service are being forced to donate blood: "They are threatened with losing their leave to visit their homes or with an increase in the frequency of night guard duties."
The parents told ICLEP that they are not opposed to their children participating in a generous act like donating blood, if they wish to do so. However, they stated, "What we do not consider right is for them to have to do it under pressure."
The organization stated that in Cuba, military service is mandatory, and young people are forced to submit to "despotic structures, humiliations, and mistreatment."
The pressure young people face has led some to attempt to take their own lives.
In June, a 20-year-old soldier from the municipality of Santa Clara died after jumping out of the window of a bus belonging to the Military Construction Company No. 4 of Matanzas, with license plate B 194 585.
The official station CMHW reported that the incident occurred around 10:00 AM at kilometer 254 of the National Highway in the province of Villa Clara, and the young man died instantly due to the impact with the pavement.
The note indicates that Muñoz, along with 11 other soldiers, three civilians, and the driver, was traveling to the city of Matanzas, where he would continue his mission as part of the SMA.
In 2023, Julio César Correa Hernández reported that his grandson took his own life.
"I want to make this report on a global level. My grandson Maikol took his own life around 6:00 PM during the mandatory service in this country," the man stated on Facebook.
Maikol Arcia Hernández's grandfather, the young recruit, explained in his post that his grandson was suffering from mental disorders that had not been properly evaluated by the military medical authorities.
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