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Cuban ex-military personnel pointed to the possible presence of stored chemical materials at the Melones military base in the Holguin municipality of Rafael Freyre as one of the main causes of the explosion that resulted in 13 fatalities, nine of whom were young recruits of the mandatory Military Service.
The lack of security protocols for the preservation of these materials may have been another factor contributing to the disaster, according to statements collected by Martí Noticias.
The former Cuban lieutenant colonel Máximo Omar Ruiz Matoses, exiled in Spain and president of the independent group Military Conscientious Objectors, stated that in the 1980s he visited the Melones base, where chemical weapons of the Eastern Army were stored.
According to Ruiz Matoses, the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) may still have dangerous material at the site, which would explain the silence of the Cuban authorities regarding the incident.
"It used to be an ordnance depot of the FAR where pyrotechnic materials and various weapons were stored. If there had been old ammunition, the explosion would have been swift, but the magnitude of the incident suggests the presence of chemical weapons," stated the former military officer.
Cuban authorities attributed the tragedy to an electrical failure caused by a short circuit, according to a statement issued by MINFAR. However, former military personnel like exiled Cuban lieutenant Ángel Madrazo, residing in Texas, argued that the real cause may be the lack of adequate safety measures in the handling of explosives.
"At the military bases, security protocols were never respected. People played with explosives to conduct drills. I suspect that in Melones there was rocamonita, a military-grade plastic explosive, along with other chemical materials," Madrazo stated to the mentioned outlet.
Suspicion that the Cuban regime was lying in its explanations about what happened arose from the very beginning, when an official note published in Cubadebate reported that “munitions were being sorted at the military unit near Gibara,” claims that were later removed from the official digital portal and were never mentioned again in subsequent statements from MINFAR.
Another aspect that could have worsened the tragedy is the existence of underground tunnels in the area, which hinder access for rescue teams. According to Ruiz Matoses, these tunnels, some of which extend several kilometers, could have been used to store war materials.
A retired captain from the FAR, interviewed by the independent outlet 14ymedio under the condition of anonymity, described the explosion as "one of the most costly episodes of negligence for the Cuban people." The former officer criticized the lack of immediate evacuation of personnel at the facility and the absence of investment in proper maintenance of the explosive materials, factors that may have contributed to the disaster.
The tragedy in Melones has caused concern among the Cuban population, which is still awaiting clear answers from the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel regarding what happened.
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