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The Cuban Alfredo González, father of a young man who died during the Mandatory Military Service (MMS) in Cuba, has once again denounced the abuses, negligence, and deaths that have occurred within the Army units, publishing a gallery with 24 photos of mortal victims and other young people who were left with lifelong consequences.
"These are not numbers, they are human beings," González wrote in a on social media that quickly went viral.
According to the complainant, since 2019 to date, at least 78 deaths of young Cubans have been documented during the fulfillment of the SMO, many of them under opaque circumstances, due to accidents or lack of medical attention.
The activist, who has been demanding justice for the death of his son for years, stated that he will continue to publicly highlight the cases of other affected families.
"The military service neither trains nor educates, it destroys the youth and the families of the people," he wrote in his complaint, accompanied by the message: "Eternal glory to them".
In his post, González questioned how a government that proclaims itself "revolutionary" can consider so many deaths of young people in a peacetime army to be normal.
"They are crimes against humanity," he stated, referring to the young people who died in accidents, medical negligence, or by suicide following mistreatment and inhumane conditions within the units.
Several users responded with similar testimonies. A mother commented, “I won't send my son to service even over my dead body. So many young people full of life dying unjustly is a national tragedy.”
Others described the service as "a prison disguised as a patriotic school."
A user shared the story of her brother, who lost the mobility of a finger after cutting himself while working with a machete in the EJT and not being attended to in time because "the captain said there was no fuel to take him to the doctor."
Another comment, from a grandmother, reported that a recruit took his own life after suffering pain and not receiving medical attention: “The abuse is too much. How long will this dictatorship and repression continue?”
Mandatory Military Service in Cuba requires the recruitment of adolescents starting at 17 years of age, with penalties for those who attempt to evade it.
In many cases, young people are assigned to units far from their homes, facing poor food conditions, lack of hygiene, insufficient medical care, and arbitrary punishments.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly denounced that the Cuban military service violates international standards regarding the protection of minors in times of peace.
Despite this, the regime continues to defend the system as "a formative stage," while families accumulate stories of tragedy and loss.
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