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Ángel Ernesto, a young man from Santiago de Cuba, passed away early Sunday morning after being crushed by a tank during a military maneuver, according to testimonies gathered by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada.
The accident occurred while the young man was fulfilling his Mandatory Military Service (SMO) and was described as the result of reckless maneuvering.
After the incident, Ángel Ernesto was transferred to the Dr. Joaquín Castillo Duany Military Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, where he spent several days in intensive care fighting for his life.
He passed away in the early hours of this Sunday, "leaving pain, indignation, and many unanswered questions among his family, neighbors, and acquaintances," according to the journalist.
Neighbors of the young man claim that "he did not want to go to Military Service, but he was sought out in his home by prevention agents and taken to an institution where he met his death."
Cuban military authorities have not issued any official statement regarding the incident, a common practice of the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces in cases of this nature.
The body of Ángel Ernesto was laid to rest at the Santiago Funeral Home, and his burial is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. this Sunday.
The case falls within an alarming pattern of deaths within the Cuban military service.
According to an analysis by the Civic Thought Laboratory Cuba x Cuba based on data from Archivo Cuba, at least 67 recruits died between 2018 and early 2026: 27 due to self-inflicted causes, 16 due to serious negligence, 14 due to accidents, four due to denial of medical care, and three due to crime.
In 2025 alone, the organization Cubalex documented at least 19 deaths of young individuals during their time as recruits, which led human rights organizations and independent press to describe the SMO as a machine that takes lives without accountability.
Santiago de Cuba has been the scene of several of these tragedies. In December 2025, Eldis Leyva Nieves, 19 years old, originally from the Guamá municipality of that province, died during shooting exercises in Guantánamo while fulfilling his military service.
In March 2026, Dailier Rodríguez Tamayo, 19 years old, died in the military unit 10-24 of El Cotorro, in Havana, under circumstances that were not officially explained.
Military Service Obligation (SMO) has been mandatory in Cuba since June 1963, and the National Defense Law requires males to register for military service when they turn 16, with no real possibility for objection.
"Another tragedy that casts a shadow over a Cuban family and highlights the blood price that continues to be paid for a service that no one chose," concluded Mayeta Labrada.
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