A young man from Las Tunas who survived a 33,000-volt electric shock while serving in the Mandatory Military Service in Havana claims he has not received any compensation from the Cuban government, despite the serious consequences of the accident and the precarious conditions in which he lives with his mother.
His story was brought to light by the Holguin activist Norge Ernesto Díaz Blak, known on social media as Noly Blak, whose video on Facebook surpassed one million views and sparked a wave of solidarity.
"And what about some money for the accident?" the activist asked during the interview.
"No," was the response.
“Nothing?” Blak asks again.
"No," the young man emphasized.
The accident occurred on November 24, when the then recruit was on duty at a military post in Havana.
According to his mother, there was no water in the area, and the young man couldn't leave his post. To quench his thirst, he tried to knock down a coconut using a stick.
"Yes, to knock down a coconut. And after that, I don't remember anything else," he recalled.
The pole made contact with a 33,000-volt line.
The shock caused him severe injuries to his arms, legs, abdomen, and back, in addition to leaving him unconscious.
He spent a year and three months in the intensive care unit at the Naval Hospital in Havana, where he even underwent a tracheotomy. He was finally discharged on January 10, but the aftereffects persist, and today he can barely walk normally.
They live in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Las Tunas
After returning to his province, the young man settled with his mother in the Palancón neighborhood, considered one of the most vulnerable areas of Las Tunas.
The family's economic situation is critical.
His mother, 47 years old, explained that she developed a skin condition during her son's extended hospitalization and has been unable to obtain the prescribed medications.
"I haven't been able to buy the medications that were prescribed to me because I don't have help, and I can't work because I can't leave him alone," she said.
The young person's diet also reflects the difficulties they face.
"White spaghetti with salt and oil," the mother replied when the activist asked her what she could offer him to eat.
A solidarity campaign to help the family
After learning about the case, Noly Blak launched a fundraising campaign that mobilized dozens of Cubans both inside and outside the Island.
The donations were organized through various public lists of contributors, both in Cuban pesos and in dollars, following the transparency mechanism that the activist regularly uses to account for the aid received.
In recent years, Díaz Blak has launched numerous campaigns to assist families in extreme vulnerability in the eastern part of the country, including one that raised more than three million pesos for a family in Holguín and another that exceeded one million pesos for two brothers who were living in extreme poverty.
A problem that transcends this case
The story of the young man from Tunero once again highlights the risks of Mandatory Military Service in Cuba.
According to a report from the Cuban Observatory of Citizen Audit, published on July 20, at least 97 recruits died or went missing during Military Service between 2001 and the spring of 2026.
The study indicates that accidents account for 22.7% of the documented cases and warns that the actual figure could be significantly higher due to the lack of official statistics.
"As long as the system producing this loss remains intact, there is no reason to believe that the death toll will stop increasing," concludes the report.
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