As the 13-month anniversary of the death of the young Cuban Antonio Rassi Roque approaches, who passed away on August 18, 2025, while serving in the Military Service, his mother Mercedes Roque published a statement on Facebook this Friday, describing that period as a chain of cover-ups and complicities without accountability.
"13 months of mockery is what we, the parents seeking justice for the death of a child in the bloody SMO, have received—13 months of everyone covering for each other with total impunity," wrote the mother, whose sustained campaign of denunciation has made her one of the most visible voices among families who have lost a child during their time in the Army.
"It is becoming increasingly known worldwide what is happening with the (extermination of the Cuban youth), that is to say, the misleadingly named Mandatory Military Service, a framework designed to leave thousands of mothers and families with a lifetime of pain," he emphasized.
Antonio was only 18 years old when he died at Military Unit 5050, known as "El Calvario," in Havana. His mother handed him over healthy to the unit on July 28. Three weeks later, the young man called her at 8:55 am to tell her that he was going on guard duty. By 2:45 pm, he was already dead. The official report classified the death as a suicide, a claim that Mercedes completely rejects: “It's simple negligence and lack of attention for a death that could have been prevented”, she stated.
From the very beginning, she pointed to the first political lieutenant Aldo Fábregas Ardiles as the main responsible party, alongside Captain Ricardo Martínez. In her post on Friday, she sent a direct message: "Aldo Fábregas Ardiles, you will always carry in your mind the death of Antonio Rassi Roque and all the abuses you committed against many recruits of the 5050."
He also recalled a meeting months later: "with a significant lack of genitals to look me in the face, as happened on November 19, 2025, when he saw me his gaze went to the floor."
Mercedes Roque concluded her post with a call to other mothers: "Report even the smallest incidents that happen to your children in military units, before you have a designated day in the month to bring flowers to your children at the cemetery, as is my case and that of many families."
And she reaffirmed her determination: "Even if I do not achieve justice for my son, I will not tire of speaking out, even if it seems in vain."
Mercedes Roque's journey in search of justice has been a systematic path of closed doors. She attempted to approach the unit on August 15 and 24, 2025, but was not attended to. On September 30, she was received by a commission that had no direct connection to the events. In November, the head of the Western Army and the Military Prosecutor's Office promised her "total transparency." The result was the case being shelved.
On July 2nd, Prosecutor Velázquez informed him of the case's closure through a provisional dismissal, a procedure regulated in Article 423 of Law 143 of the Cuban Criminal Process that allows for the archiving of the case without a defined timeline for its reopening. No official has been prosecuted.
"The death of a recruit is not important, it's just another number. But the death of an officer is," the mother replied. Weeks later, she reported obstacles from the military and judicial authorities to exercise her rightto appeal, and posted a video from her son's grave stating: "They killed him."
The death of Antonio is one among many young Cubans who have lost their lives during the Mandatory Military Service (SMO). Cubalex recorded at least 78 deaths of recruits since 2019, with 19 occurring in 2025 alone.
The Cuban Observatory of Citizen Auditing raised the number to at least 97 young people dead or missing during the SMO between 2001 and the spring of 2026. The Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces has not issued any public statements regarding any of these cases.
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