Adrián González will never erase from his memory the suicide attempt of one of his military colleagues in 1983. Both were recruits from the military unit La Cabaña in Casablanca, across Havana Bay, when their friend climbed the summit of Christ, the colossal work of Jilma Madera, jumped into the abyss and shouted: “I am Superman!” The fall was 20 meters.
The young man survived, but was left with one arm and had to stay in the hospital for months. “He wanted to look crazy and get out of the military like that,” says González, who now lives in New York and whose memories of military unit 3074 in La Cabaña still haunt him. “By the time I left there in 1986, there had been at least three ‘successful’ suicides. They all jumped away from Christ,” he tells 14ymedio.
At that time, he adds, the Crossing to Christ, inaugurated a week before Batista’s escape, on December 24, 1958, was forbidden – “Fidel Castro didn’t like people praying there” – and he was guarding it. A single recruit, shotgun in hand. For many, being a mountain guard was a way out of the unit’s oppressive environment, but many ended up thinking too much and falling into depression, he says.
Another young man stole a rifle from the arsenal and shot himself in the head. His desperation had reached the point of no return and he no longer cared about getting out, but rather killed himself. “The officers told us at the time that he had problems with his father, but we all knew what happened: the boy could never adapt to the service,” says González.
“I told them I wanted to kill myself. They didn’t believe me. Then they tried to put me in prison for repeated absences because I was from El Vedado and ran away every night.”
Unable to physically harm himself, González also starred in an episode of Madness in which he attempted to leave the unit early. “They took me to the psychiatrist at the Naval Hospital after feigning severe depression. I told them I wanted to take my own life. They didn’t believe me. Then they tried to put me in prison for repeated absences because I came from… El Vedado and I ran away every night.
He was eventually examined by a team of doctors in Mazorra – the dark asylum in Havana – and after the diagnosis, “they realized that I had depression, but that wasn’t enough to discharge me. In the end, I completed my service, I spent three years and three months in that unit, but at least I got out of prison,” he says. His conclusion, four decades later, is similar to that of every Cuban who has been at the mercy of the armed forces: “I am miraculously alive.”
A recent study by the organization Archivo Cuba described Cuban military service as “trafficking in human beings with a lethal cost” that has claimed the lives of at least 54 young people since its inception by Law No. 1,129 of November 26, 1963 (it was documented). Only the island and North Korea force minors under 18 to undergo training in armed forces facilities, with the training having strong ideological undertones that underscore the need for blind obedience to the regime.
The causes of death recorded by the Cuba Archives are varied: suicides, negligence by superiors, medical neglect, careless orders – like the young recruits who died at the Matanzas supertanker base – disappearances and deaths under unclear circumstances.
“My son said he would rather die under Ukrainian bombs than here from hunger and grief.”
In 2021, the number of young people of military age – between 15 and 29 years old – in Cuba was 1,033,123, according to official data. They are “a large captive reserve,” the report says, “sunk in poverty and hopelessness,” which is why they looked for every opportunity to leave the country, including by military means.
The clearest – and most serious – example is the presence of young Cubans in the Russian army who took part in the invasion of Ukraine. Many admitted that his motivation was economic. With 26,000 euros a year, the salary they had promised some Cuban mercenaries, they wanted to help their families and later manage to bring them to Russia.
The report, signed by María Werlau, documents that the presence of Cubans in the Russian ranks was known and accepted by the leadership of both countries, whose military and political rapprochement was consolidated last year. Werlau sheds light on the case of the two young people from the island who stated that they had been “deceived” and “mistreated”. According to a video published by several media outlets, they had signed a contract that did not provide for their direct presence at the front and were still forced to participate directly in the war.
“My son said he would rather die under Ukrainian bombs than here from hunger and grief,” the mother of one of the recruits revealed, according to the document.
“Medical supplies are scarce and nutrition is very poor and people are even starving, especially affecting minors who are still growing.”
The report also devotes a section to the most traumatic precursor to young Cubans’ struggle on foreign fronts: Angola. “According to official figures, Cuba involved 377,033 soldiers and 50,000 civilian collaborators,” for whom the African country paid up to $1,000 per member, he points out.
For Werlau, the conditions of military service in Cuba could not be more deplorable. “Many of the recruits are sent to remote units far away from their families,” he says. “Medical care is scarce and nutrition is very poor and people are even starving, which especially affects minors who are still growing.” In addition, there is a ban on leaving the country for young people.
The “severe torment” of military service leaves a psychological – and often physical – toll that lasts a lifetime. González knows this well, who reunited with his friend years after his “leap” from Christ. When González congratulated him on his “deserved” exit, the other showed him his hands, which were still broken from the impact: “Your luck was better,” he said, “I regret it. Look how I did.”
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