MIAMI, United States. – This Wednesday, almost 20 hours after the explosions in a facility where war material was stored near the town of Melones, in Holguín, the Cuban ruler, Miguel Díaz-Canel, published on the social network a message regretting the incident, for which 13 people remain missing, according to official information.
“We stand in solidarity and accompany the families of the 13 missing people. “Full attention is being paid to what happened there and the causes are being investigated,” the ruler wrote.
However, the official statement generated a wave of questions from Internet users who demanded transparency about what happened and criticized the lack of results in previous investigations into similar incidents.
We deeply regret the fire that occurred in a warehouse in @MinfarCin Melones, Holguín municipality of Rafael Freyre. We stand in solidarity and accompany the families of the 13 missing people. Full attention is paid to what happened there and the causes are investigated. pic.twitter.com/eXs9N3qfnl
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) January 8, 2025
“About the Saratoga hotel explosion and of the 47 deceased, we never knew the result of the investigation or the culprits. We will know much less about this new explosion in a military unit in Holguín,” claimed the Internet user identified as FreedomOfSpeech.
Several comments pointed out the Government’s alleged responsibility in the tragedy, especially due to the presence of young people who were complying with the Active Military Service (SMA)mandatory on the Island.
“They have blood on their hands. How is it possible that they put children who were passing [el] MANDATORY military service at such a risk?” questioned the user identified as Cuban. For her part, Internet user Nanette M. Janeiro stated: “Namely the conditions that caused this catastrophe. [Díaz-Canel,] You should apologize and resign immediately.”
Some users, like Clitenmestra del Toro, held the Cuban ruler directly responsible for the situation of the missing soldiers. “Are you sorry? You are responsible, those Military Service boys were given to them by their parents and they had to take care of them, not expose them to dangerous situations.”
Meanwhile, Yilianne Ramirez Betancourt expressed skepticism regarding the promise to investigate the event: “If I imagine that the causes are investigated… because as things continue to happen and the causes continue to be investigated and are still not known… it is surely the fault of the blockade,” he ironized.
After the explosions and fire at the Melones military base, the Ministry of the Armed Forces (MINFAR) confirmed that 13 people – including majors, second non-commissioned officers and soldiers – were missing. The entity also noted that “his relatives were duly informed” and that “the causes are being investigated.”
In the networks, discontent also comes from the lack of clarification in previous tragedies, such as the explosion of the Saratoga hotel or the fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base.
“If they are going to investigate like they investigated the Saratoga hotel and the Matanzas Supertanker Base, then don’t even investigate,” wrote user POTAT O.
At the closing of this note, uncertainty remained regarding the 13 missing persons and the preliminary results of the investigation. On Facebook, doctors residing in the Rafael Freyre municipality have called on the community to create a group of blood donors in order to offer help to those injured during the explosions.
