Antonio Rassi, 18, died while fulfilling mandatory military service in the El Calvario Military Unit, in Havana.
Madrid, Spain.- A 18-year-old Cuban, identified as Antonio Rassi, died this August 18 while serving the mandatory military service (SMO) in the El Calvario military unit, in Havana.
The news was confirmed to Cubanet by the father of another young recruit who accompanied Rassi. Antonio shot his life, as reported to the other soldiers.
“The last week Antonio did not bathe. They required him but he was a bad oliente. It was remarkable that his mental health was decomposing. No one observes this and many boys makes enormous rejection of mandatory military service. And the worst, they give him a weapon without being suitable or analyze his psychological situation,” said the source to Cubanet
In social networks, the young man’s aunt, Maribel Hernández, informed that the family watched the body at the Infanta funeral home, known as “the national”, although she said that at that time they still did not know the cause of death.
“Today we are watching my nephew at the Funeral of Infanta, the National, appointed Antonio Rassi, who entered this call to the military service and we still do not know the cause. I had only 18 years,” Hernández wrote on Facebook.
Other users reacted in the comments responsible for military service, while relatives claimed the end of its obligation. “No more mandatory military service,” wrote the Internet user Mabel Morales.
A series of deaths in a year
With this death, they add at least 15 dead young people in what is going 2025 during compliance with the SMO, as Cubalex has documented. The reported cases include accidents in the prevention body, medical negligence, shots, self -collons
Parents and activists point out that the SMO, far from representing a training stage, has become an environment of risks and abuses for Cuban adolescents and young people. They denounce that deaths are repeated in similar circumstances.
Despite the seriousness of the facts, the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) has not issued official information about these cases, which has increased the claim of relatives and organizations for greater transparency and the end of the mandatory nature of the military service in Cuba.
