Cuban Leandro Muñoz Zamora, who was doing his Military Service, committed suicide this Wednesday by jumping out of the window of a bus belonging to a military company. This death, which is added to those of dozens of young people who occurred during that period in the Army, which is mandatory in Cuba, was reported by the state press.
Muñoz Zamora was 20 years old and lived in the municipality of Santa Clara, in the province of Villa Clara, explained the local station CMHW “La Reina del Centro”, in an unusual report in state media.
The bus from which the young recruit jumped belonged to the Military Construction Company No. 4 of Matanzas, and had license plate B 194 585, the Villa Clara station detailed. The vehicle, in which 11 soldiers, three civilians and the driver were also traveling, was heading to Matanzas, where the young man “would continue his mission as part of the Active Military Service,” added the state station, avoiding mentioning the mandatory nature of this service in the Island, which in February was extended to young women who are going to study journalism.
The incident occurred around 10:00 in the morning, at kilometer 254 of the National Highway, in the province of Villa Clara. The recruit died instantly, due to the impact against the pavement.
According to the CMHW report, authorities from the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), the Government, the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) “went to the scene immediately.”
“At the time of writing, the causes of the incident are being investigated,” CMHW reported. However, for several users who commented on the publication on the Facebook page of the Villa Clara station, the death of that young man was due to the mandatory nature of Military Service in Cuba.
In August 2022, a movement of parents and relatives of young people of service age gained strength in Cuba, who expressed their opposition to being recruited online. This occurred following the deaths of several fire brigade recruits who tried to put out the fire at the Matanzas supertanker base at the beginning of that month.
Those deaths of recruits in 2022 caused a great impact on the population, but for decades there have been many who have accidentally lost their lives or have decided to take their lives. Others died in wars abroad to which the Cuban regime sent them to carry out “internationalist missions,” or returned mutilated or with serious psychological consequences.
Accidental deaths in Military Service are so common that the regime would even use them as a threat to opponents with children of draft age, as reported by opposition member Zuleydis Pérez Velázquez to DIARIO DE CUBA in October 2023.
Months before the fire at the Matanzas Supertank Base, in May 2022, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) stated at the United Nations that Military Service was not mandatory in Cuba. She assured that “citizens of both sexes who wish to do so, and clearly express it, can join voluntarily.”
However, official sites such as EcuRed and the laws themselves deny it, reflecting that “Active Military Service (SMA), formerly known as Compulsory Military Service (SMO), constitutes one of the ways to (…) fulfill one’s duty to serve the country with arms”. And “all male citizens must complete Active Military Service for a period of two years.” At that time, women were “exempt by law from the service of arms, unless they express their willingness to undergo it.” That changed for aspiring journalism students.
Although there are many young Cubans who have committed suicide or died accidentally during Military Service, since July 2023 the regime has punished those who evade it with five years in prison. This sanction is included in the Military Penal Code Law, approved last year by the National Assembly of People’s Power.
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