On a very hot day last November, Rebel Palacio was on a plane with three of his neighbor friends at the resort in Varadero Beach, Cuba, having a gleeful conversation as they spoke. In their hut on the island, the four of them flipped through the contracts for their new jobs, full of anticipation. They were offered a job and had the possibility of escaping the hardships of life on the island.
Rebel Palacio shared this painting with his spouse while serving the Russian army in Ukraine.
A few weeks later, Palacio was killed by a drone bombing while using a bandage to stop bleeding from a leg wound on the cold battlefield of Ukraine. The ice and snow of Ukraine became the end of his life. "Cubans are treated as cannon fodder and they will not hesitate to exterminate them all. "On that snowy day, an indescribable sadness permeated the streets of Havana. Palacio's mother, Danelia Herrera, burst into tears in her outskirts of Havana, the capital of Cuba.
"Five months later, they had planned to provide him with a passport of Russian nationality and grant Russian citizenship to me, his mother and our two daughters," said Melissa Flores, Palacio's spouse. Melissa was looking forward to the beginning of a new life, imagining that life in Russia would be completely different from what it is now. She longed to escape from poverty and start a new chapter in her life, away from the humble hut she shared with her husband that was prone to flooding due to rain. She thought that in Russia the situation would be different. She believes that the situation in Russia may change.
The four young men, who are among Cuban citizens who wish to join the Russian army, are attracted to a salary of about $2,000, compared to the average monthly salary of less than $20 in Cuba.
Ukraine's Special Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Ambassador Ruslan Sspiring, noted that Ukraine considers about 400 Cuban citizens to be involved in the war in the country. These Cubans are an important part of Cuba's forces. Marian Zablotsky, a member of Ukraine's parliament, estimates that about 1,500 to 3,000 Cuban citizens have chosen to join the military as Cuba's economy collapses.
Rebel Palacio's mother provided an undated **.
Putin signed a decree in January aimed at increasing the number of soldiers in the army, which allows foreigners who have served in the Russian army for a year to obtain Russian citizenship for themselves, their spouses, children and parents. For a time, the Russian army expanded rapidly, attracting volunteers from all over the world. According to official Ukraine, Russia is recruiting fighters from the Central African Republic, Serbia, Nepal and Syria. Ukraine** began to increase the mobilization of the volunteer army, actively recruiting more people to fight. In Ukraine, the initial number of volunteers was a few thousand, including American veterans, but as the war entered its third year, the number of volunteers began to gradually decrease.
The Cuban population was one of the most involved in the war, mainly because of the emergence of an internal economy in the country. At present, Cuba's national economy is on the verge of collapse. Hit by decades of mismanagement and U.S. economic sanctions, the authorities have been reluctant to open their doors to private and foreign investment, leading to a gradual ossification of the economy. Against this backdrop, the Cubans began to look for a new way out. According to U.S.** statistics, more than 500,000 Cuban citizens (about 5 percent of the Cuban population) have traveled to the United States in the past two years, but shortages of fuel, food and medicine persist within Cuba.
In the city of Marathon, Florida, there is a migrant ship that has suffered damage.
Experts in the field of security note that for those conscripts in the service of Russia, the growing problem of poverty in Cuba may become the focus of their attention, given that Russia is trying to fill the vacancies on the front line.
Ukrainian officials are suspicious of Russia's recruitment of mercenaries in Cuba. The Ukrainian newspaper Pravda, citing Ukrainian state television, reported that "I believe that Russia has recruited thousands of Ukrainians in Cuba." "A few hundred Cuban citizens may not play much of a role in a war," said a Ukrainian high-level security officer**. Speaking about the Cuban issue, Putin said, "I hope to find a solution to this problem from them."The ** believes that Russia's recruitment of Cuban soldiers will lead to serious consequences such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the withdrawal of the United States from NATO. However, he made it clear that Russia's original intention in recruiting them was likely to involve Cuba more deeply in the conflict on the Russian side.
Cuba's ** announced in September last year that they had destroyed a recruitment team designed to lure Cubans to join the war in Ukraine. The recruitment gang reportedly tried to exploit the poverty and unemployment of Cubans and sell them the opportunity to participate in the conflict in Ukraine. Cuba has always been frightened by American aggression and has therefore banned the recruitment of mercenaries. The recruiters have been charged with organizing terrorist activities, and they have detained 17 individuals who could face up to 30 years in prison or even the death penalty, prosecutors said.
In 2019, Cuba's Miguel Díaz-Canel met with Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Cuba has been one of Russia's closest partners for many years. As early as the Second World War, Cuba became a key area of contention between the United States and the Soviet Union. At the height of the Cold War in 1962, the United States detected Soviet nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba, marking the brink of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. In order to protect itself, the Soviet Union took a series of measures to contain Cuba. Between 1975 and 1991, Cuba sent more than 50,000 troops to Angola and Ethiopia to support Soviet policies.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba's military underwent profound changes and was for a time known as one of the largest and most advanced in Latin America. The Cuban army gradually shifted its focus to domestic development, training soldiers to participate in tourism and agriculture. At present, the size of the army has shrunk to about 40,000 soldiers, who are now concentrating more on the management of tourist hotels and the cultivation of beans than on external wars.
At the moment, the security situation between the two countries has once again improved as Russia is looking for more military power. The United States and Brazil deploy missile defense systems in Cuba. Russia forgave Cuba all its debts and provided fuel, which helped maintain the island's power system, while also donating the island's rare wheat and cooking oil.
In July 2021, a large number of Cubans took to the streets, an event unprecedented in decades.
José Cohen, a former Cuban intelligence agent who defected in 1994 and now lives in the United States, said that Cuba** would certainly not be ignorant of Cubans going to Ukraine to fight in the war. "Cuba's defeat on the battlefield in Ukraine is an unfortunate event. I hope that Cuba** will provide some intelligence and help to the Soviet Union. "Cuba has always insisted that this matter has nothing to do with them. ”
A spokesman for the United States made it clear that the United States is "deeply concerned" about news that Cuban citizens have been drafted by Russia and has sent a request to Cuba for details about its recruitment team. A spokesman for the United States said Cuba's silence was worrying. Since its first release last September, Cuba has not provided any form of information or made any form of public comment. "We deeply expect Cuba to cooperate with the international community in taking concrete measures to stop such recruitment," a spokesman for the United States stressed. We will continue to monitor and take necessary actions to ensure peace and stability in the region. "We have repeatedly warned Cuba that its citizens will not participate in the war with Russia. ”
WhatsApp's chat feature quickly spread in Cuba, and people around the neighborhood were talking about going to Russia for work. "He hopes to find better opportunities there to support families. Mario Velázquez made a statement. In Moscow, Andov discovers a completely alien world. His teenage son, Andoff, is an unemployed mason living in Havana and left for Moscow last July. Elena and Dayana led Andover through Red Square to show him the prosperity of Moscow. Among the two applicants, one is Ms. Elena from Russia and the other is Ms. Dayana from Cuba, who promised Andover a bright future in Russia.
Here is a photo of Mario Velázquez with his son Andorf.
Located in the industrial city of León in central Mexico, Velázquez currently works as a security guard and has married a Mexican woman. Velázquez recalled Andoff, the thin young man, always with a big smile. His eyes fell on Andoff** on his phone, and he saw a thin young man, dressed in a green camouflage uniform three sizes larger than himself, and wearing a white and blue striped shirt worn by Russian soldiers outside.
Mr. Velasquez said Mr. Andover had signed up for an occupation contract, which he mistakenly believed was trench digging and building restoration in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, rather than participating in the war.
It was just a dream, but it turned into a nightmare. He traces his son's figure in his dreams every night, but it is always dim. His voice fluttered slightly. Since September, he has been unable to speak to his son, fearing for his life.
In a footage recorded by Andoff and his friend Alex Vega, the two young men revealed that they signed an incomprehensible contract in Russian and eventually reached the front lines in Ukraine.
"Many Cubans have disappeared, and if you want to travel to Russia, you should never be," Vega said in the recording. ”