It is about promoting “the inclusion of women in national defense” in exchange for “benefits”
14ymedio, Havana, March 12, 2025 — With weapons, drones and banners, Cuban Army officers have invaded the pre-university plazas throughout the Island with a declared objective: to “excite” teenagers with a custom-designed “bastion” – an exercise that has already been done at the national and university level – and convince women of the benefits they will obtain if they enroll in military service.
Voluntary except for girls studying Journalism and International Relations – and mandatory for young people – female military service is rare in Cuba. A group of officers went to the schools of Villa Clara, in the context of the bastion, to try to “capture females” in the classrooms.
Major Orlando Juvier Santos, head of the Military Committee in Corralillo and Quemado de Güines (Villa Clara), has done “interviews with the whole universe of little girls.” Whether or not he has had luck in his search, the officer does not say. Nor does he provide the number of women recruited or the number of educational entities that his entourage has visited.
Major Orlando Juvier Santos has done “interviews with the whole universe of little girls”
He states, however, that he has explained to the students “the benefits they will obtain when joining the military service, such as the possibility of changing careers if they are not satisfied with the one obtained in the pre-university, as well as opting for a new career after having fulfilled their time of service in our units.”
In case of acceptance, and with the approval of the Federation of Cuban Women, which also does recruitment and selection work, the Armed Forces carry out the medical check-up of the candidate and send her to preliminary training.
It is about fulfilling an old slogan, says Juvier Santos: “the inclusion of women in national defense,” which implies encouraging the entry of women in “all areas,” including the military and from an early age.
Since this Tuesday, Sancti Spíritus has been the national headquarters of the bastion, whose characteristics have been similar to those of the university, held in February. “It is an ideological bastion,” stressed the national leader of the Federation of Middle School Students (FEEM), which groups together pre-university students as well as those of polytechnics and other secondary education centers. According to Lanier Gómez, they are preparing for “any aggression” by the United States.
The official media published scenes of the development of the bastion in Sancti Spíritus, Las Tunas and Villa Clara, provinces where the exercise – in the words of the Caribbean Channel – has been met with greater “enthusiasm.”
Among the “attractions” of the Army, maneuvers with drones were the most recorded by Cuban Television cameras
Among the “attractions” of the Army, the maneuvers with drones – ordinary ones, of Chinese technology and without any type of weapon, but suitable for surveillance – were the most recorded by the cameras of Cuban Television. Exercises were also carried out with war tanks, armaments and hand-to-hand combat.
“We will be going to military units, and even the women will have conversations with our girls to encourage them to do military service,” said the president of the FEEM in Las Tunas, Marcos Flores.
In Santa Clara, the military arrived at Osvaldo Herrera pre-university – in the middle of Vidal Park – to propose studying for military careers to young people. They were accompanied by the camilitos, students who have embraced military training since the seventh grade in the Camilo Cienfuegos schools of the Armed Forces.
Lieutenant Colonel Rigoberto Hernández Machado, head of the Preparation and Advance Section of the Central Army, said that they impart “vocational information” for several careers: Combative Security, Communications, Radioelectronics and Military Intelligence. He did not say if his “campaign” had been successful.
In a year that began with the explosion of an arsenal in Melones, Holguín, in which 13 soldiers died – nine of them military service recruits – the Armed Forces have not stopped making public affirmations of principles. This, the third bastion celebrated at the national level this year, will end on March 15.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
