In both cases, the causes of death are unclear and relatives are demanding answers from the authorities.
14ymedio, Havana, 24 August 2025 — In less than a week, two young recruits died while undergoing mandatory military service, which the regime imposes on all Cuban males. The fatalities were Antonio Rassi Roque, 18, and Lázaro Daniel Monteros, 19. Everything known about the boys’ deaths is from social media published by family members and acquaintances. The official press, as usual in such cases, has ignored the news.
Rassi’s death was reported first, on August 18 at the El Calvario military unit in Havana, where he resided. According to the father of another recruit from the same unit, who later told Cubanet, the rest of the recruits were told he had shot himself, although it is unclear whether it was an accident or on purpose.
“The last week, Antonio hadn’t bathed. They required him to, but he smelled bad. It was clear his mental health was deteriorating. No one notices this, and many young men strongly reject military service. What’s worse, they give him a weapon without being qualified or analyzing his psychological situation,” the source criticized.
On social media, one of Rassi’s aunts posted: “Today we are holding a wake for my nephew, Antonio Rassi, at the Infanta funeral home, La Nacional. He entered this military service, and we still don’t know the cause [of death]. He was only 18 years old.”
“Really, the only one who knows what happened is the child. We don’t know the reasons because he was a child who had everything.
Last Friday, another relative confirmed the boy’s death to Martí Noticias and denounced the lack of transparency regarding the cause of the shooting. “Really, the only one who knows what happened is the boy. We don’t know the motive because he was a child who had everything: affection, love. As far as we know, he shot himself. His mother is the one asking for justice,” he said.
He also explained that Rassi “didn’t want to enter military service. That much we do know. The military has already given all the information to the parents and also attended the wake.”
Just a few days later, news broke of the death of Lázaro Daniel Monteros, a resident of Ciego de Ávila who was serving at the El Morro unit in the capital. His death, also reported on social media, raised even more suspicions than Rassi’s, as the cause of death is unknown, and the family has been given varying versions of the incident. The young man supposedly had only a few days left until completing his service.
Comments under posts about the deaths of these young men incessantly called for the abolition of military service, a field in which dozens of young people have died in recent years. One of the most notorious accidents occurred on January 7 in Melones, in the municipality of Rafael Freyre, Holguín.
The comments at the bottom of the posts about the deaths of these boys incessantly called for the abolition of Military Service.
That day, several explosions at a military base in the town alarmed residents, who shared videos and images of the fire and smoke rising from the unit. A total of 13 people died in the incident, nine of whom were military recruits.
The fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Base in 2022 is another of the episodes Cubans remember most sadly, in which 17 people died and dozens were injured. Most of the deceased were also recruits undergoing training alongside firefighters and sent to fight the blaze.
These two events are just the ones that shocked the country the most, but the history of military service on the island is full of similar cases. Last May, for example, two recruits standing guard at a checkpoint in the Mariel Economic Development Zone died after being struck by a bus .
Months earlier, in June 2024, Leandro Muñoz Zamora , 20, a resident of Santa Clara, committed suicide by jumping off a moving bus that was taking him to the Matanzas unit where he was to serve.
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