It is a fact that has been known for several weeks now: Cuban citizens have enlisted in the Russian Army, in principle seeking to take advantage of the benefits that Vladimir Putin has promised related to the war in Ukraine, which include simplified access to citizenship and monthly payments that, especially for our context of crisis, are very representative (in fact, I believe that for many people in the world). I am totally against this practice, as it does not correspond in the least with my political-civil philosophy. In any case, the Cuban Penal Code explicitly proscribes it. The recruiter also carries an equally severe penalty. I refer below to the penal figures of "Mercenarism", "Hostile acts against a foreign state", and "Violation of the sovereignty of a foreign state".
Mercenarism
Article 135.1. Whoever, for the purpose of obtaining the payment of a salary or other type of remuneration or personal benefit, joins military formations, or private military companies, composed totally or partially of individuals who are not citizens of the State in whose territory they intend to operate, incurs the penalty of ten to thirty years of imprisonment, life imprisonment, or death.
Article 135.2. The same penalty shall be incurred by whoever collaborates or executes any other act aimed, directly or indirectly, at achieving the objective indicated in the preceding paragraph.
Hostile acts against a foreign state
Article 128.1. Whoever carries out enlistments or other acts hostile to a foreign state, which give rise to the danger of war, retaliatory measures against Cuba, or expose Cubans to harassment or reprisals against their persons or property, or to the alteration of Cuba's friendly relations with another state, shall incur the penalty of imprisonment for between four and ten years.
If, as a consequence of the acts provided for in the preceding paragraph, retaliatory measures against Cuba, or harassment or reprisals against its citizens, or the alteration of diplomatic relations, or war, the penalty shall be imprisonment for ten to thirty years, life imprisonment or death.
Whoever recruits persons in the national territory for the military service of a foreign State, incurs the penalty of imprisonment from four to ten years.Violation of the sovereignty of a foreign state.
Article 130. Whoever, in Cuban territory, carries out an act aimed at undermining the independence of a foreign state, the integrity of its territory, or the stability of its government, incurs the penalty of deprivation of liberty for three to eight years.
What the Cubans already enlisted have said about their participation in the conflict is evidence of a staggering lack of knowledge of their country's legislation. The fact of leaving happily and legally through a national airport and landing in Moscow or another Russian city to join their army was indifferent to the legislator. Enlistment, wherever and whenever, is the sin here.
Well, this case has several edges. I start from the assumption that the Cuban government has not acted in collusion with its Russian counterpart —however allied they may be— to take dozens of my fellow countrymen to the "oven" of the conflict. This would be a major nonsense that, if proven, would be tantamount to shaking the foundations of the Cuban political regime, in my opinion. I also understand that the state security forces here have been at the very least inefficient in not only detecting but curbing this dynamic of active and blatant recruitment on national soil (nearly 20 Cuban nationals are being detained here pending investigation of their involvement in the crimes mentioned above). Then, there is a narrative swirling around this story that, rationally I would say, pushes the thesis that it is indeed very difficult that the Cuban authorities did not at least know what was going on —and so at the very least were complicit or intentionally lazy—, or that they were fully engaged in an agreement with Russia.
Both are plausible hypotheses, quite logical I repeat, but also I use to say that intuition and reasonable doubt are only one step on a long road that leads to showing sources and hard evidence to prove one point. In that sense, I am concerned about questions such as: "Do you believe that the Cuban government could be oblivious to this?" That is in the least of the cases because some have gone to the extreme of affirming direct involvement. And then, unfortunately, things remain at that speculative level, but with a no as an answer surrounding. I don't rule out, regardless of my identification with the political process of 1959, that there may be a connection: the issue is that it must be irrefutably proven. Period.
The unequivocal and unswerving position of the Cuban government, in accordance with its national legislation, is contrary to the participation of Cuban citizens in conflicts of any sort and against mercenarism and trafficking in persons.
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) September 14, 2023
Edited with Canva.
