A Cuban teenager unwittingly found himself on the front lines of the war in Ukraine after accepting a job offer he received on WhatsApp to do “construction work” for the Russian military, according to Time magazine.
Alex Vegas Díaz, 19, and a friend were taken to a military base, outfitted with weapons, and then sent to fight, according to Time, which reviewed social media footage posted by Vegas Díaz.
In one of the videos, dated August 31, which went viral, Vegas Díaz can be seen in a Russian hospital recovering from an unspecified illness. According to Time, he said he was due to be sent back to the front upon recovery.
From his hospital bed, he pleaded to “help get us out of here,” adding: “What is happening in Ukraine is ugly—to see people with their heads open before you, to see how people are killed, feel the bombs falling next to you.”
According to Time, Vegas Díaz said in one video: “There are dead Cubans, there are missing Cubans, and this is not going to end until the war is over.”
He added: “We know that Cuba is aware and our advice to Cubans is not to come here. This is the craziest thing. Crazy. Don’t do it.”
Time reported that Vegas Díaz became part of a large operation that openly recruited hundreds of Cubans to join the Russian army to fight in Ukraine.
According to the magazine, the recruitment effort involved adverts for job contracts with the Ministry of Defence in Russia that began to appear on Cuban Facebook groups in June.
It said that recruits were offered 204,000 rubles, or $2,120 US dollars, to sign up.
Average monthly salaries in Cuba are dramatically lower, making it an enticing prospect.
Time reviewed the job contracts, which it said required a one-year commitment, but came with an enlistment fee and a payout for the families of recruits if they are killed in action.
The exact number of Cubans recruited through this initiative remains uncertain, with estimates provided to Time ranging from hundreds to more than a thousand
Though Cuba’s foreign ministry described the recruitment effort as a “human trafficking network,” four Cuba experts and former US officials expressed skepticism to Time
They said that the Cuban government, a long-standing ally of Russia, may be using such language to maintain the appearance of a neutral stance in the Ukraine conflict, Time reported.
Regardless of the nature or provenance of the recruitment drive, there is concern in the US that recruits such as Vegas Díaz may have been deceived into accepting job offers.
The State Department said in a statement provided to Time that “we are deeply concerned that young Cubans may have been deceived and recruited to fight for Russia in its brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and we continue to monitor this situation closely.”
The US State Department did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
$2120 is too low for a year long contract for overseas work even for third world country standards, let alone in a country that is involved in an active war.
What 3rd world country? Monthly $2k + $1,5k bonus at signing, +other bonuses and priveleges, +compensations if hurt\dead in a first month making it one median yearly payment in Russia meaning half of the country earn less than that in 12 months, and it’s still not the worst country in the world economically speaking. You mean there’s a lack of poor and desperate people with no prospects in life? For Cubans it’s also a chance to settle overseas and drag their family here, so I do see why they’d pick that, especially if they are lied to about what it means. As one criminal saying goes, gullible people would never get extinct.
I think that was a signing bonus, not an annual salary.
And yet, according to google, that’s higher than the average salary in Cuba. Not even minimum.
Why would you ever accept any kind of deal which had you go into Russia?
Poverty
Oh Nohz! One country has sanctions! Good thing that nearly no one else does or they wouldn’t have anyone to trade with!
(Also the US Embargo is dumber than dirt and should have been ended 50 years ago.)
Another good thing Trump ruined. Relations were repairing under Obama.
One Country 💀
When most of the world trades in the US Dollar, America having a trade embargo means a lot.
It doesn’t mean they can’t trade with other countries, but it very much complicates trade, especially with small countries.
Wendover Productions had a pretty good video on the topic recently.
What is the state department going to do? Sanction them?😅
Sucks to get drawn into that conflict. On some level surely you’d know going to Russia in war time isn’t a smart thing to do.
I went to the USA multiple times while it was engaged in actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not once was I issued a gun and forcibly sent to the war zone.
I think that those are unequivalents
It’s good to have this exchange posted here.
We often see how the radical/far right and left cozy up to Russia by claiming this exact equivalence.
- Turns out, “you’ve been living in a Dreamland, Neo”
Why is that? Russia pitches its invasion of Ukraine as a “Special Military Operation” to its sphere of influence. That sounds similar enough to Combat Operations of the USA in the Middle East.
That’s likely the message the kid had. Russia is a massive country, and he’s been offered a construction job. I find it plausible that he had no idea he’d be drafted.
Russia is actively conscripting people. The U.S. has had an entirely ‘volunteer’ force for 50 years.
I mean from the kid’s perspective you’re not wrong but from ours, we know that the US doesn’t do that. Yes it drafted it citizens quite aggressively but not non-citizens or at least not on the sheer level that Russia is/has been doing.
The difference is that the US has a culture where such actions are unacceptable, and there are checks and balances to stop the government from forcing people to fight overseas. Without these, it’s certainly possible a US dictator could put illegal immigrants (or anyone) on a plane and send them to fight and die in Ukraine.
Those who do not learn history are doomed to die in a Russian war of aggression against their neighbor, or something.
That being said, has anyone recognized Insider trying to tie Cuba with Russia as an ally?
Are they not?
They are not
are they tho?
Unfortunately there would be no way of knowing so we will have to assume and go with that :/
Edit: it was a joke
theres no way to know, so we’ll just assume whatever the fuck we want?
It was a joke.
I think it was a good joke
I think people are jumping down your throat cause it’s pretty close to a lot of sincere takes we’ve seen recently
Thanks lol. I was trying to satirise how people sometimes talk about countries like Cuba. But this is the internet so Poe’s law is going to Poe’s law
Why would you assume so?
It was a joke.
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I don’t get why the fuck are ruzzians are even fighting anymore. They wont win, they know it well enough. Why do their orcs still fight?
This reads like a fake CIA plant story
Is the CIA in the room with us right now?
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Cuban government themselves confirmed this was happening a few weeks ago
My tinfoil hat is on too tight comrade save yourself there is no hope for me
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A Cuban teenager unwittingly found himself on the front lines of the war in Ukraine after accepting a job offer he received on WhatsApp to do “construction work” for the Russian military, according to TIME magazine.
TIME reported that Vegas Díaz became part of a large operation that openly recruited hundreds of Cubans to join the Russian army to fight in Ukraine.
According to the magazine, the recruitment effort involved adverts for job contracts with the Ministry of Defence in Russia that began to appear on Cuban Facebook groups in June.
TIME reviewed the job contracts, which it said required a one-year commitment, but came with an enlistment fee and a payout for the families of recruits if they are killed in action.
They said that the Cuban government, a long-standing ally of Russia, may be using such language to maintain the appearance of a neutral stance in the Ukraine conflict, TIME reported.
The State Department said in a statement provided to TIME that “we are deeply concerned that young Cubans may have been deceived and recruited to fight for Russia in its brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and we continue to monitor this situation closely.”
The original article contains 488 words, the summary contains 196 words. Saved 60%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
man hexbear is just something else: emoji stalin-gun-1 , emoji diaz-canel-troll
TIME is full of shit. Cuba just shut down a recruitment cell, and they covered the collapse of the USSR years ago. The friendly relationship with Russia died with the USSR.
Time isn’t full of shit. This did happen and Cuba shut it down because despite their issues they are not ok with the exploitation of Cubans.
I don’t understand why you disagree with me, you essentially restated what I said. Time isn’t reporting truthfully here and displaying their bourgeois interests by implicitly associating the RSFSR with the Russian Federation.
Yeah cause Cuba’s government is fairly based and takes steps to protect its citizens from being exploited by Oligarchs
Tips fedora
Howdy fellow m’hexbear
Not a hexb3ar user, but nonetheless
Uh huh.
Yeah I dont like the smell of my own farts either
If there are not pronouns following the name they aren’t on hexbear
This is my brain alt too
why is this downvoted, pronouns after the name is a literal instance rule
“This person is showing support for a socialist country, therefore they must be from hexbear”
Isn’t Cuba one of the very few countries that recognises the Russian annexation of Crimea?
Yes
Oops, didn’t specify what you’d be building. Trenches of course!
I’m not sure that’s OSHA compliant…
How progressive of Putin.
“There’s nothing here but war, where the murderin’ cannons roar, And I am sick and tired of this hard fighting.”
