The moment in which he was told that he had to cut his abundant hair was his first shock with military life. Then they finished their long nights surfing the web with his friends from the pre-university through the Internet, and the rest until noon. He began the new stage that preceded university studies.

After the military preliminary -reduced to 15 days due to the epidemiological situation that the country was still experiencing in 2022- Jorge Mario Riverón Lores was assigned as one of the ten soldiers of the perimeter garrison in the Delegation of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) in Camagüey.

It was the first time that Jorgito had faced so much responsibility, since hundreds of people come and go through those three doors every day. At night, they guard the perimeter of the unit; and also, from there the hoisting and collection of the Cuban flag that crowns the building is coordinated, with all the honors and marches that the ceremony carries.

A typical day

Each day began with training. Then they carried out the cleaning of the unit, of the shelters and patios. There they distributed the work of the day, and from twelve noon they entered their bedrooms to rest between guard and guard.

Each shift, which ranged from 3 to 9 hours, required standing, watchful, and silent. A strict discipline.

Every two hours, the duty officer reviewed the incidents and verified that the three positions were covered and in order.

According to Jorgito, it was difficult to stand up and pay attention, especially on nights when mosquitoes lashed out. But he gradually got used to the routines, since the support of the officers trained them as guards.

Courtesy before high-ranking military officials was another of the difficulties he overcame, but everything went smoothly.

The learned

In January 2023, he completed his Military Service and joined the Medicine major. He still did not imagine how useful it would be for him to have learned to take advantage of time. Now he gets up early, it doesn’t take him more than 10 minutes to get dressed, and he says that after those long hours on duty he developed a remarkable resistance to sleep, which allows him to study at night and not fall asleep on medical shifts.

His mother is very proud, because the boy’s room is always clean and tidy; custom that he adopted when he went through the Military Service.

Jorge Mario is a happy and calm boy. He enthusiastically advances in his studies, and is already interested in two specialties: Cardiology and Gynecology, although he has not decided yet.

He thinks that his time at MININT made him a better person; that it was a lesson for life and that there he left good friends and teachers who taught him order and discipline.

The young soldier is today a future doctor, who -as Silvio Rodríguez’s song says- with his guitar “releases his love and his faith to the wind.”

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García