this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2025
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[–] tal@lemmy.today 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Some countries have compulsory military service for all of its citizens.

North America...

While the US hasn't had a need for peacetime conscription


its war planning has assumed that its peacetime military, especially its navy and air force, could hold off an invader for six months, long enough to train up untrained infantry from scratch -- that's not all countries in North America. I'd guess that Cuba likely has it.

checks Wikipedia

Looks like they have two years of mandatory service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Cuba

Conscription is inscribed in the 1976 Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in article 65, stating that "Defense of the socialist homeland is the greatest honor and the supreme duty of every Cuban citizen."

Cuban nationals were required to serve under the Obligatory Military Service (SMO) system. Under this structure, it was compulsory to complete three years in military service, the militias of territorial troops, or the brigades of production and defence.[2] The SMO was reinforced by the first Law of Military service which was established in November 1963.

As of August 1991, the SMO changed to the General Military Service Law and the requirements of active military service were reduced to two years, with enlistment being obligatory between the ages of 16 and 28, however most nationals were not called to service until they were 17.

EDIT: Here's a map:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription

Mexico apparently also has it, though there it's only a randomly-selected subset that are required to serve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Mexico

Military Service in Mexico (Spanish: Servicio Militar Nacional, or SMN) currently involves all males reaching the age of eighteen years. Selection is made by a lottery system using the following color scheme: those who draw a black ball must serve as "availability reservists", that is, they are not required to perform any activities whatsoever and will receive their discharge card at the end of the year. Those who draw a white ball must serve “framed” which means, they must start service immediately from 8am-1pm for one year in total, until they receive the discharge card.

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 9 hours ago

The article on Mexican conscription does not mention if they are paid. If they have a living wage working five hours a day that doesn't sound too bad. On the other hand if it's five hours a day plus working to make enough to live, that sounds like hell.