José Manuel Suárez Villalobos, a surgeon with 28 years of service in Cuba's public health system and a resident of Camagüey, reported that the regime is preventing him from leaving the country to reunite with his family.
"How long do I have to endure the punishment of having become a specialist doctor?" the physician said indignantly, expressing the sentiment of many colleagues who are being forced to work in precarious conditions and without the possibility of leaving the island, journalist Javier Díaz published on Facebook this Tuesday.
The physician, who graduated from the University of Medical Sciences of Camagüey in 1996, turned to Díaz in a gesture of desperation to make the world aware of the violation of his freedoms, including the right to enter and exit his home country freely.
Suárez recounted that he worked on three internationalist missions for a salary of 20 USD per month, and sometimes even less, as he earned 225 CUC per month in Venezuela, which barely covered his basic needs.
"I believe I have contributed to the country, and if I still owe anything, it should not be a reason for such an unfair punishment," said the specialist who finds himself trapped on the island, seeing his loved ones, including his children and grandchildren, only through the screen of a phone.
The doctor reported that he has repeatedly requested to be released from "the regulations or restrictions that prevent me from obtaining a passport and traveling like any Cuban citizen, and this request has been denied despite not being essential in my hospital or the municipality where I live."
However, the regime has ignored all of their demands and, instead, continues to uphold the ban on traveling outside the island.
Finally, Suárez demanded justice and freedom, asking that the international community, human rights organizations, and the UN be informed of his case and take action.
In 2022, when more than 12,000 doctors left Cuba's Public Health System, the regime increased its control over these professionals, frequently sending them to other countries through what are known as missions or collaborations, which are nothing more than a form of modern-day slavery.
At that moment, the figures released by the National Office of Statistics and Information for the sectors of Public Health and Social Assistance indicated that the reduction in personnel has been widespread in the healthcare sector, resulting in an increased number of residents per physician.
At the end of 2022, the island reported 94,066 medical professionals, compared to 106,131 in 2021, a decrease of 12,065.
This situation prompted the Cuban government in 2023 to further restrict foreign travel for medical specialists, dentists, healthcare technicians, and nursing graduates.
The decision was announced by the Director of Human Capital at the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), Marcos del Risco del Río, during a videoconference in which he requested "discretion."
However, MINSAP later clarified that "there are no immigration regulations for specialist doctors in Comprehensive General Medicine or newly graduated doctors"; a stance that aligns with its desire to lease as many specialists as possible to foreign countries.
Dentists and nurses also escape that strict control.
However, there are constant reports from Cuban medical specialists who go to the identity card offices to obtain their passports, only to be informed that they cannot do so because they are "regulated."
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