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The Cuban doctor Ricardo Martínez Torres died in Brazil at the age of 60, after several months hospitalized due to a severe liver disease, as confirmed by colleagues and members of the Cuban community in the South American country.
Martínez Torres passed away on October 15th in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital in Macapá, the capital of the state of Amapá, where he had been admitted since April of this year due to severe liver problems, reported the profile “A Cuban in Brazil” in the Facebook group “Cubans in Curitiba.”
According to the information, the doctor was taken back to the ICU last Wednesday and after spending a few hours intubated, "he did not survive and passed away." He was accompanied in the hospital by one of his daughters.
The sad news was also shared in a group of doctors from Holguín on social media. A colleague and fellow student announced his passing: "I was informed that Ricardo Martínez Torres, known to us as Papito, passed away in Brazil. Our condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace." In the comments, she also confirmed the cause of his death.
Dr. Martínez Torres was originally from Cayo Mambí, in Holguín, graduated from the University of Medical Sciences of Santiago de Cuba, and held dual specialties in Pulmonology and Comprehensive General Medicine (CGM).
He was part of the Cuban medical mission integrated into the Mais Médicos Program in Brazil, where he worked at a healthcare institution in Colorado do Oeste until 2019, after the Havana regime withdrew more than 11,000 health professionals who were working in that country due to the agreement between both governments.
Martínez Torres, like hundreds of other doctors from the island, then decided to "attempt to regularize his diploma to continue" in the South American nation, stated the profile "A Cuban in Brazil."
The passing of the medical professional has had a significant impact and caused great consternation within the Cuban medical community, both at home and abroad, as well as among his compatriots residing in Brazil. Numerous expressions of sorrow have been shared on social media pages and groups.
A colleague said in the group "Cubanos en Curitiba" that his death occurred just as he was about to work again in the Mais Médicos Program. “Rest in peace our dear friend, his death here in Brazil was very sad,” she expressed. “Together we helped his daughter to take him back to Cuba. My condolences to the whole family and friends.”
Another doctor noted that in Cuba, she "worked for many years at the clinical surgical hospital in the area [Holguín] and was well-liked by the patients for her compassionate care and her expertise."
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