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The only oncologist on the Isle of Youth, Dr. Álvaro Pérez Pérez, received over 100,000 Cuban pesos in solidarity transfers from citizens across Cuba, just days after regime inspectors fined him 4,000 pesos for selling notebooks and used clothing outside his home to buy food.
The case went viral on Saturday, June 6, when Pérez Pérez live-streamed the inspection that imposed the penalty on him via Facebook.
"I am an oncology specialist, the only oncology specialist that the Isle of Youth has. My salary is not enough to eat," he stated in the video, which garnered over 242,000 views before being removed.
The Cuban journalist based in Mexico, Guillermo Rodríguez Sánchez, known on social media as "guilleperiodista," organized a solidarity campaign that exceeded all expectations: he published the doctor's bank card number and his mobile phone, and within a few hours, tens of thousands of pesos began to arrive from all over the country.
A doctor friend from Ciego de Ávila and Rodríguez himself made the first transfer of 10,000 pesos, and the avalanche did not stop.
A follower sent the doctor the last 50 Cuban pesos she had left on her card.
Álvaro Pérez responded to each message with words of deep gratitude and humility: "The phone hasn't stopped. I truly believe this is more than I deserved. So many people who had little, and yet they still helped me," he wrote in a private message to Rodríguez.
And he added, "The luck is finding so many people willing to help. I will have an eternal debt to this community."
Rodríguez also reported that, in light of the wide impact on social media regarding the case, the authorities announced they will withdraw the fine.
The case starkly illustrates the dual crisis of the Cuban healthcare system: miserable salaries and an inspection apparatus turned into a revenue-generating machine.
The average salary in the health sector in Cuba is around 6,562 pesos per month—about 16 dollars at the unofficial exchange rate—while the basic basket for two people exceeds 41,000 pesos.
The 4,000 peso fine imposed on the oncologist was approximately half of his monthly salary for selling notebooks at 100 pesos each and used clothing for between 300 and 400 pesos.
The inspection system worsened since January 2025, when Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced that inspectors would be paid based on the number and amount of fines imposed, creating a perverse incentive to impose sanctions indiscriminately.
In the first quarter of 2025, over 425,000 fines were issued nationwide, collecting more than one billion pesos.
In April 2026, a report revealed that inspectors admitted they were required to issue fines even when the business had no actual violations because "they are required to deliver results."
The exodus of doctors further exacerbates the situation: between 2021 and 2024, Cuba lost approximately 77,522 healthcare professionals due to emigration, and the number of doctors declined from about 105,000 to 75,364.
Isla de la Juventud, with around 80,000 inhabitants, has only one oncologist. Any pressure that might push him to emigrate would leave the entire population without specialized oncology care.
Rodríguez Sánchez encapsulated the outrage of thousands with a phrase that circulated widely: "One must have a metastasized soul to see a doctor selling four rags in his house and go after him."
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