The oncologist Álvaro Pérez Pérez responded this Friday with a live video lasting over 35 minutes to the clarifying statement published by the State Commerce Directorate of the Isla de la Juventud Municipality, in which the authorities changed their stance regarding the fine of 4,000 pesos that triggered a wave of solidarity across Cuba.
The official statement, released on Friday by Radio Caribe, stated that the fine was not imposed on the doctor but rather "on the owner of the property," and that the viral video of the doctor had failed to mention the prohibition on selling school notebooks.
The document also noted that the charitable donations amounted to 100,000 pesos and called on the public to use "official channels" in similar situations, warning that "spreading incomplete information on social media undermines collective trust."
Dr. Pérez refuted that version point by point in his new video on Facebook, starting with what he deemed the most serious omission: "The first thing I have to say is that no authority, neither from the party, nor from the government, nor from the State Commerce Directorate, ever approached me at any time. They were never interested in knowing my version of events."
The doctor clarified that the garage sale did not take place at his residence, as stated in the official note, but rather at the entrance of his brother-in-law's house.
He also pointed out that his partner—a university professor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences with a salary of 7,500 pesos—is not "the owner of the house," and that the signature on the fine receipt did not signify agreement: "His signature does not represent agreement; it represents a threat. If he signs it, we will leave. If he doesn't sign it, we will still leave. But it will be worse then."
One of the oncologist's most compelling arguments was the contradiction between the prohibition on selling notebooks and the behavior of the State itself.
According to the doctor, the same notebooks that he offered for 100 pesos were being sold in state-run stores for 270 pesos, and he has photographs to prove it.
"If mine is worth 100 and the state's is worth 270, yes, but you are selling it and I am not inspecting the state's store," he said. He added that the day after the incident, the notebooks disappeared from those establishments.
The doctor also reported that the inspectors—two women and one man—initially did not know which law they were enforcing: "There was never a dialogue."
"The intention was always to penalize us. We weren't even told why the fine was being imposed." One of the inspectors took time to find the regulation on the form, and at one point they were told that the violation was for "speculative pricing."
The doctor also rejected the amount of donations mentioned in the official statement. According to other sources, Cubans sent almost 300,000 pesos to the fined oncologist, not 100,000 as claimed by the Department of Commerce.
The only institution that contacted him was the Public Health Directorate, which requested him to make a public clarification, a request he declined at the time in order not to stir up the issue.
The case is situated within the crisis of professional salaries in Cuba, where the average salary in the health sector was around 6,562 pesos per month in May 2026—approximately 16 dollars at the informal exchange rate—while a basic grocery basket for two people exceeded 41,000 pesos.
The inspection system, reformed in January 2025 to compensate inspectors based on the number and amount of fines, has been criticized as an incentive to impose fines excessively.
"Everyone knows what lies behind that fine, that we, the professionals, have to go out and sell what our patients give us to earn 100 or 200 pesos to buy a head of garlic and be able to cook," the doctor concluded during his broadcast.
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