The doctors were introduced as pediatricians, internists, gynecologists and otorhinolaryngologists [ENTs]
14ymedio, Havana, 19 August 2025 — At least 27 Cuban specialists hired to provide care at six Oaxaca hospitals “are not certified and lack professional certification,” reported the newspaper El Universal. The union representative at the San Pedro Tapanatepec hospital, Geovan I Casilla Cano, stated that the health workers are working as general practitioners, treating patients with simple ailments.
A source told 14ymedio that the island’s doctors are sent to the Mexican states while their professional certification is being validated. However, he warned, “these specialists should not prescribe until they have the proper certification.”
According to the same official, who requested anonymity, “internal records” highlight the work of Cuban critical care and intensive care specialists Yanet Roxsana Ramírez González and Orlando Ramírez Alfaro, although she did not provide details of their roles at the Salina Cruz general specialty hospital.
The newspaper El Universal reports that 27 pediatricians, internists, gynecologists, and otorhinolaryngologists [ENTs] from the island are located in the Isthmus region, spread across the hospitals of San Pedro Huamelula, Santiago Astata, Salina Cruz, Juchitán, San Pedro Tapanatepec, and María Lombardo de Caso.
At the Ciudad Ixtepec hospital, union representative Martín Ramírez said the arrival of uncertified Cubans was rejected at the assembly held last February, but they were nevertheless sent.
At the Ciudad Ixtepec hospital, union representative Martín Ramírez said that the arrival of uncertified Cubans was rejected at the assembly held last February.
Ramírez accused the Mexican Social Security Institute for Welfare (the free healthcare agency created in 2022 by the self-proclaimed Fourth Transformation government, led by then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to replace Seguro Popular) of giving preference to Cubans. The union representative stated that the agency “does not want” to hire Mexican doctors so as to make room for doctors from the island.
In early August, it became clear that Mexican health agencies “lack mechanisms” to evaluate the performance of Cuban doctors, for whom 92,525,569 euros (107,905,224 dollars) were paid between July 2022 and May 2025.
In April, a source from the Health Department told 14ymedio that everything related to doctors is coordinated through the Cuban Medical Brigade, headed by Cuban Alfredo González Lorenzo, who reports to Neuronic Mexicana, which in turn reports to Neuronic SA Cuba. Since 2018, this company has represented the products and services of the island’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries and is headed by the Cuban Tania Guerra.
The initial contract with Mexico was through Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos SA de CV, a Cuban company accused internationally of human trafficking.
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