Cuban Doctor's Weekend Presence Sought by Over 300 Residents in Mexico

More than 300 residents in Mexico’s Bacalar municipality have petitioned health authorities to ensure Cuban doctor Yoanis Viñas Vázquez continues providing weekend care. The communities of Blanca Flor and Buena Fe say the doctor is available only on weekdays, leaving them without local medical support on Saturdays and Sundays. In a letter dated August 28 to the Secretariat of Health and the State Health Services of Quintana Roo, residents asked for the doctor’s “continuous assignment and presence,” citing needs for chronic patients, pregnant women, and children, plus emergency access and reduced costs of traveling to urban centers. Blanca Flor has about 633 residents and Buena Fe about 214, both recognized as Indigenous Maya communities. The petition also points to ongoing controversy around Cuban medical missions, including alleged labor-rights violations raised by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.