Exiled Cuban Doctor Challenges Regime: "Keep Barking, I'll Keep Publishing"

Alexander Jesús Figueredo Izaguirre, an exiled Cuban doctor, sparked a social media firestorm on Monday with a bold response to the Cuban regime following their attempt to officially dismiss his serious allegations of infant mortality data manipulation in Cuba. "Keep barking. I'll keep publishing," Figueredo declared in a new Facebook post, also mocking the regime's close monitoring of his posts.

"Thank you, Cubadebate, for confirming that the dictatorship reads my publications as if they were part of the morning medical briefing, putting me on the front page. And thanks for proving me right without even realizing it," he emphasized.

His retort came after Juan José Pulido López, the provincial health director in Villa Clara, labeled Figueredo's story about alleged institutional pressure on Dr. Anabel Obregón as "false." According to Figueredo's claims, the pressure was intended to prevent the newborn from being counted as an infant death if it died post-birth, a statistic highly valued by the regime as propaganda for the supposed achievements of the socialist system.

Pulido argued that Dr. Obregón had been living abroad for over eleven years, thus discrediting the account. Figueredo, however, dismantled this argument with conviction. "Precisely because she experienced firsthand the negligence of the Cuban health system and left disgusted, like so many doctors. Her testimony still holds value because she lived it. Period," he stressed.

In response to attacks on his status as an exile, he candidly remarked, "You don't have to live in a dump to know it stinks. But I have more sources within the Cuban health system than you do in your entire editorial team. Unlike you, I don't get paid to lie."

Addressing mocking remarks about his knowledge of Placetas, he retorted, "I know the hospital is in ruins, that everything from cotton to antibiotics is scarce, and that its staff works amid fear and frustration."

The doctor concluded his statement with an even more defiant post, asserting that the regime's attempt to refute his allegations only confirms the truth and impact of his words. "When the dictatorship comes out to disprove, it's because it hurt," he wrote, directly referencing the official media's efforts to discredit the testimonies about data manipulation in the Cuban healthcare system.

"They've already started activating all their propaganda portals to 'disprove' the testimonies about infant mortality data manipulation in Cuba. Perfect! That means it stung," he added with an ironic tone.

Figueredo even publicly challenged the official programs: "I'd love for them to dedicate an entire segment to me in one of their slanderous shows. Whether it's Con Filo, Razones de Cuba, or the National News of Lies, wherever they want. Because whenever they want to play with fire, I'll respond with names, surnames, dates, hospitals, schedules, witnesses, and documents. Case by case."

He warned that all the evidence he has will be presented in court when the time comes: "And you'd better start rehearsing your speeches, because all that evidence will go straight to the courts when the night ceases to be eternal."

Finally, he made it clear that his fight isn't personal but against a system that, he claims, has corrupted the essence of medicine: "The problem isn't me, nor the exiles, nor the doctors who escaped. The problem is the criminal system that turned public health into an altar of lies, where newborns are sacrificed to embellish statistics."

"You won't silence me. You won't intimidate me. What's coming is worse for you: the truth," he emphasized. Rather than refuting with evidence, the official response focused on discrediting the whistleblower and protecting the institutional narrative.

However, the effect was the opposite: Figueredo's post triggered a flood of similar testimonies on social media, with other doctors, students, and relatives recounting experiences or witnessing practices aimed at manipulating infant mortality figures.

The accounts span from the 1990s to the present day, exposing an institutional culture where clinical decisions are subordinated to the political need to maintain "clean" statistics, even at the cost of newborns' lives and medical ethics. Instead of an investigation, the regime has once again chosen to discredit, silence, and deny.