Marta Elena Feitó-Cabrera, Cuba’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, has been forced to quit after making comments in a parliamentary session that disputed the existence of beggars on the Communist-run island.
The minister had stated that there were no “beggars” in Cuba and that those who scavenged trash were doing so voluntarily in order to get “easy money”.
The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded to widespread criticism of her remarks by both domestic and international audiences. She resigned shortly afterwards.
Poverty and food shortages have deteriorated in Cuba as the country struggles with a severe economic crisis.
Feitó-Cabrera made the remarks earlier this week during a session of the National Assembly, where she discussed individuals begging and digging through trash cans in Cuba.
She seemed to deny their existence, claiming, “There are no beggars in Cuba.” Some people pretend to be beggars in order to make quick money.”
Furthermore, she accused those looking through trash of being “illegal participants in the recycling service”.
The minister plainly underestimated the fury and anger that her words would elicit, as well as the extent to which they represented the country’s leadership as unfeeling, autocratic, and profoundly distant from regular Cubans’ grave economic hardships.
A number of Cuban activists and intellectuals published a statement requesting her dismissal, stating that her comments were “an insult to the Cuban people”.
The Cuban president then chastised Feitó-Cabrera at the legislative session, though he did not identify her by name, saying the leadership should neither “act with condescension” nor be “disconnected from the realities” of the people.
Cuban economist Pedro Monreal wrote on X that there are “people disguised as ministers” in Cuba.
Feitó-Cabrera’s resignation was accepted by both the Cuban Communist Party and the government.
While the Cuban government does not publish official estimates on the number of persons begging, the increase in their numbers has been obvious to most Cubans during the island’s grave economic crisis.
