Cuba minister resigns after saying her country has no beggars
Cuba’s labour minister draws fire for asserting those seen begging in her economically depressed country were pretending to be poor
A Cuban minister who sparked criticism after saying that there are no beggars in Cuba, only people disguised as such, resigned on Tuesday.
Cuba’s presidency said in a post on X that Minister of Labour and Social Security Marta Elena Feito Cabrera “acknowledged her errors and submitted her resignation”.
Feito made the on Monday before deputies in a National Assembly committee. The comments went viral, prompting calls for Feito’s impeachment and a wave of criticism in a country experiencing a tough economic situation in recent years.
Even Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was critical. Without mentioning her by name, but referring to the meeting at the National Assembly committee where Feito participated, Diaz-Canel said on his X account: “the lack of sensitivity in addressing vulnerability is highly questionable. The revolution cannot leave anyone behind; that is our motto, our militant responsibility”.
The economic crisis in Cuba has increased social vulnerability and led to unusual scenes for the island, such as – especially the elderly – begging or scavenging through garbage, or some cleaning windscreens at corners.
“We have seen people, apparently beggars, (but) when you look at their hands, look at the clothes these people are wearing, they are disguised as beggars, they are not beggars,” Feito said before the National Assembly committee. “In Cuba there are no beggars.”