Cuban minister resigns after saying country has no beggars

Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, Cuba’s Minister for Labour and Social Security, has been forced to resign after causing widespread outrage with remarks dismissing the existence of beggars on the island. Speaking at a recent session of the National Assembly, she claimed there were no beggars in Cuba and accused those seen rummaging through trash of doing so by choice to earn "easy money". She also referred to these individuals as “illegal participants in the recycling service”. Her comments were perceived as grossly insensitive and disconnected from the severe economic struggles facing the population.

The backlash was immediate. Cubans at home and abroad voiced outrage, with many taking to social media to criticize her remarks. Among them was Cuban economist Pedro Monreal, who sarcastically posted that “there must also be people disguised as ministers”. A group of activists and intellectuals published an open letter condemning her comments as "an insult to the Cuban people" and called for her immediate removal. President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded without naming her directly, warning that leaders should not act "with condescension" or appear "disconnected from the realities of the people". The controversy comes at a time when Cuba is facing a deepening economic crisis marked by soaring poverty and chronic shortages of food, medicine, and basic supplies. Although official statistics on homelessness and begging are not publicly available, the increasing visibility of people searching through garbage and sleeping rough has become undeniable. Many Cubans say the situation is the worst they've seen in decades. Amid this backdrop, Feitó Cabrera’s remarks were seen as particularly tone-deaf and damaging to the credibility of the government, ultimately leading to her resignation, which the Communist Party accepted swiftly.

See also: On July 15, 2006 – Twitter, later one of the largest social media platforms in the world, is launched.

Feitó Cabrera's resignation marks a rare political fallout in a tightly controlled political system like Cuba’s, where public dissent from within government ranks is unusual. Her remarks have been seen as emblematic of a broader disconnection between some members of the Cuban leadership and the lived realities of ordinary citizens. For years, the Cuban government has carefully curated its public messaging to portray a nation with minimal poverty, largely thanks to its socialist welfare policies. However, the worsening economic conditions aggravated by the pandemic, U.S. sanctions, inflation, and a drop in tourism have made those claims increasingly hard to sustain. Public discontent has been rising across Cuba, with growing numbers of people engaging in protests, often triggered by lack of food, electricity, or services. The reaction to Feitó Cabrera’s comments underscores a broader frustration with official denial and misrepresentation of the country’s hardships. Her resignation was widely seen as an effort to contain that anger before it could spiral further, especially given the sensitivity of the subject matter and the increasingly vocal civil society movements both within Cuba and among the diaspora. President Díaz-Canel's carefully worded rebuke, although not naming Feitó Cabrera, signaled a clear shift: a public acknowledgement that denial and patronizing narratives could no longer shield the leadership from criticism. It reflects the pressure on the government to at least appear responsive and empathetic to the suffering of its citizens, especially as independent media and social platforms amplify dissenting voices. This episode serves as a notable example of how even in authoritarian systems, tone-deaf governance and dismissive rhetoric can provoke public backlash strong enough to force resignations. The incident may also signal that the Cuban leadership is becoming more cautious about how it communicates during the country’s worsening economic crisis.

See also: Clashes resume in Syria's Druze city of Sweida after ceasefire announcement