Labour Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera’s feedback dismissing poverty within the Caribbean island nation set off offended backlash.
Cuban Labour and Social Safety Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera has resigned after saying there aren’t any beggars in Cuba, solely folks pretending to be.
Cuba’s presidency mentioned in a publish on social media on Wednesday that Feito had “acknowledged her errors and submitted her resignation” over her “lack of objectivity and sensitivity” in addressing points which are “on the centre of political and governmental administration”.
The information got here a day after Feito made the feedback about poverty within the island nation to deputies in a Nationwide Meeting committee.
“We’ve got seen folks, apparently beggars, (however) while you have a look at their arms, have a look at the garments these persons are carrying, they’re disguised as beggars. They aren’t beggars,” Feito mentioned.
“In Cuba, there aren’t any beggars,” she mentioned.
The minister added that folks cleansing automotive windscreens reside “straightforward” lives and so they use the cash they make to “drink alcohol”.
A lady sells items on a pavement in Havana, Cuba, on July 15, 2025 (Norlys Perez/Reuters)
Feito additionally lashed out towards those that search by way of garbage dumps, saying they’re recovering supplies “to resell and never pay tax”.
The remarks shortly went viral, prompting requires Feito’s impeachment and a wave of criticism in a rustic experiencing a powerful financial state of affairs in recent times.
Even Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel was essential.
With out mentioning her by identify however referring to the assembly on the Nationwide Meeting committee through which Feito participated, Diaz-Canel mentioned on his X account: “The shortage of sensitivity in addressing vulnerability is extremely questionable. The revolution can’t go away anybody behind; that’s our motto, our militant accountability.”
Cuba blames its financial woes on a Chilly Battle-era United States commerce embargo, which complicates monetary transactions and the acquisition of necessities, resembling gas and spare components. The US imposed the embargo in 1960 after the Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro.
The embargo is extensively criticised with 185 of 193 nations on the United Nations voting to sentence it.
US President Donald Trump just lately tightened sanctions on the island’s Communist Occasion-run authorities, pledging to revive a “powerful” coverage in the direction of the Caribbean nation.
Former US President Barack Obama took appreciable steps to ease tensions with Cuba throughout his time in workplace, together with restoring US-Cuba relations and making the primary go to by a US president to the nation in 90 years. Cuba has additionally confronted an vitality disaster and blackouts in current months as provides of subsidised Venezuelan oil have turn out to be more and more precarious as Venezuela grapples with its personal financial woes.
Final week, the US Division of State imposed sanctions towards Diaz-Canel in addition to the posh high-rise Lodge Torre Ok in central Havana.
Journey and tourism are vital to Cuba’s struggling economic system with hundreds of thousands of vacationers visiting the island nation annually.
In line with the UN Convention on Commerce and Improvement, Cuba had a gross home product of $9,296 per individual in 2019, making it an higher center revenue nation.
