After claiming that there are no beggars in Cuba, a minister resigns.

 

Food shortages have worsened in Cuba as it grapples with a severe economic crisis

 Cuban Minister for Labour Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera has been forced to resign after she made comments denying the existence of beggars on the Communist-run island.

 The minister had stated that there were no "beggars" in Cuba, and that those dumping trash were essentially doing so to make "easy money," as she put it. Her remarks, which she made during a parliamentary session, were widely criticized by Cubans at home and abroad. The island's president, Miguel Dáz-Canel, responded. She resigned soon after.

 Poverty levels and food shortages have worsened in Cuba as it continues to grapple with a severe economic crisis.

 In Cuba, where open dissent can result in critics being imprisoned and where anti-government protests are prohibited by law, both the public criticism of her remarks and the minister's rebuke are unusual. Feitó Cabrera made the comments earlier this week at a session of the National Assembly.

 "There are no beggars in Cuba.  There are people pretending to be beggars to make easy money," she said.

 Furthermore, Feitó Cabrera accused people searching through the rubbish of being "illegal participants in the recycling service".

 The minister clearly misjudged the outrage and anger her comments would cause and the extent to which they portrayed the country's leadership as unfeeling, authoritarian and deeply removed from the dire economic struggles of ordinary Cubans.

 President Díaz-Canel criticised Feitó Cabrera at the parliamentary session - albeit without mentioning her by name - saying the leadership could not "act with condescension" or be "disconnected from the realities" of the people.

 With food and housing shortages becoming more acute in Cuba's current economic crisis, the sight of people rummaging through rubbish bins for food and sleeping in doorways has become more common.

 Fuel shortages and regular power outages further disrupt daily life. Many Cubans also have to hunt for basic medicines, going from pharmacy to pharmacy in the hope of tracking down the medication they need.

 In response to her claim that there were no beggars in Cuba, but people disguised as beggars, Cuban economist Pedro Monreal wrote on X: "It must be that there are also people disguised as 'ministers'".

 A number of Cuban activists and intellectuals also published a letter calling for her removal, saying the comments were "an insult to the Cuban people".

 Feitó Cabrera's resignation was accepted by the Cuban Communist Party and the government.