Cuba’s Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, stepped down after a burst of public criticism over her assertion that the Caribbean nation has “no beggars,” only people “disguised as beggars.” The Presidency said the 63-year-old official “acknowledged her errors and submitted her resignation,” which the Politburo and Council of State accepted on Tuesday night and announced on Wednesday, two days after her remarks were broadcast live from a parliamentary committee meeting. Feitó’s comments, made while deputies were reviewing policies for vulnerable groups, triggered an immediate backlash on social media and in state and international press. President Miguel Díaz-Canel, addressing the same session a day later, rejected the minister’s characterisation, calling for greater “sensitivity” in discussing poverty and warning that ignoring social problems undermines the government’s credibility. The controversy shines a spotlight on Cuba’s worsening economic situation. The government says gross domestic product contracted 1.1% in 2024, leaving output about 11% smaller than five years ago. Authorities count some 189,000 households — roughly 350,000 people out of a population of 9.7 million — as “vulnerable,” while the average state salary is valued at less than US$20 a month on the informal market. Street begging and scavenging, once rare, have become increasingly visible in Havana and other cities amid persistent shortages of food, medicine and fuel.