Cuban official resigns after suggesting beggars were faking

Cuban Minister of Labor and Social Security Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera resigned from her position on Tuesday amid backlash, according to state media. Cabrera on Monday told the Cuban National Assembly that beggars on the island were pretending to be homeless and blamed citizens for their own poverty, the Spain-based CiberCuba news outlet reported. Cabrera’s comments quickly went viral, and Cubans mocked her in memes and social media posts. Many called on her to resign, according to CiberCuba.

State media said Cabrera acknowledged her mistakes after a government review, which found she lacked objectivity and sensitivity when handling political issues.

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel on Tuesday said government officials shouldn’t be disconnected from the realities their people face, in a rare acknowledgment of Cuba’s troubled economy, according to CiberCuba. The National Assembly on Wednesday was set to discuss ways to boost the economy, according to the Cuban Communist Party’s official media.

How bad is poverty in Cuba? A considerable number of the island nation’s citizens live in extreme poverty by United Nations regional standards, according to Cuban economist Pedro Monreal. Those in extreme poverty can’t afford food needed to satisfy basic nutritional requirements, Monreal said in a social media post.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s story on a new U.S. inflation report.