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France 24
7 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
'Please, something to eat': Cubans forced to beg in economic crisis
The 62-year-old has been sleeping on the streets since his house outside the capital collapsed two years ago -- a frequent occurrence due to the dilapidation of many buildings, echoing an economy in ruins. "Food is the hardest part. I've been rummaging through trash cans for two years to eat," he tells AFP, his speech hindered by many missing teeth. Under a grimy T-shirt, Abel's body is skeletal. He says he suffers from arthritis, hypertension, and a liver problem for which he has no medicine. He admits he used to drink "quite a lot... You know, we're going through a tough time." Abel is one of a visibly growing number of beggars and homeless people in a country confronting its worst economic crisis in three decades. Earlier this month, Labor and Social Security Minister Marta Elena Feito resigned after causing an outcry with her statement that "there are no beggars" in the communist state crippled by decades of US sanctions. Analysts also point to structural weaknesses in Cuba's centralized economy and the Covid-19 pandemic's blow to the tourism industry. Long a champion of egalitarian socialism but critically short on foreign currency, the Cuban state has not had enough money these last four years to keep up with spending on social programs such as free healthcare and subsidized food. At the same time, food prices have skyrocketed nearly 500 percent, throwing Cubans into precarity. There are no official numbers on poverty in Cuba, where the word "poor" is not used in official communications, but rather terms such as "vulnerable people." Government data shows that 189,000 families and 350,000 individuals benefit from social aid programs on the island of 9.7 million inhabitants. 'A real problem' Juan De La Cruz, 63, told AFP he had been a beggar for two weeks. He sat on the street in a busy neighborhood of central Havana with a piece of cardboard on which he had scribbled: "Please, something to eat." "What Social Security gives me is not enough," said De La Cruz, who lost a leg to diabetes four years ago and receives an amount equivalent to less than $3 a month at the informal exchange rate. It is not enough to buy a kilo of chicken, he said, and the soup kitchen is little comfort. "The food is bad, rice without butter, without oil." At least he has a place to sleep, said the retired stretcher bearer, "a very small room," but "empty, empty, empty." President Miguel Diaz-Canel was forced to enter the fray over his minister's remarks, lambasting her "lack of sensitivity" and telling parliament that beggars are "concrete expressions of social inequalities" in Cuba. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero also acknowledged the country was facing "a real problem." In the absence of official data, experts have to rely on estimates. Sociologist Mayra Espina Prieto recently calculated that "between 40 and 45 percent" of Cubans live "in poverty." And UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, said last year that nearly one in ten Cuban children lived in "severe child food poverty," which means they survive one or two food groups a day, sometimes less. 'A small room' Arnaldo Victores sleeps in a motorcycle garage, on plastic bags, in a peripheral neighborhood of Havana. As he has no fixed address, the 65-year-old former physiotherapist cannot access social benefits in spite of his visual impairment. Every day, he travels to the city center and begs on a busy street. His dream? Just "a small room with a bathroom," Victores told AFP. Across the street from where he is forced to beseech strangers for alms there stands a brand-new state-owned hotel with 42 floors -- the tallest in the capital and a symbol of unforgivable waste for many Cubans struggling to make ends meet.
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Cuba fires labour minister for calling all beggars fakes
A woman searches through a dumpster looking for useful items, in Havana, Cuba. (Picture credit: AP) HAVANA: The Cuban government fired its labour minister after she was publicly rebuked by the president for saying Cuba's beggars were all phonies in disguise. A brief announcement Tuesday evening said labour and social security minister Marta Elena Feito had demonstrated a lack of 'objectivity and sensitivity on topics that are currently central to political and governmental policy'. The minister's remarks on live television Monday were circulated on social media and became a lightning rod for popular frustration with years of economic crisis. 'We have seen people who appear to be beggars, but when you look at their hands, when you look at the clothes they wear, they are disguised as beggars ... In Cuba, there are no beggars,' she said. President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the comments showed a lack of understanding of the roots of poverty. 'The vulnerable are not our enemies.' REUTERS
Straits Times
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Cuba fires minister who said beggars were all fakes
HAVANA - The Cuban government fired its labor minister after she was publicly rebuked by the president for saying the country's beggars were all phonies in disguise. A brief announcement Tuesday evening said Labor and Social Security Minister Marta Elena Feito had demonstrated a lack of "objectivity and sensitivity on topics that are currently central to political and governmental policy". The minister's remarks on live television on Monday were widely circulated on social media and became a lightning rod for popular frustration with years of economic crisis. "We have seen people who appear to be beggars, but when you look at their hands, when you look at the clothes those people wear, they are disguised as beggars ... In Cuba, there are no beggars," Feito said. "They have found an easy way of life, to make money and not to work as is appropriate." President Miguel Diaz-Canel addressed the comments in his own appearance before the committee the next day, saying they showed a lack of empathy and understanding of the roots of poverty. "These people, who we sometimes describe as homeless or linked to begging, are actually concrete expressions of the social inequalities and the accumulated problems we face," the president said. "The vulnerable are not our enemies." REUTERS Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Over 600 Telegram groups in Singapore selling, advertising vapes removed by HSA Singapore 2 weeks' jail for man caught smuggling over 1,800 vapes and pods into Singapore Singapore Jail for man who fatally hit his own daughter, 2, while driving van without licence Singapore ComfortDelGro to introduce new taxi cancellation, waiting fee policy Singapore Here comes the sun: Less rain, more warm days in second half of July Singapore Strong argument for cockpit video recording, says Iata chief in wake of Air India crash report Singapore Baby died after mum took abortion pills and gave birth in toilet; coroner records an open verdict Business Tycoon Robert Kuok's daughter Kuok Hui Kwong appointed CEO of Shangri-La Asia
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cuban minister resigns after downplaying poverty
The labor minister in economically depressed Cuba resigned Tuesday amid an uproar over her claim that people rummaging through garbage cans were only pretending to be poor and not truly desperate. Such scenes of acute need are common in Cuba, especially in Havana, as people in the communist run country grapple with runaway inflation, meager wages and food shortages, causing some to resort to panhandling or eating out of the trash. The labor minister who denied this, Marta Elena Feito, who also oversees the social security system, "acknowledged her mistake and tendered her resignation," Cuban state media said Tuesday, adding that she had shown a "lack of objectivity and sensitivity." On Monday, Feito told a parliamentary committee meeting about measures to address poverty that people rummaging for food in garbage bins are in fact dressed up to look like beggars. "When you look at their hands, when you look at the clothes those people are wearing, they are disguised as beggars. They are not beggars. In Cuba, there are no beggars," she said in statements broadcast live on state television. Social media users in the communist nation reacted with outrage, posting photos of people eating out of trash cans, while economist Pedro Monreal commented on X that there are "people disguised as 'ministers'" in Cuba. President Miguel Diaz-Canel entered the fray on X Tuesday to lambast Feito's "lack of sensitivity." He later told a parliamentary session that "none of us can act with arrogance, act with pretense, disconnected from the realities we live in." Beggars, added Diaz-Canel, are "concrete expressions of social inequalities and the problems" Cuba faces. Poverty levels have increased sharply as the Caribbean country reckons with its worst economic crisis in three decades, marked by shortages of food, medicine and fuel and daily power blackouts. Observers blame a combination of US sanctions, domestic mismanagement of the economy, and the Covid-19 pandemic tanking the nation's vital tourist industry. Last year, the government said there were 189,000 families and 350,000 individuals out of a population of 9.7 million living in "vulnerable" conditions and benefiting from social assistance programs. AFP has observed a marked increase in the last two years of homeless people and beggars on the streets of a country where the average monthly salary is less than $20 at the unofficial exchange rate. Cuba's economy shrunk for the second consecutive year in 2024, contracting 1.1 percent compared to 1.9 percent in 2023. lp/val/mlr/dw/jgc
Int'l Business Times
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Cuban Minister Resigns After Downplaying Poverty
The labor minister in economically depressed Cuba resigned Tuesday amid an uproar over her claim that people rummaging through garbage cans were only pretending to be poor and not truly desperate. Such scenes of acute need are common in Cuba, especially in Havana, as people in the communist run country grapple with runaway inflation, meager wages and food shortages, causing some to resort to panhandling or eating out of the trash. The labor minister who denied this, Marta Elena Feito, who also oversees the social security system, "acknowledged her mistake and tendered her resignation," Cuban state media said Tuesday, adding that she had shown a "lack of objectivity and sensitivity." On Monday, Feito told a parliamentary committee meeting about measures to address poverty that people rummaging for food in garbage bins are in fact dressed up to look like beggars. "When you look at their hands, when you look at the clothes those people are wearing, they are disguised as beggars. They are not beggars. In Cuba, there are no beggars," she said in statements broadcast live on state television. Social media users in the communist nation reacted with outrage, posting photos of people eating out of trash cans, while economist Pedro Monreal commented on X that there are "people disguised as 'ministers'" in Cuba. President Miguel Diaz-Canel entered the fray on X Tuesday to lambast Feito's "lack of sensitivity." He later told a parliamentary session that "none of us can act with arrogance, act with pretense, disconnected from the realities we live in." Beggars, added Diaz-Canel, are "concrete expressions of social inequalities and the problems" Cuba faces. Poverty levels have increased sharply as the Caribbean country reckons with its worst economic crisis in three decades, marked by shortages of food, medicine and fuel and daily power blackouts. Observers blame a combination of US sanctions, domestic mismanagement of the economy, and the Covid-19 pandemic tanking the nation's vital tourist industry. Last year, the government said there were 189,000 families and 350,000 individuals out of a population of 9.7 million living in "vulnerable" conditions and benefiting from social assistance programs. AFP has observed a marked increase in the last two years of homeless people and beggars on the streets of a country where the average monthly salary is less than $20 at the unofficial exchange rate. Cuba's economy shrunk for the second consecutive year in 2024, contracting 1.1 percent compared to 1.9 percent in 2023. Cuba's economy shrunk for the second consecutive year in 2024 AFP
