Labor Minister Who Sees No Beggars in Cuba Fired
HAVANA TIMES – Labor Minister Marta Elena Feito tried her best to defend the government’s separate reality regarding life in today’s Cuba. However, she went too far and paid the price.
On Monday, Feito had told a committee meeting of the National Assembly that “There are no beggars” in Cuba and thus the ones people see everyday on the streets are “disguised”. She labeled them “drunks, impostors, and illegal workers,” looking to take advantage of the system.
While President Miguel Díaz Canel and the Communist Party leadership maintain that “no one is left behind or abandoned” in Cuba, denying the severe crisis in the country is no longer part of their rhetoric. Blaming outside forces for failed economic policies, topped by US sanctions, is still the accepted justification, even if the credibility of that argument has been waning for a long time.
The “illegal” alternative press and social media present the on the ground reality of an impoverished population daily. The graphic proof can no longer be denied. Thus, Feito crossed a red line, even for the Cuban president, in trying to blame the destitute for the government’s failures. The reactions at home and abroad were so devastating that within 24 hours Diaz Canel had fired Feito.
In announcing Feito’s dismissal, the Communist Party government stated: “The comrade acknowledged her mistakes and submitted her resignation.”
Whether this wake-up call to insensitivity turns into real social protection for those falling through government safety net remains to be seen.
Feito’s idiotic and absurd comments reflect the pathology of the life of the racial and bureaucratic elite that passes for socialists even while subjecting the Cuban people to brutal vendor-capitalist inflation and out-of-reach crony and foreign capitalist commerce.
Ms Feito is not alone in her extraordinarily absurdist view of Cuba. The principal leaders are all suffering from this insanity. Marrero insists on more investment in tourism as the “engine of growth” while housing infrastructure is literally crumbling and most Cubans do not have enough to eat. This government is not there to serve the needs of Cuban citizens but those of rich tourists. And just what does this government do with whatever income they get? They go on right ahead and import food : tomato sauce and purée from Italy and Spain, chicken from the USA, eggs from Colombia and the Dominican Republic, and sugar – yes, sugar – and coffee from Brazil. The concept of import-substitution is alien to them. They have never heard of it or perhaps their motivation is the same corruption Pedro Alvarez, now a decent citizen of the United States, benefited from as head of Alimexport. These Andromedan galaxy “socialists” are loathe to invest in Cuban peasant farmers but would rather enrich agro-capitalist industries in Western countries! What kickbacks in dollars and euros are they getting?
Now she will ask to go to the USA for political asylum. Good luck with the regime we have now.
I doubt her resignation has a greater meaning. The chisme behind her quick “liberaćion” as they say in Cuba is that she was not well-liked by her political peers and her forced resignation was as much an appeasement to those who wanted her gone even before her stupid comments as it was a result of the international reaction to the verysame comments. The Castros have a long record of out-of-step comments and nothing ever comes of it. Here’s the question to ask however: what job does she do now? Does she emigrate to Spain? Apparently, she has a son living comfortably in Miami. There are recent photos of the two of them “livin’ la vida loca” in Varadero all over the internet now. As a result,
I doubt she could go to Miami and live in peace. Does she get some cushy government job watching grass grow or is she really headed for the soup line? I can imagine that she knows where a few bodies are buried and who buried them so the dictatorship would do well to keep her close and out of the reach of the anti-castrista folks. So keep an eye on her next move.