Cuba’s Indigents and Leaders

By Francisco Acevedo

HAVANA TIMES – Clearly, the talk of the week in Cuba was the unfortunate remarks—and swift dismissal—of the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera.

She became the queen of memes throughout the week, especially those showing her digging through a garbage bin and saying, “Don’t anyone call me a vagrant!”

She lasted just 48 hours in office after her statements in the National Assembly of People’s Power (Parliament), in what turned out to be one of the greatest acts of civic response in Cuba in the past 60 years.

Since the topic has already been widely discussed in recent days, we won’t dedicate much more space to it, but it is worth reflecting on the context, as it clearly illustrates the double standard that prevails in the Cuban government.

She clearly put her foot in her mouth, as we say in Cuban slang, but she’s not the first—nor will she be the last—to publicly spout nonsense.

This time, however, she touched a nerve, because it involved one of the programs used as a banner to showcase the “humanist and socially just work of the Revolution,” as it is portrayed from high-level circles.

Unlike the usual phrasing, this time it was said she “resigned” rather than being “relieved of her duties,” as the government typically puts it, and everything indicates that the pressure came from her own colleagues in order to avoid further public disgrace.

Although there are no official figures that show the true scale of the poverty crisis in Cuba or count its real victims, the presence of homeless people and garbage scavengers—most without a home to return to—is undeniable.

Now let’s look at the consequences, because it has become common in recent years for ministers and other high-ranking officials on this island to apply a double standard when it comes to judging the moral integrity of their work.

Almost all of them—if not all—have somehow secured their future, and it’s become quite common to see ousted officials later walking the streets of the United States as if nothing ever happened. This could very well be another such case.

Her son, Alejandro Fernández Feitó, emigrated to the U.S. in 2024 and currently resides in Florida, having benefited from the humanitarian parole program implemented by Joe Biden’s administration.

The ex-minister’s son worked in Cuba as an IT manager for the Cubatur travel agency, which is linked to the military conglomerate GAESA. He also served as an engineer at the state-owned company DATYS, under the Ministry of the Interior, where he was involved in developing border control reporting systems on the island.

On social media, he appears in photos with his mother at luxury marinas and vacationing in Varadero—places that are off-limits to most Cubans. At least one of the minister’s sisters also lives in the USA.

“My political views are completely opposed to hers. I can’t take responsibility for what she says or was told to say,” the young man told journalist Mario Penton for the digital site Martí Noticias.

“With the humanitarian parole program, I saw the opportunity of a lifetime to finally have the freedom I never had. There is no future on that island. Everyone leaves in search of the rights and opportunities they are denied in their own land. In Cuba, you know that speaking your mind can cost you your job—or land you in jail. But there comes a time when you just can’t take it anymore,” he said.

I really can’t grasp how someone raised under the same roof as another person can hold such diametrically opposed views. Of course, they’re different individuals and everyone has their own opinions, but if you’re brought up with a specific mindset from childhood, it’s hard for me to understand such a radical shift—unless the one doing the educating utterly failed to lead by example.

Everyone involved in the country’s repressive apparatus knows that the ship could sink at any moment, and they are all preparing for that moment in one way or another—without the slightest shame, as if their actions carry no consequences.

That makes it impossible to convince your own child that what you’re doing is right. And I repeat: this has long been a reality in Cuba, from Vladimiro Roca (son of historic labor leader Blas Roca Calderío) to Sandro Castro (Fidel Castro’s grandson), and Juan Juan Almeida (son of Commander Juan Almeida Bosque).

Family ties aside, they all experienced the lie from within, are familiar with the double standards of every leader, and prefer to carve out their own path.

I also find it hard to believe that Marta Elena Feito hadn’t expressed similar views in more private settings, in the presence of people like Miguel Díaz-Canel or Manuel Marrero—who have now left her to fend for herself.

Much worse lies than hers are uttered almost daily by other leaders, at every level, whether denying the existence of political prisoners in Cuban jails or claiming to have solutions for the many problems tightening the noose around ordinary citizens’ necks.

Is it really any different to deny that Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, Jose Daniel Ferrer, and so many others are prisoners of conscience? Has anyone resigned over that?

We’re still waiting for the resignation of Communications Minister Mayra Arevich Marín over the ETECSA rate hikes, or Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy for the countless times he’s promised to solve the energy crisis.

All these people have shown over the years that more than defending ideas, they’re defending positions of power. And when they need to say “yes” instead of “no,” they do so without the slightest shame—even when the difference is far more than just a word. It’s simply a matter of “looking for signals” from above to know what to defend at any given moment. And with that double standard, we’ve been suffering for over 60 years.

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.