Minister quits over 'poor' claim

The labour minister in economically depressed Cuba resigned on Tuesday amid an uproar over her claim that people rummaging through garbage cans were only pretending to be poor and not truly desperate.

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Such scenes of acute need are common in Cuba, especially in Havana, as people in the communist run country grapple with runaway inflation, meagre wages and food shortages, causing some to resort to panhandling or eating out of the trash.

The labour 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 on Tuesday, adding that she had shown a “lack of objectivity and sensitivity.”

On Monday, Ms 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.