The following is the translation of an article published on July 15, 2025, on the website of the Presidency of the Cuban government.

It reports on the response by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, Cuba’s president, to controversial remarks a day earlier by Cuba’s Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera.

On July 14, Feitó Cabrera told the National Assembly, Cuba’s parliament, that there are no beggars in Cuba, that the island’s beggars are faking poverty in search of easy money, and that those cleaning windshields on the streets or picking up rubbish from trash bins are actually collecting raw materials without paying taxes.

“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,” Feitó Cabrera said.

“There are no beggars in Cuba. There are people pretending to be beggars to make easy money,” she added. “They have found an easy way of life to make money and not to work as is appropriate.”

In addition, Feitó Cabrera accused people searching through the rubbish of being “illegal participants in the recycling service.”

The Minister’s televised comments went viral on social media, causing uproar from the public and government officials alike.

The following day, Díaz-Canel rejected Feitó Cabrera’s approach and attitude, invoking the Cuban Revolution’s commitment to social justice as expressed in deeds that mark the revolution’s record.

Speaking during a session of the National Assembly’s Commission on Youth, Childhood, and Women’s Equality convened to address social issues, especially those that affect the most vulnerable layers of Cuban society, Díaz-Canel also recalled the approach of the revolution’s historic leader, Fidel Castro.

“Fidel always defended the idea that the issue wasn’t economic growth; any society, any country, can have economic growth, and in Cuba, economic growth must be linked to social development; otherwise, economic growth makes no sense to us,” he said, which “has a lot to do with how we socially redistribute the wealth we all create.”

Díaz-Canel insisted that Cuba can only address mounting inequalities and social problems, such as begging or homelessness, by first being honest about today’s reality.

On July 15, Feitó Cabrera resigned her post. The announcement of her resignation was read on the evening news.

This incident underscores the mounting social and economic problems the Cuban people face today, as a result, to a large degree, of Washington’s decades-long economic war aimed at asphyxiating and overthrowing the Cuban Revolution.

It also underlines the revolution’s resilience and its leadership’s insistence on debating out in the open the problems Cuba faces and the methods the country’s institutions and its people choose to collectively confront them. This maximizes the chances of drawing Cuba’s working people into the discussion and mobilizing them to act to meet the issues of the day.

World-Outlook is publishing the article that follows for the information of our readers. The headline and text below are from the original. Translation from the Spanish-language original, photos, breakers (or subheadings), and notes are by World-Outlook.

— World-Outlook editors

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‘We can’t defend the revolution when we hide our problems’

By Angélica Paredes and Yaima Puig      

July 15, 2025

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party [of Cuba] and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, participated this Tuesday [July 15] in the session of the Cuban Parliament’s Commission on Attention to Youth, Children and Women’s Equality, where he highlighted the maximum attention given, both by the Party and the Government, to social issues and, in particular, to people, families and communities in vulnerable situations.

If we can speak in Cuba today about the National Program for the Advancement of Women with such maturity and highlight certain results, it is because, first of all, we had the courage to recognize that, regardless of the social work for women’s emancipation carried out by the Revolution, “problems of discrimination, violence, traits of patriarchy, and machismo persisted in our society.”

With these comments, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, began his remarks this Tuesday at the Committee on Youth, Children, and Women’s Equality of the National Assembly of People’s Power, where he updated the deputies on the actions taken over the past four years regarding the implementation of the aforementioned Program and its main results.

The Head of State referred to the many lessons experience has taught us, because, he said, if years ago “it was a dream, it was a battle, it was a struggle, it was a comprehensive approach, because it had to be linked to various public policies, to various laws that have been approved, tempered by the realities of the country, of the times we are living in, now it is a reality.”

And precisely that recognition of the problems that persisted in Cuban society, the president asserted, was one of the main lessons, because “we can’t defend the Revolution when we hide the problems we have.”

“The Revolution shouldn’t shy away from its problems, because the Revolution has clearly demonstrated its humanistic will to confront and resolve problems, but we resolve them well when we confront them. And to confront and resolve them, or address them, we must acknowledge them,” he stated.

Social justice and truth

That courage, that moral high standard, he emphasized, has, in my view, two fundamental components of what Armando Hart^[1] described as elements of doing politics in Cuba during the Revolution: one is law as an expression of social justice, and the other is ethics as an expression of truth.

“When we truthfully acknowledge what’s happening to us, and with a sense of social justice, we resolve problems, we find solutions. Everything isn’t resolved all at once, because we’re in the midst of a complex situation, but we’re making progress every day toward solving problems,” he pointed out.

President Díaz-Canel spoke to the deputies about this action, which has distinguished the work of the Revolution for more than 60 years, with whom he shared his dissatisfaction with what happened on Monday [July 14] in a session of the Commission itself, where, in conjunction with another session, “they were analyzing the problems of how to better address a real and unwelcome phenomenon in our society, which is the existence of certain expressions of vulnerability, of people who are homeless or who are begging; but which, ultimately, are expressions of certain social inequalities and problems we have in our society.”

I would be dishonest, he noted, if I didn’t share with you my views on what has been expressed in this context regarding these issues, because “it is very counterproductive to express views like that, precisely in a session of two National Assembly committees where they are meeting to acknowledge that these problems exist, and also because they are acknowledging that there is a project, that there is a program, that there is attention from the Government.”

In this regard, he referred to General Objective 7 of the Government Program to correct distortions and boost the economy, which aims to “consolidate and develop social policies, guaranteeing the protection of individuals, families, households, and communities in vulnerable situations,” which gives it a strong connection to society.

In this regard, he recalled how “Fidel [Castro] always defended the idea that the issue wasn’t economic growth; any society, any country, can have economic growth, and in Cuba, economic growth must be linked to social development; otherwise, economic growth makes no sense to us,” which “has a lot to do with how we socially redistribute the wealth we all build.”

If we’re acknowledging that this problem exists, that it’s being addressed, the president commented, we can’t “denigrate the figures involved in this issue we’re acknowledging, because then what we’re expressing is a lack of understanding of the reality the country is experiencing. I would say it could be an expression of a superficial approach to reality and a treatment or attention that has been projected toward these problems.”

The Head of State also spoke about the worsening problems in Cuban society, because, he acknowledged, “sometimes people say they’re starting to see things that didn’t exist before; they did exist, and they existed at other times. What’s happening is that we’re in such a profound crisis that things now have other dimensions.”

Referring to the multiple causes that lead to this reality, he said they encompass both economic and social spheres, in addition to “problems of the breakdown of values in certain sectors of society and certain family issues, but it cannot be denied that there has been a focus on this, that the problem has been acknowledged, that its existence is not denied, and that there are projections that are even recognized in the governing documents and programs of our society.”

In the National Program for the Advancement of Women, he emphasized, efforts are also being made to ensure that, by empowering women, none of them are in this type of vulnerable situation.

‘They are our homeless people’

Regarding the way Cuba deals with these realities, he emphasized that it has to do with the “humanist vocation of the Revolution. There is a humanist vocation that leads us to say: yes, these are problems that exist in our society, they are our problems, they are our homeless people, they are our people in vulnerable situations, our families in vulnerable situations, and our communities in vulnerable situations. They are ours, and we have to solve them.”

“We have to address them from the Party, because a single Party, in a socialist Revolution, conditioned by historical reasons, is the Party of all Cubans, and we work to address all problems, and so do the institutions of People’s Power, because it is the power of the people, and we are working for those people,” he stated.

Hence President Díaz-Canel’s emphasis on the need to raise awareness of “the responsibility we all have as public servants, and here we are speaking among deputies, who are representatives of the population.”

Act with kindness, humility, compassion, decency, and solidarity; not with arrogance

“None of us can act with arrogance; we act with arrogance if we are disconnected from the realities we live in; we must act with sensitivity, with seriousness in addressing the problems that exist, with compassion, and through participation, we must promote unity,” he asserted.

He emphasized that we must “demonstrate our humanist vocation with support, with help, with solidarity toward those who are at some disadvantage, those who are in some vulnerable situation; with kindness, with humility, with respect, with human warmth, and all of this must be approached from an ethical perspective, from a perspective of polite behavior, of decent behavior.”

Díaz-Canel emphasized “sensitivity to the problems of our people,” something he has repeatedly emphasized is a quality that should distinguish our cadres and everything we do.

“If there’s no sensitivity, if your heart isn’t moved by the problems we face, you won’t find the energy to confront them, much less in such adverse conditions, in such harsh conditions, where every day you have to fight a battle against the intensification of the [U.S.] blockade and also against the hatred with which we are treated and against the contempt with which we are treated,” he reflected.

We have recognized, he said, that the worsening of these social problems is related to the economic crisis, which is also having a social impact due to the intensification of the measures of the blockade.

Regarding this reality, he considered that the actions being carried out by the U.S. government have the “tenacious purpose of suffocating us economically, and with this economic suffocation, seeking social unrest, seeking rupture, seeking disunity, and the Revolution’s demise.”

Specifically, regarding the analysis conducted by the deputies regarding the implementation of the National Program for the Advancement of Women, the Cuban President said it is a clear demonstration that “the Revolution is not standing still in addressing social problems.

“Work is being done, first by recognizing these problems, in order to act toward finding solutions to all the causes of the problems, because otherwise, what we are applying is a band-aid,” he stated.

Among other programs that have been undertaken in Cuba to reduce vulnerabilities, he mentioned the Anti-Discrimination Program: “If we had been content with saying that there was no discrimination of any kind in Cuba, given all the progress we have made, we would be mistaken at this point.”

He also referred to the discussion that will take place in the Assembly’s plenary session on the Code for Children, Adolescents, and Youth, a document that he considered “comprehensive, humanistic, for the present and the future, which involves us all, just as the Family Code^[2] also involved us all.”

Here, he acknowledged, we have spoken about issues such as comprehensive care for life; the treatment we are giving to those disconnected from school and work, as well as the existence of more than 30 social programs, all of which address different types of vulnerability and impacts.

This demonstrates political will and sensitivity; there is political will and governmental will, and here, political and governmental actions are united, he noted.

Among other actions that have been promoted to address vulnerabilities and social inequalities, President Díaz-Canel highlighted the Program for the Social Transformation of Our Communities and the development of children’s playhouses, a proposal that emerged from this Commission, from this Assembly, and that has demonstrated sensitivity to these problems.

The Revolution leaves no one behind

We must continue to reaffirm that the Revolution leaves no one behind, and that the people and their well-being are our main objective and responsibility, which is linked to the political and humanistic will of the Government we are speaking of, he emphasized.

“From this Assembly, from this work in the commission, it is demonstrated that there is a priority to overcome the difficult times we are experiencing in the country, with collective intelligence and creativity.

“And that is what gives legitimacy to this Assembly, because this is an Assembly of the people, it is an Assembly that represents the people, and it is an Assembly that constantly nourishes the soul of the nation. And we nourish the soul of the nation when we courageously recognize the problems we have and courageously propose to overcome them, and we all build public policies and strategies to overcome those problems.

“I believe that all this eagerness, this will, this desire to multiply the happiness of our people also leads us on the path to the prosperity that our people deserve, which is the meaning of our lives, of what we do,” he affirmed.

The issue is not confrontation, the President reaffirmed, because we are not going to confront a vulnerable person; we are going to care for those who are in vulnerable situations, who are not our enemies; they are people who are in a situation that is not what the Revolution was made for.

The Revolution recognizes that there are causes that have led to these types of problems, and so the Revolution must, if it has recognized this, project how we are going to solve them, knowing that it is a long struggle, that it takes time, that we must work together, that we must work transversally in many areas of society: economic, social, family, and educational.

“We cannot disqualify, we cannot make absolute a criterion that does not come close to reality. And yes, these manifestations exist, and we are not ashamed to acknowledge them; they exist, but we pay attention to them, we feel for the people who are in these situations, we have the will to overcome them, we have the will to transform them, because otherwise, we would not be revolutionaries. We know what the true causes are, but we cannot deny that they exist; otherwise, we are deceiving ourselves,” he acknowledged.

Finally, he emphasized the importance of never “losing sight of humanity, and within that humanism, we can never lose sight of everything we must do to preserve the dignity of our people,” recognized in our Constitution.

Hence his emphasis on always asking “how am I contributing to the dignity of the people, to preserving the dignity of the people, whether what we are proposing threatens or defends the dignity of our people, because those are the sentiments we all defend.”

These are feelings, he emphasized, that we have shared, “with which we have been educated, with which we have grown as a nation, and that is what makes us invincible, because others, in the midst of this situation, would have been defeated, would have raised the white flag, would have surrendered. What we are committed to here is that we are convinced that we will overcome this moment, even if the blockade intensifies, because we can, because we can.”

A program showing progress, but much remains to be done

“In the evaluation carried out four years after the approval of the National Program for the Advancement of Women, achievements and challenges are identified in a complex national context, where the political will to promote the advancement of women prevails,” said Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Champan Waugh, presenting the progress of the program’s implementation during the working session.

In this regard, she asserted that “its execution contributes to the Government’s dialogue with the territories, civil society, and the business sector.” Likewise, she stated, “it has enabled decision-making, monitoring of compliance with the actions planned in its seven areas of special attention, as well as accountability as a method of control.”

In her remarks, Champan Waugh emphasized the importance of addressing this issue from a comprehensive perspective, from the entire society, as an expression of the country’s political and governmental will to defend the rights of its female workforce.

“To resolve gender issues, we count on everyone, the women and men of Cuba,” emphasized the Deputy Prime Minister.

Leading the debate on this topic, Representative Arelys Santana Bello, president of the Committee on Youth, Children, and Women’s Equality, emphasized that this issue is constantly being evaluated and is the central focus of the parliamentary visits made to all territories.

In a day of collective reflection, the assessment of the significance of this program — which seeks the advancement of Cuban women — was the conceptual axis that motivated the main ideas.

Representative Asiel Aguada Barceló described its essence as “a right to life.” In his remarks, he elaborated on the participation of women in agriculture, the employment opportunities available in rural communities, and the impetus still needed for the work of the Women and Family Guidance Centers in all municipalities.

Representative Yusuam Palacios Ortega highlighted how much Cuba has done to defend women’s rights, and how much this program — four years after its creation — has contributed to strengthening and reinforcing this concept of the Revolution.

However, he specified, there are still cultural gaps, mainly in rural areas, where a patriarchal vision prevails, “which shows that there are issues that must be redressed.” The young parliamentarian called for the program to be included in territorial strategies and for its comprehensiveness to be strengthened.

Furthermore, Representative Danhiz Díaz Pereira proposed that, through academia and research, this Program be adopted as a Cuban model for public policy “that charts the path and actions to resolve key problems, articulated with governmental responsibility.”

In the rich debate, Liliam Mendoza Estrada drew attention to the need to reach greater consensus among the government, the Federation of Cuban Women, and other organizations and institutions linked to this issue, “because we must all contribute to this program, from different perspectives.”

‘Let the role of women in society never be invisible’

Representative Yamila González Ferrer emphasized that one of its main strengths is that “even though progress is recognized, it is constantly being evaluated because it is an issue permeated by stereotypes that still persist.”

“Our mission is to raise awareness, educate, and train people and institutions on this issue, to bring the issue to each municipality and demand its compliance,” she emphasized.

The National Program for the Advancement of Women, which came into effect by presidential decree in March 2021, beyond being part of the government’s agenda, constitutes a program of the Revolution, because it reflects all the achievements made by women since January 1959 and addresses current challenges related to gender.

Such arguments were expressed by the General Secretary of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), Teresa Amarelle Boué, who commented on the economic impact of the U.S. blockade on the implementation of this government program.

The leader of the women’s organization considered that “in the midst of an adverse context, Cuba has not abandoned its political will to advance gender equality and address the social difficulties experienced by this population group.”

“This is a dialectical program, constantly updated, that has been developed amid complex economic circumstances due to the intensification of the blockade, a cruel policy of the United States government that causes great suffering for Cuban families, particularly for its women,” argued Amarelle Boué.

Regarding the Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality — a key tool for monitoring the progress of Cuban women’s empowerment — she praised the fact that it is becoming a benchmark in the region because “beyond statistics, it provides life stories.”

“Let the role of women in today’s Cuban society never be made invisible,” insisted the General Secretary of the Federation of Cuban Women.

NOTES

[1] Armando Hart (1930-2017) joined the July 26 Movement in 1955. He was its national coordinator from early 1957 to January 1958, when he was captured and imprisoned by the Batista dictatorship until January 1, 1959. After the victory of the Cuban revolution Hart served as minister of education 1959–65; Communist Party organization secretary 1965–70; and minister of culture 1976–97. He was a member of the Communist Party’s Political Bureau from 1965 to 1986 and Central Committee from 1965 until his death. Hart is the author of Aldabonazo: Inside the Cuban Revolutionary Underground, 1952–58.

[2] For more information see New Cuban Family Code: A Revolutionary Achievement.

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