Cuba’s communist government has long prided itself on its ability to meet the basic needs of the island’s population, despite persistent evidence to the contrary.

The contrast between the official government line and reality was brought into sharp relief this week when a government minister went on television and addressed the issue of people begging on the streets.

The minister, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, who oversaw labor and social security, said Monday that the island’s beggars were faking poverty to make “easy” money.

The backlash was swift in a country mired in economic misery, where many struggle to afford food. Barely 24 hours later Feitó was out of a job. The government said she had resigned because of her lack of “objectivity and sensitivity.”

While the Communist Party remains firmly in charge, Cuba’s government has faced intensifying anger among ordinary Cubans who have lost patience with the six-decade-old socialist system imposed by the revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

— The New York Times