The Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel appointed Jesús Otamendiz Campos as the new Minister of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) this Monday, replacing Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, who resigned last month amid the controversy generated by her statements about poverty and homelessness on the island.
The decision was made by the State Council, at the proposal of the leader of the "continuity" government and with the prior approval of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), as reported by official media.
Otamendiz, 50 years old, had been serving as the vice governor of Havana until now, a position he held since 2023. With a degree in Law and a doctorate in Educational Sciences, he also studied Public Administration and has held various political and administrative roles since his beginnings as an instructor for the Union of Young Communists (UJC) in the Cerro municipality.
In 2005, he was promoted to head the Organization Department of the Provincial Committee of the UJC in Havana, and in 2008, he went on to direct the Social Workers Program in the capital. Since then, his career has been directly linked to the MTSS, where he held positions such as Director of Training and Development, Director of Employment, and Deputy Minister.
In 2021, he was appointed first deputy minister and later promoted to vice governor of the capital, remaining as an "immediate reserve" for the direction of the ministry. His appointment comes at a particularly sensitive time for the institution, following the political crisis triggered by Feitó Cabrera's statements.
The former minister resigned on July 15, after stating in a parliamentary session that in Cuba “there are no beggars” and that people in homelessness were “drunks” or “people disguised as beggars to seek easy money.” Her words were met with widespread public backlash, which led to her resignation.
Although not directly mentioning Feitó Cabrera, Díaz-Canel criticized days later the lack of sensitivity among some leaders: "None of us can act with arrogance, with hubris, disconnected from the realities our people experience."
With the appointment of Otamendiz Campos, the government aims to restore the credibility of the MTSS, a key ministry in the midst of the severe socioeconomic crisis the country is facing, characterized by inflation, unemployment, and increasing poverty.
The new minister also inherits the challenge of managing a deteriorating labor market, with thousands of Cubans emigrating and increasing precariousness in both the state and private sectors.
The government of "continuity" has presented Otamendiz as a figure "with positive results" and "leadership ability," although doubts persist among the public regarding the real possibility of changes in the regime's social and labor policies.
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