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The Cuban Nation and
Religion’s Subordination to
Politics
Jorge Amado Roberto Vera

class and gender in Cuba and the world

Writer and journalist
Delegate Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR) in the Eastern provinces
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

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ccording to the classical, Stalinist definition: “A nation is a stable human community founded upon and emerged from
a foundation involving four primary traits—a
community of language, of territory, economic
life and psychology.”
The creation of a national state, as in the consolidation of the structures of a nation that are enshrined in the broader context of triumph—be it
that of the bourgeoisie over feudalism, or democracy of the bourgeoisie. The year 1917 marks the
beginning of the communist regime’s spreading
beyond its borders and its intent to achieve global
domination, all of which translated into the total
extermination of religions as a spiritual force,
since they all opposed communism.
The Castro-style socialist power grab in Cuba, in
1959, marked the creation of an increasing intolerance of any and all manifestations of faith or religious beliefs. The purpose of this move was to
submit citizens to the process of indoctrination
that had been taking shape in the country. The
Yoruba religion, with its source in African mythology, was already considered a form of obscurantist syncretism (“a backward black thing”) by
a growing number of people. Yet, never was it as

censored as it is today. Despite undeniable discrepancies, 1950s Catholicism concerned itself
only with issuing a warning about the tradition’s
ignorance regarding Christianity and incorporation of Catholic saints into this magical sphere. In
essence, its concern was that the religious sense
of the faith was being undermined due to its use
by and for mankind.
Yet, this magical-religious order had very notable
devotees, people who lived in perfect harmony
with Catholics. There is evidence of this in the
January 15, 1956, eighty-page issue of the journal
La Quincena, whose content dealt more with spiritual matters than economic ones, which invited
the publication of articles about the “positive realities” of one religion or another. It did not only
publish a report by Pura del Prado about Reinerio
Pérez Quesada, an Omó Changó [Santería priest],
at his temple-home San Benito del Palermo (55
Pérez Andrés Street, Olmos neighborhood, Santiago de Cuba). This report made reference to a famous procession that the famous priest was leading around the city with his Changó on a litter and
crowds of people behind it, from December 4th17th. The month culminated with a feast on the