Historical Background of Diplo-santería1
Since the very first humanitarian flight that departed to Cuba in 1979 after negotiations with the Cuban government allowed Cuban exiles to return to the island to visit their families, Diasporan Cuban Olorishas and their multi-national religious descendants have made countless visits to the island for religious purposes. Today, many younger Olorishas from the United States, Puerto Rico, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, and other areas of the Cuban-Lukumí Diaspora are traveling to Cuba, infected by the nostalgic virus that we, the earlier generations of Cuban exiles disseminated, that idealized or romanticized the religion in Cuba. Under this assumption, bitten by the Lukumí-Mecca-in-Cuba bug, they seek religious knowledge and orthodoxy in the island. In many, the virus spreads and becomes a malignant cancer that cannot be extirpated. Continue reading »
