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Tourist Studies
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DOI: 10.1177/1468797608099251
2008 8: 249 Tourist Studies
Kali Argyriadis
tourism and the accusation of religious commercialism
Speculators and santuristas : The development of Afro-Cuban cultural

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Speculators and santuristas
The development of Afro-Cuban cultural
tourism and the accusation of religious
commercialism
Kali Argyriadis
Institut de Recherche pour le Dveloppement, Bondy, France
abstract Within the last ten years, cultural tourisn based mainly on Afro-Cuban
folklore has grown considerably in Havana. At the same time, an increasing number
of foreigners are visiting the island in order to learn about religions such as santera
and palo monte, both considered as having their roots in Africa. In the economical
crisis facing Cuba today, religon has become one of the most efficient way to
improve ones economical situation. This fact is discussed and criticized at various
levels of Cuban society. This article analyses this phenomenon, considering criticisms
of mercantilism as an ambigous category of accusation typical of the exchanges
between practitioners and of the social relations on the island in general. Based on
ethnographic researches conducted in Havana, this article also addresses the
classical distinction between sacred and profane. Distinctions between cultural,
artistic, religious, political, emotional and economical dimensions is also discussed.
We will see that those dimensions are always manifest and connected together in
touristic shows as well as in religious ceremonies.
keywords Cuba, religion, tourism, patrimonialisation, folklorisation, afrocuban dance
and music
Introduction
Within the last 10 years, cultural tourism based mainly on Afro-Cuban folklore
has considerably grown in Havana. At the same time, an increasing number of
foreigners are visiting the island in order to learn about religions such as santera
and palo monte, both considered to have their roots in Africa. In the economical
crisis facing Cuba today, religon has become one of the most efficient ways to
improve ones economical situation.This fact is discussed and criticized at vari-
ous levels of Cuban society.This article analyzes this phenomenon, considering
tourist studies

2008
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vol 8(2) 249-265
DOI: 10.1177/
1468797608099251
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criticisms of mercantilism as an ambiguous category of accusation typical of the
exchanges between practitioners and of the social relations on the island in
general. Based on ethnographic researches conducted in Havana, this article also
addresses the classical distinction between sacred and profane. Distinctions
between cultural, artistic, religious, political, emotional and economical dimen-
sions will also be discussed. We will see that those dimensions are always
manifest and connected together in touristic shows as well as in religious
ceremonies.
The growth of tourism in Cuba is regularly criticized for its contribution to
the commercialization and degeneration of religious practices. These are
referred to by the generic term religin, covering a whole series of distinct cults
and practices: santera, the if divinatory system, palo-monte, spiritualism and the
cult of saints and virgins.Throughout the year, lovers of Cuban culture can take
part in courses, festivals, colloquia and conferences in which the Afro-Cuban
dimension is emphasized. Participation is one way of achieving closer involve-
ment, sometimes even leading to real religious practice (Argyriadis, 20012002).
This has generated a very particular type of tourism that could be qualified as
religious, in that the main objective of the voyage is to attend ceremonies,
either as a spectator or as a participant.Today, some researchers criticize the low
quality of so-called Afro-Cuban cultural events, which, according to them,
bring foreigners into contact with unscrupulous profiteers who transform
Cuban religious and cultural experience into an artificial consumer good.
Rogelio Martnez Fur, co-founder of the National Folklore Ensemble, calls
this phenomenon santurismo (personal interview, 11 November 2003); he also
describes it as pseudo-folklorism (2004: 155) manipulated by predators of the
traditional popular heritage (2004: 160).
Moving beyond the discourse so often repeated in Cuban discussions about
the socio-religious degeneration or crisis, I would like to try to understand the
processes that produce these accusations, to understand their role within a
religious practice afflicted, like all religions, by internal power struggles.There is
no question here of taking sides or of stigmatizing either the actors or the
processes, but rather, following the suggestions of M. de la Pradelle (1996:
1213), of analyzing situations of market exchange as some among many forms
of social relation, necessarily interacting with other dimensions. In this light, the
accusations of commercialism, such as the accusations of black magic or non-
traditionality, should be understood as a category of discourse that nurtures the
rivalries between religiosos (practitioners) and informs us about the rules gov-
erning the circulation of material and spiritual goods within religin.
The context of the accusations
Each year, about two million tourists visit the island of Cuba, mainly Canadian
and European and to a lesser extent Mexican, Venezuelan (very recent) and
Argentinean.
2
The government has decided to encourage the development of
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this industry with the clearly stated aim of combating a situation of crisis.When
the special economic relations with Eastern Europe collapsed in 1990, Fidel
Castro decreed a state of emergency, the Special Period in Peacetime. After a
time of great hardship (19911995), and despite a relative economic recovery
accompanied by new laws allowing certain private initiatives (restricted to the
individual or family level), the situation continued to be difficult for all those
who had no direct access, through a job in the tourist sector, with a publicpri-
vate company or through receipt of money sent home by family members
working abroad, to the American dollar or its equivalent, the convertible peso.
In this singular context, the population has developed numerous strategies for
daily survival, denoted in popular language by the terms fight, solve and
invent. In Havana, people do not buy a bus ticket, they fight a transport (luchar
un transporte) and they invent a meal (inventar la comida).
For those who have no family abroad and who do not work in the emerg-
ing sector of the economy, religin (and more precisely the santera and the cult
of if, which enjoy a certain prestige, both inside the country and abroad)
remains one of the surest, most lucrative and relatively legal ways to improve
their material situation.The inhabitants of Havana have invested more and more
in these activities, which also attract a growing number of foreign visitors,
willing to spend considerable sums of money to become initiated:
US$12008000 to do ones saint (hacer santo) or to do if.
However, this religious development cannot be reduced to a simple search for
profit. The status of believers has evolved very favorably since the political
opening of 1991 (Cuarto congreso , 1992). Cuban religions of African origin
are now considered strong and valuable markers of Cuban cultural identity.The
public is also convinced of the supremacy of the Cuban santera over its sister
religions of Africa and America. Cuba is held to be the birthplace of the yoruba
tradition and of the sacred energy called ach. Today, many religiosos base their
local legitimacy on the prestigious visitors or foreign godchildren they receive
and the voyages they have been on, invited as a specialist to give conferences
or to serve as guarantors of the effectiveness and traditionality of various
ceremonies.
As a consequence, rivalries between religiosos have shifted onto a global field.
Fifteen years ago, the main preoccupation of each specialist was to disprove the
suspicions of black magic that might weigh on him. Now they are more
concerned to demonstrate their traditional authenticity through the mediation
of an international public. Within the context of the antagonism between
Cubans and Cubans exiles, the accusation of disguised or instrumentalized
political militantism is also widely employed (Argyriadis and Capone, 2004).
But there is another type of accusation which, although often associated with
the economic context described above, has in fact existed for more than a
century. This involves denouncing confidence tricks, charlatanism, spculation
(ostentation of wealth and power) and greed (metalizarse), whether they are
practiced between one Cuban and another or between Cubans and foreigners.
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The context in which these views are expressed has a considerable influence
on their content: this is above all a competitive world, admitting neither
supreme head nor dogma, a market for goods of salvation (Bourdieu, 1971: 320)
in the broadest sense of the term (removing the strictly Christian connotation
in this case the hoped-for salvation concerns the present moment) in which
each actor must promote his own qualities and minimize those of his com-
petitors. Moreover, the religiosos have had to defend themselves against discrimin-
ation, rejection and sometimes persecution from government and/or
ecclesiastical authorities. The integration of the African element into the
concept of Cuban national culture was far from established at the dawn of
independence (1898), and it was subsequently the subject of bitter debate
among the members of the islands intellectual and artistic elite. It is worth not-
ing that from the beginning, this slow process has always included denunciation
of the commercialization of religious services.We could give many examples to
illustrate the timeless nature of the accusation of commercialism (Cabrera, 1993:
117; Daz Fabelo, 1960: 434). See for instance the early critiques of the Cuban
essayist and scholar Fernando Ortiz (1995) on the religious practises of Afro-
Cubans which he considered as a social pathology involving the commercial
exploitation of credulity. Forty years later, and in a very different context, when
Cuban academics had taken up the defense of music and dance of African
origin as paradigms of Cubanity in the face of North-American, commercial
exploitation of the Afro-Cuban liturgy was in turn sharply criticized (Ortiz,
1981: 149).
One essential point to bear in mind is that in their diffusion through Cuba,
these religious practices were always structured by market principles, with prices
rising and falling depending on the customer concerned and the cost of living
at the time. At the same time, thanks to artistic enhancement and the use of
modern communication techniques, they have opened up to cover a wider
field.
Giving to receive: the circulation of goods
Before going any further, we shall explain more precisely the symbolic and
economic implications of religin in the Cuban context. The relations between
living people and the spirits (the dead and the saints) are based on interdepend-
ence (see Aug, 1988: 11) and constant negotiations that determine the type of
goods that will be put into circulation and the type of benefits that will accrue
in return. The orishas, the dead and the living all need to accumulate force, light
or ach in order to develop.The ritual activity can therefore be seen as a contract
of reciprocity to be fulfilled (Palmi, 2004: 251), a time when these energies are
put into circulation and each of the parties involved claim their due, without
hesitating to exert all kinds of pressures in the event of a dispute. Of course,
people fear the punishment that the spirits might inflict, but it is not uncom-
mon to see someone threaten or insult their saints or nfumbe, by turning their
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receptacle upside-down or ceasing to attend to them ritually for several days
(the supreme punishment being to stop believing in them and to throw their
material representation into the sea or into the garbage).
It is important to recall that for these rituals payment in kind has, in certain
contexts, constituted an important form of remuneration. Only 10 years ago, the
question of the type and number of animals to be sacrificed was fiercely
debated, and still is in the poorest religious milieus. Except in certain specific
cases, a substantial proportion of the meat from these animals is consumed
ritually, the remainder being shared between the organizers of the ceremony,
their godparents and/or the sacrificer. The saints (or orishas) and the dead,
sometimes demanding, sometimes magnanimous, surprised or capricious, take
part in the discussion, call for four-legged animals, and are countered with
arguments evoking the Special Period, prices on the local market and the value
of the dollar. Likewise, they determine which members of the public at a
forthcoming ceremony will be invited to the ritual meal and which people will
only receive caldoza (a thick soup made with pork and tubers). Beyond the
question of the possible greed of certain parties, these negotiations explicitly
define the border between the closest/most attentive godchildren within the
ritual family, the preferred family members and friends and the others. In fact,
many people invite themselves to religious feasts (cajones and tambores), theoreti-
cally open to everyone, with the sole aim of eating a piece of meat and a few
spoonfuls of sweet dishes.
Even in the case of an experienced religioso, with deep knowledge and many
godchildren, the presence of others is indispensable for two fundamental
reasons: first, to accumulate force, light or ach; and, second, to bear witness to the
accomplishment of the ceremony (a function whose importance grows in
proportion to the religiosos desire to establish his/her prestige). Religiosos obtain
two benefits in exchange for their services in a ritual: they receive both ach and
a payment. As rites of passage, initiations are also social events, like marriages or
baptisms, and for this reason no expense can be spared.The living, the dead and
the saints must be fed, and a fee (derecho) must be paid to each active participant
according to the task (and celebrity) of each one: the godparents, the sacrificer,
the diviner, those who help with the cooking, cleaning and decoration and the
preparation of the ritual ingredients, the musicians, those who have the gift of
becoming possessed.The acolyte takes great pride in the sacrifice he has made
to ensure the success of his initiation, source of prestige par excellence and
which he mentions regularly: I dont have to hide away, because I love my
religion and it [the initiation] cost me a lot [mi dinero me cost]; this is the great-
est proof of love and devotion that he can give to the gods, who are supposed,
in return, to help him recover the sum invested a hundred times over.
Implicitly, the contract of reciprocity linking someone to their spirits
concerns his whole social and religious circle. In this respect, spirits are medi-
ators of the relation with others and with oneself (Aug, 1982: 103).This idea is
expressed very concretely in all the systems of redistribution that are organized
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during public ceremonies. Several authors, for example, highlight the case of the
altars set up on these occasions, veritable machines of exchange (Brown, 1989:
467; see also Palmi, 2004: 252). These thrones, on which the receptacles of the
orishas and/or the dead repose majestically under a canopy of brightly colored
cloths surrounded by flowers, dishes of food, drinks and baskets of fruit (called
plaza marketplace) symbolize abundance, the promise of future prosperity.
Their contents are shared out amongst those present, either by those who have
become possessed during the ceremony, if there are any, or at the end by the
organizers. It would be inconceivable to refuse the plate of cakes, the honey or
the mouthful of eau de vie offered in this context: its ach, its good for you,
explain the religioso. In exchange, a basket and a small idiophone (maracas, bell)
are installed at the foot of the throne, so that each person, kneeling on a mat, can
invoke the spirit being celebrated, salute him, ask him and leave him a sum of
money. Another basket is set at the musicians feet, to collect the extra payment
left to the discretion of the public. Sometimes, enthusiastic participants stick
banknotes on the perspiring foreheads of the singers or of those possessed, who
can then in turn offer them to the people present.The money remaining in the
basket at the foot of the throne (the fee for the saint or the dead) is used to buy
the offerings asked for by the spirits during the ceremony.The organizer is well
aware of the amount of money available, and he negotiates firmly with the
possessed to limit the expense.
Within the more limited context of the consultation or simple personal
therapies, the role of the money paid in addition to the other ingredients, also
called a fee, is particularly subject to controversy. For here, the specialist is alone
with his customers, without other religioso (considered competitors, in this
context) as witnesses, and he sets his own prices. It is therefore easy to level the
accusation of commercialism. It is not by chance that the babalawos, men
initiated into the if divinatory system, who currently enjoy great prestige, are
also those who ask the highest prices. Holbraad (2002) has underlined the fact
that, beyond its potential of abstraction, money, as an instrument of negotiation
with the divinities and as a fluid and immanent substance that vivifies the
movement of exchange (our translation), is an integral element of the cult and
its cosmology. For that author, the spending of money literally animates the
logic of if. This reflection could be extended to cover all the material modali-
ties of religin, i.e. those that admit the sacrifice of animals and the payments of
fees (santera and palera consultations). Bank notes and coins symbolize more than
just prosperity, they are not simply the means of paying for a service: they are
also the bearers of ach or force, and this is why they are sometimes included in
the ingredients of offerings destined to be thrown out with the other waste or
put inside the receptacles of spirits, where nobody would dare to touch them.
Devoting oneself to consultations is one of the key elements in a religiosos
career; it goes hand in hand with the fact of having godchildren and forming
ones own ritual family. Some exercise this activity in parallel with another
professional activity, but for many it is now their main employment. From this
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point of view, consultation fees are re-introduced into the religious circuit to
pay for the ceremonies enabling the religioso to attain higher initiatory levels and
so to perform stronger works, to fulfill his duty towards the spirits and to cleanse
himself, all costly operations that in turn justify the high prices of consultations.
It is also important to impress the customers, for, paradoxically, although humil-
ity is praised in discourse, signs of wealth are interpreted as marks of power
when it comes to choosing a godfather. External signs of prosperity (new
clothes, jewels, knock-knacks, buffet food for visitors, household appliances,
etc.) are proudly exhibited as so many proofs of the recognition and gratitude
of national and foreign godchildren. The views one hears are nourished by
criticism or admiration, depending on whether they are expressed by allies or
rivals. The money received is therefore used as an investment enabling the
religioso to maintain status, in an environment of power struggles where efforts
to outdo the others are constant and indispensable, especially now that it is no
longer simply a question of the religious market of Havana, but of flourishing
competition on a tricontinental scale.
Attending to or taking care of others, and vice versa (by giving proofs of
affection) is an essential element in the range of exchanges between humans and
spirits, and in general a highly valued way of behavior. For this reason, each time
a religioso criticizes the self-interest of others, he does so by contrasting this with
the concepts of love and affection which he claims for himself. A santera, refer-
ring to the exploitation of foreigners, specifies:its just a business, to speculate.They
dont give it with all their love, as we do. As I do, myself. Beyond the dimension of
self-promotion, always present in this type of discourse, the concept of love as
currency of exchange needs careful analysis.
When the spirits come down (once the material obligations have been fulfilled:
fees, offerings, meals, feasts), they begin their evolution by effusively embracing
their children, while blessing them and using all the affectionate terms in the
vocabulary of kinship.Almost at the same time, they complain loudly about how
they have been neglected, despite their devotion. These reproaches can also
condemn the attitude of certain individuals towards members of their family.
Here, once again, the spirit plays the role of mediator in human conflicts. Most
often, the criticism concerns the lack of attention shown by godchildren
towards their godparents, and sometimes by children towards their mothers.
Those present then make it a point of honor to express the deepest affections,
and when a request is made, it is always expressed in an emotional register,
stressing the ties of love between the spirit and the person.
Beyond the contrast between self-interest and affection, material goods and
proofs of love are closely linked, the giving of the former constituting one of
the possible means to receive the latter, and vice versa. As N. Jurez Huet (2005)
observed: Exchanges, which can be reciprocal or asymmetric, combine diverse
situations, means, contexts and interests that are not always either analogous or
related exclusively to economic questions. And it is interesting to note that the
pay-what-you-want form of payment (used by many spirites and sometimes by
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certain paleros, santeros and babalawos) is probably the hardest debt to settle. How
can it be quantified? Generally speaking, the ritual family ties that are created in
the religin lead not only to the exchange of goods, but also to relations of care,
affection and mutual aid that can in turn be expressed through services rendered
and gifts, all the more so when the purchasing power and/or level of religious
knowledge of the two parties are unequal.
The accusation of commercialism therefore has a political function, serving
as a strategic weapon in power struggles within the religin. But it must also be
understood in relation to the effective practice that it masks: a relation of
negotiation with the spirits and with other people. Whether they are high or
low, the prices are never brought into question per se. What is at stake is the
quality of the work and consequently of the relation. Criticism only arises when
there is conflict or disappointment, and it is the evolution in the social link that
produces the accusation, the debt of affection being symbolically staged through
the accusation of self-interest, and not the reverse.
The dramatization of folklore and cultural tourism
As we observed above, there is nothing new about the accusation of commer-
cialism. What is new is the scale of the current phenomenon. In the Cuban
capital, there has been an evident, marked increase in the numbers of specialists,
ceremonies, and places where one can encounter religin, and a resulting
inflation of prices. Meetings between the religiosos of Havana and visitors who,
even if they speak the same language, do not share the same codes and implicit
rules, has become easier and more current since the recent opening of the
island. In this particular type of scenario (the extreme case being that of the
foreigner who arrives, does his initiation and then leaves, all within one week),
ritual family ties are not sufficient to establish solid commitments. Social,
cultural and geographic distance make it difficult to maintain a regular exchange
of care, affection and ach, and goods in kind lose their potential of reciprocity
(it is, for example, unlikely that a foreign godchild will appreciate the true value
of being able to receive a leg of goat). The Cuban religiosos exchangeable good
is their ritual knowledge, while foreign godchildren pay in cash and offer
products that are difficult to obtain on the island. It is therefore hardly surpris-
ing that in the context of rivalry between religiosos of different nationalities, the
accusation of commercialism is used to counter affirmations of traditionality:
this is especially the case with Mexicans or North-Americans who break away
from their Cuban godparents, condemning their supposed greed, or Cubans
who accuse Nigerians of getting rich on the backs of the North-Americans
and Mexicans.The process that feeds power struggles between religiosos is repro-
duced on a larger scale.
Despite the initial distance, and thanks to modern means of transport and
communication, we can observe many cases where strong links (both positive
and negative) are consolidated within the transnational networks now formed
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by a number of ritual families (Argyriadis, 2005). In most cases, visitors belong
to a network before undertaking their initiatory trip to Cuba. However, the
establishment of the Cuban santera in other American countries (and more
recently in Europe) and its promotion within the frame of cultural tourism in
Havana are also closely linked to the artistic practice inspired by the objects,
dances and musical repertoires dedicated to the orishas. It is indispensable to take
this phenomenon which has contributed to the destigmatization of Afro-
Cuban religions (Argyriadis, 2006) into account if we are to understand how
the presentation of tourist shows has become one of the factors in the religious
involvement of foreign visitors, as well as a space for negotiation with the
authorities (the state, elders, etc.) and for calling into question the demonization
of market transactions.
The opening of the island (promotion of the tourist industry, more flexible
traveling conditions for Cuban nationals and exiles, emigration, the huge return
of Cuban music to the international market) dates from the beginning of the
1990s. For Havana, however, this constituted a sort of second episode in a
process that had started in the 1950s when, with the international success and
world tours of Cuban performers, the religious practices of their country
became more widely known, through their works.Without the revolution, these
practices might have shared the same fate as those of the Afro-Brazilian
religions (Boyer, 1993: 1568; Capone, 1999). But the political changes on the
island brought to life the dreams of F. Ortiz (1981: 587), who, from 1950 on,
denounced the commercialization of the Afro-Cuban repertoire and called for
the creation of a society of Afro-Cuban music or of Cuban musical folklore,
with a dual scientific and aesthetic objective.
In 1960, the Centre for Folklore Studies at the National Theatre of Cuba was
created, with financial aid from UNESCO. From the start, its assessor deplored
the commercial and tourist-related exploitation that had disfigured Cuban
folklore under the old system. The aim was to conduct research and perform
authentic artistic spectacles in order, as he put it, to become masters of our
own culture (Len, 1961: 56). However, while the aesthetic and resistant
character of Afro-Cuban culture was promoted, its religious dimension was
clearly rejected. In December 1961, the Centre was dissolved and replaced by
two separate institutions: the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore, dedicated
exclusively to scientific research; and the National Folklore Ensemble (CFN),
given the task of developing the artistic work, along with newly created art
schools of higher quality. The CFN became a space of expression of which the
religiosos have taken advantage, both to legitimate their practices (after a lengthy
process) and to stir the interest of new Cuban and foreign followers. And the
first members of the CFN were chosen with the help of ethnologists inform-
ants, the very same who had taken part in academic lectures and the commer-
cial production of records and shows in the 1940s and 1950s.
After difficult beginnings, marked by tensions born out of persistent class and
racial prejudice, the CFN went on to enjoy great success, thanks to its inter-
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national tours, production of records and documentaries, participation in various
different film and theatre works of an anti-racist nature, theoretical formaliza-
tion (Guerra, 1989: 521) and teaching of the repertoire. In 1982, the company
started presenting its works every Saturday afternoon on the patio outside its
offices, in the middle of a residential area (Vedado). These Sbado de la rumba
(rumba Saturdays) had a didactic and participatory structure: the public
(including adults, children and a few tourists), standing in a circle, were invited
to identify the different works and repertoires, to memorize the rhythms, words
and meaning of the songs, to accompany the music with handclaps and
improvised dancing and generally to compete in virtuosity, under the enthusi-
astic gaze of the veterans (old religiosos, informants or retired CFN performers),
who sanctioned the whole thing by their presence, participation and approval.
The choreographies presented by the orisha dances reproduced the setting of a
tambore, with a throne installed at the back of the stage and baskets of fruit,
shared with the spectators at the end of the show. A mixture of spectacle, class,
feast and religious ceremony (sometimes one of the dancers might go into a
trance), the very lively productions of the CNF contributed more generally to
awakening the curiosity of people who knew little or nothing of religin and
served as a model for the folkloric groups subsequently formed in Havana.
The revolutionary governments aim in stimulating Afro-Cuban artistic
production was certainly not to favor increased adhesion to religin. Never-
theless, this almost always accompanied the publics aesthetic appreciation of
this repertoire. Within the same sphere, the performer-teachers from the
workshops, classes and Afro-Cuban festivals deliberately and actively worked to
increase the standing of their religious practices. They played and still play a
leading role as mediators vis-a-vis the foreign public. Today, they have become
the direct interlocutors of lovers of this genre throughout the world. They live
comfortably from their art (trips abroad and regular contact with foreigners give
them legal access to hard currency) and enjoy recognized status. Those under
50-year-olds have all trained in the CFN and/or in the art schools: they have
highly developed and diverse musical skills; master different folk and popular
genres as well as jazz or classical music; play several instruments; have had lessons
in music notation, harmony, orchestration and composing; and have read the
works of Cuban ethnologists and musicologists. Many of them live their
demanding aesthetic involvement explicitly as a commitment as religioso and as
citizens (one of them, retired in 2001, described himself as an improver of
culture), both on stage and in the ceremonies for which they are hired, like
their predecessors. In the face of the social, ethnic and religious discrimination
that is still expressed on the island in aesthetic terms (scandalous gesture,
ugliness, stink, grossness, dirt, uproar), the beauty of the orishas dances and of the
bat drum rhythms, which have now become traditional after 70 years of history,
have raised the santera
3
to the rank of culture. On this point, the aspirations of
the state and of the religioso appear to converge, at least within the frame of the
development of cultural tourism.
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The accusation of religious jineterismo
The opening of several tourist sites in Havana selling objects and shows inspired
by the Afro-Cuban corpus has given rise to persistent rumors, as in the case of
the Bazar de los orishas, inaugurated in 1993 within the confines of the ethno-
graphical museum in Guanabacoa: it was alleged that santeros and babalawos had
been hired by the government to give consultations to foreigners. In fact, the
1990s abounded with ambiguous decisions that probably contributed to the
political crisis of the time. In 1993, after decades spent rejecting capitalism and
the consumer society, after many public acts of repudiation of exiles (describing
them as vermin and scoria), making it impossible for families divided by the
Gulf of Mexico to communicate openly, the possession of American dollars was
authorized for everyone (even when the dollars were sent by family members
discreetly described as abroad) and hard currency shops were opened. Many
religious objects and ingredients are now manufactured by the Ministry of Light
Industry and sold for national currency in state shops. Access to hotels, disco-
theques and beaches, which had been proudly liberated from discrimination
by the young revolution, are now restricted to foreigners (including Cubans
from abroad) or wealthy nationals. Lastly, despite the official discourse that
continues to demonize individualistic profit-seeking, the government strategies
for using state-regulated market mechanisms (Resolucin econmica , 1997)
have engendered doubt and disappointment in Havana. In turn, these suspicions
have been grist to the mill for exiles, who accuse Havana religious performers of
collusion with the state in the folklorized, commercialist presentation of their
practices, to attract tourists to the island and customers to their consultations.
Whether it was deliberate or not, the sites of cultural tourism have become
favored meeting points between religioso and foreign visitors, thanks to the
mediation of performers or other figures that we shall describe later.Advertising
outside the island emphasizes the authentic character of events that emerge
spontaneously in the street or in the quarter. In reality, however, they are
managed and organized by specific state institutions (cultural centers, workshops
formed as part of the Cultura comunitaria plan for cultural revitalization, foun-
dations, etc.) depending in turn on bodies specialized in the commercialization
of this type of product, such as the Paradiso agency, which manages 90 percent of
the annual program of cultural tourist events. But an analysis of the scheme in
its entirety cannot stop there, nor ignore the fact that the Afro-Cuban tradition
presented in these key sites has been carefully stage-managed.We need to move
beyond the contrast between falseness and authenticity, to observe the way in
which the different actors gloss over the commercial dimension in their inter-
actions, negotiate their social position or construct ethnic or even racial iden-
tities. Afro-Cuban dances play a key role in this process. They illustrate the
physical foundationalism of the tourist industry (Desmond, 1999) and consti-
tute an arena where the internal dynamics of religin can perpetuate themselves
and invest new social circles.
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The Sbado de la rumba, recently renamed Gran Palenque, is mentioned in the
tourist guides and included in the package tours that discover the capital.
Today, it is one of the key sites of cultural tourism. Didacticism and audience
participation remain de rigueur during half the show, before a mixed public (the
admission fee is 5 pesos for Cubans, 5 convertible pesos for foreigners), which
also includes researchers and foreign students equipped with microphones and
cameras and Cubans from abroad, in search of traditionality, who film and
record without stopping (subject to prior authorization and the payment of a
fee).Twice a year, the Folklore Ensemble organizes music and dance workshops,
during which it opens its premises for presentations by pupils. Moreover, young
groups of extremely varied quality perform at the Gran Palenque, many of them
having great difficulty in freeing themselves from the codified model of the
CFN. And, to the despair of the old regulars, the interval is livened up by a
fashion show, involving young people of both sexes, whose slender forms
(contrasting with the more or less corpulent figures of the CFN members) are
emphasized by short, transparent or cut-away clothes.
The presenter remains silent during the show itself, but the rest of the time
she never misses an opportunity to joke with the male spectators: Did you like
that? You did, didnt you! You went all red when the pretty girl rolled her
hips there . She uses this banter first to create complicity between Cubans,
paying tribute to the seniors seated at the front and reminding the younger
ones, often amateurs and/or performers, that it will soon be their turn to sing
and dance.This is no easy task: there is a latent mistrust between the two groups,
and the formers disapproval of the behavior and clothing of the latter is almost
palpable. And yet their objective is the same: they are here to show themselves.
The seniors make a display of their knowledge, renown and respectability; the
younger performers parade their audacious choreographic abilities, their energy
and their firm intention to take over the helm. One young, rather agitated
initiate, noticing the reproachful look
4
of an old santera wearing a turban and
sporting a fan, exclaimed loudly: I can do what I like, nobody should tell me
what to do!. But these exchanges/challenges cease immediately when the
Cuban spectators favorite moment arrives: the female presenter drags foreign
visitors onto the dance floor to dance a rumba. There is utter jubilation each
time the poor victims, spurred on by the shouts and cheers of their compatriots,
good-humouredly cover their obvious ineptitude by caricaturing themselves or
miming comic scenes.
5
After effusive applause, the presenter invites everyone to
take part in a convivial conga, in which everyone participates in a relaxed
manner, their identities now having been clearly defined. At the end of the
show, signaled by two or three pieces of recorded music, some of the young
performers hurry up to the foreigners to offer them dancing lessons or the
services of a specialized Afro-Cuban guide.
Thus, the Gran Palenque of the CFN fulfills several functions. It has been and
still is an artistic event with the objective of convincing Cubans themselves of
the beauty of what are called Afro-Cuban music and dance. Its headquarters, as
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a centre of research and education, works for the cultural promotion of this
repertoire and the restoration of its prestige. It is also an important moment of
self-affirmation of the Cuban identity, the African origins of which become
consensual in this setting. It is a meeting place and point of reference for
religioso-performer, legitimated by the presence of famous seniors and legitim-
ating for the younger ones, who dream of joining the ensemble. And the two
generations face each other here every week.The Gran Palenque is also aimed at
an audience of foreign and Cuban migr amateurs, looking for what they
believe to be the essence of tradition, a belief strengthened by the fact that the
members of the CFN are religioso-performers, solicited for ceremonies. Finally,
it is a site of tourism promotion that plays on the ambiguous registers of Afro-
Cubanity: the boundaries between aesthetic values and sensual attraction are not
always clear. Like the other key sites in the capital (Argyriadis 20012002:
345), the Grand Palenque, in both its intentions and its staging, systematically
blurs these boundaries, juxtaposing cultural, artistic, religious, identity-related,
political and economic dimensions.
This phenomenon should not be interpreted solely in terms of religious
proselytizing or mercenary strategy.The blurring of boundaries takes place with
such spontaneity and facility because it is an intrinsic part of the functioning of
religin, the representations of which influence very wide spheres of Havana
society. In addition, although a strict separation between religious and secular
musical and choreographic styles is expressed in discourse, ethnographic analysis
shows that the boundaries between sacred and profane does not depend on the
repertoire or the setting so much as on the intentions of the participants. It is,
for example, possible to dance the cha-cha-ch for the orishas or the rumba for the
dead and succeed in obtaining a manifestation through possession: the event is
greeted with enthusiasm in vivo, although it may subsequently be criticized as
heterodoxy by the rivals of the ritual family involved. Conversely, liturgical
songs have for many decades formed part of the repertoire of popular orches-
tras, who sometimes provoke trances in certain spectators. And finally, in
folkloric shows, the blurring of registers reaches its summit when the perform-
ers are possessed, or when their performance is so convincing that some of the
spectators ask to be cleansed by them.
The accusation of jineterismo
The performer-teachers are not the only mediators between tourists and reli-
giosos. As is the case in the Grand Palenque, they coexist with young people who,
without necessarily being musicians, dancers or even religiosos, specialize in
proposing their services as guides on these themes. Their appearance matches
the representations that foreign tourists have of what is Afro-Cuban: their skin
is dark enough to be described as black (although they do not define them-
selves as such in other contexts) and they dress either in an American rapper
style or less alarming for the tourists as Rastafarians. They conform to the
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global models associating the Afro-American religious and artistic tradition with
darkness of the skin, an idea which ceased to be relevant in Cuba many decades
ago. Many of them complete their range of offers (accompanying visitors to the
key sites of Afro-Cuban cultural tourism, concerts, restaurants, houses with
rooms to let, festivities, religious ceremonies or consultations) with illegal propo-
sitions such as the sale of cigars or drugs and more or less explicit offers of sexual
services. It is interesting to note that in Havana, prostitution is not defined as
such by those involved, who prefer the term jineterismo (accompaniment),
reversing the stigma attached to this type of activity. The jinetero or jinetera are
not seen as objects of consumption, but rather as resourceful people (luchadores
6
)
who make good use of their charms to profit from ingenuous tourists (Palmi,
2004: 244). In reality, the large majority of female prostitution has long been
organized along similar lines as it is other countries: fixed prices, meeting areas
known to everyone, corruption of officials and pimping. But there is a thin line
between these types of activity and the simple companion, especially in the
case of men.
This other space in which boundaries are blurred generates a continuum
(both in popular speech and in police checks) or a chain of professionals linked
to the Cuban spiritual world of African origin (Aseff, 2005), which starts with
the basic jinetero and can extend to categories of accusation that are widely used
to call into question the sincerity or quality of a performer, researcher or reli-
gioso: the categories of pseudo-religious jinetero (Fur, 2004: 92), of intellectual
jinetero or of santero jinetero. In fact, and although many people deny it, jineteros
play an important role as intermediaries, bringing customers to consultations in
exchange for a commission and preparing them with general explanations
about the santera and affirmation of the authenticity and competence of the
specialist in question. Some of them focus their discourse on the philosophical,
historical or social dimension of the religion, presenting themselves as private
researchers. Others really are religiosos. In the end, as many Cuban academics
(both students and professors) have recently been initiated into santera and are
direct their research into this area, and as many religioso present themselves as
researchers, writing books or giving lectures, the possibilities for accusation are
growing ever more numerous.
One of the techniques used to make allusions about the greed of others, or
of one particular competitor, consists precisely in insinuating that their initiation
was motivated purely by ostentation:There are some people whove got money
and who say: Im going to do my saint, because like that they can prove to
everyone that theyre rich, because doing ones saint costs a lot of money! So its
a way of speculating, explained one santera in 1995. In this context, the word
speculate means to show off, but it does not lose its economic significance: the
initiatory progression can be analyzed as a form of career, in which the suc-
cessive ceremonies are investments made with a view to attaining a high and
therefore lucrative status.The babalawos, who enjoy this high status at present,
are the main targets of accusations of speculation, all the more so since the very
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function of babalawo is inseparable from the idea of increasing prosperity
through the intervention of the spirits (Holbraad, 2004). Many babalawos
recognize this, but they emphasize the principle of reciprocity, shifting the
accusation of speculation onto their rivals, particularly all the young men who,
in ever greater numbers over these last few years, have chosen the same path
(threatening their hegemony). But this ostentation by the under 40-year-
olds, which is actually quite similar to that displayed in their youth by the
now-venerable religiosos (judging by their accounts or those of their contem-
poraries), could in turn be analysed as a strategy to make a place for themselves
in this milieu, based, if need be, on the status or financial ease obtained by
having dealings with foreigners or a certain general renown.
Conclusion
So discussions about material goods, and particularly accusations of venality, play
a fundamental role in the micro-political context of the religious world of
Havana.The constant contrasting between self-interest and affection, between the
lure of profit and charity, may be used to mask the principle, intrinsic to religion,
of exchanging spiritual goods (ach, knowledge, proofs of affection, etc.) and
material goods subject to constant negotiation (which produces the accus-
ations). The dominant moral values shared by Christianity and socialism (love,
charity, community spirit, self-sacrifice, obedience to higher authorities) are
consensually accepted and valued. And yet, with great ambivalence, a quid pro
quo principle is exercised with fierce determination, even with regard to the
Catholic saints.
On the national level, the example of cultural tourism and the different ways
in which foreign tourists can discover religin provide substance for further
reflection.The folkloric staging of religious practices is more than simply a catchy
marketing strategy. The history of the construction/codification of the Afro-
Cuban repertoire shows how the religiosos have succeeded in giving a status-
enhancing artistic and cultural dimension to their activities, firstly within the
national setting, and then on an international scale. In doing so, they entered
into a wider debate, over the specification of the location of the traditional
authenticity of the religion of orisha. Ultimately, the ambiguous figure of the reli-
gious jinetero or speculator brings us back to the principle of reciprocity, whilst also
introducing physical skills (dance, sex, etc.) into the domain of exchangeable
services. Between accusation and admiration, the speculators greatest fault is
probably that they refuse to temper their undeniable success with a discourse
endorsing more socially acceptable principles to show that they are integrated
into the system of exchanges governing their ritual family and their broader
social circle. But this attitude, severely criticized, is indispensable to anyone
wishing to intimate that their individual religious career is going to be successful.
The much-criticized commercialization of religin and its presentation in the
form of consumer-friendly and touristic shows are unquestionably part of the
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process of transnationalization of the Cuban santera. The underlying ambiva-
lence of the attitude towards individual prosperity (source of both accusation
and prestige) feeds the micro-political interactions within religin. Here,
exchanges are governed by the principle of reciprocity, enabling continuous
opening to foreign believers, as the exchangeable goods can take the most
diverse forms and be negotiated. Presenting it in the form of shows has proved
to be effective means of enhancing its value and spread, by widening the circle
of potential followers. These dynamics are extended onto a transnational scale,
bringing into circulation goods, objects, knowledge and symbols, not only
through religious networks, but also through the commercial and artistic net-
works which transversalize them and contribute to their evolution.
notes
1. This term, invested with great significance since the end of the 1980s within the
political context of the rehabilitation of religious beliefs of all persuasions, joined
that of santera, promoted by Cuban researchers in the 1940s (Lachateer, 1939,
Ortiz, 1939), and now co-exists with other expressions such as ocha-if or religin
yoruba, which, like santera, highlight this modality of cult, considered to be the
most prestigious, while at the same time stressing its traditional African character.
2. See the statistics of the Cuban Centre for Information and Historical
Documentation
http://cidtur.eaeht.tur.cu/boletines/Boletines/Cidturinforma05/Ene_Febe/Hotel
er%EDa.htm.
3. Palo-monte did not enjoy the same treatment, because it is associate with the
congos, the term used in Cuba to designate a generic African population despised
by Cuban intellectuals (Argyriadis, 2000).
4. Santeros initiated for less than a year (iyaw) are supposed to respect a certain
number of rules in their behavior. These rules are more or less strict depending
on the persons and their ritual families.
5. Occasionally, a foreigner displays show real talent, which is appreciated at its true
worth and applauded by the Cuban spectators, despite their disappointment.
6. Paradoxically, one of the key words in revolutionary symbolism, fight (luchar), has
become a synonym for hustling for dollars (Palmi, 2004: 241), either legally or
illegally.
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kali argyri adi s is an anthropologist at the Institut de Recherche pour le
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