(2 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba – 02 January 2025
1. Priests and ‘babalawos’ in religious ceremony singing and dancing
2. Various of faithful performing ceremony
3. Rancell Montero at news conference
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rancell Montero, ‘Babalawo’ priest:
"What we are seeing (in Cuban society) is prostitution day and night. We are seeing drug trafficking, alcohol and drug consumption is on the rise in the country. What are we doing to clean up and take care of our youth? What are we doing? We have to work from the religious point of view."
5. Various of faithful performing ceremony
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rancell Montero, ‘Babalawo’ priest:
“The only hope that exists is the consensus between Cuba and the United States that is achieved, I think that we must do it. Yes, we have to change things here, we have to change the way we are seen from the U.S. side. Cuba needs many changes and for that we have to listen to the Cuban people.”
5. Various of priests and babalawos during religious ceremony singing and playing drums
STORYLINE:
Cuba is destined to be blighted by problems unless authorities make changes. That was the prediction of practitioners of Santeria, the Afro-Cuban tradition in Cuba.
They also expressed concern about growing violence and the security of the country’s residents.
The Letter of the Year Commission of the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba, conducted a ceremony as it does every year. The ceremony on Thursday was complete with drumming and dancing and included warnings regarding the works or rituals that must be performed to prevent negative outcomes in the coming year.
Cuba is experiencing a significant economic crisis characterized by shortages, fuel shortages, and blackouts. This situation has triggered a wave of migration, while government critics have called for changes from the authorities.
Rancell Montero, a babalawo, as the priests of the Yoruba tradition are called, said this year’s should also focus on the increased use of drugs and alcohol abuse in the island, especially among young people. “What are we doing to clean up and take care of our youth? What are we doing? We have to work from the religious point of view," said Montero.
Originating from the traditions of African slaves and their syncretism with Catholicism, Santeria is the religion most practiced by the Cuban population, and its beliefs have spread to the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Spain, where other groups also make annual predictions.
AP Video shot by Ariel Fernández and Milexsy Durán
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