La Lucha for Cuba

Abstract

For many in Miami's Cuban exile community, hating Fidel Castro is as natural as loving one's children. This hatred, Miguel De Torre suggests, has in fact taken on religious significance. In La Lucha for Cuba, De Torre shows how Exilic Cubans, a once marginalized group, have risen to power and privilege - distinguishing themselves from other Hispanic communities in United States - and how religion has figured in their ascension.Through lens of religion and culture, his work also unmasks and explores intra-Hispanic structures of oppression operating among Cubans in Miami. Miami Cubans use a religious expression, la lucha, or the struggle, to justify power and privilege they have achieved. Within context of la lucha, De Torre explores religious dichotomy created between children of light (Exilic Cubans) and children of darkness (Resident Cubans).Examining recent saga of Elian Gonzalez custody battle, he shows how cultural construction of la lucha has become a distinctly Miami-style spirituality that makes el exilio (exile) basis for religious reflection, understanding, and practice - and that conflates political mobilization with spiritual meaning in an ongoing confrontation with evil.