Heterodoxy “by default”?: Afro-Cuban Santeria in Merida, Yucatan

Abstract

This article reconstructs and analyses the insertion of Afro-Cuban Santeria in the religious landscape of Merida. Despite the historical ties between Yucatan and Cuba, Santeria as a religious practice, contrary to what one might think, is only about twenty years old: on one hand, its presence in Merida is less a direct consequence of Cuban migration to the peninsula and more the result of a larger circulation of people between Mexico, United States and Cuba; and on the other hand, it is an intrinsically malleable practice that thrives in a context where religious forms are characterized by deinstitutionalization, individual management, mobility and multi-adscription. The study of Santeria shows the dislocations between affiliations, practices and beliefs. A phenomenon that is not unique to Mexico or to African-American religions, but rather a growing trend in Latin America.