La Lucha for Cuba Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami [Paperback]

For many in Miamis Cuban exile community, hating Fidel Castro is as natural as loving ones children. This hatred, Miguel De La Torre suggests, has in fact taken on religious significance. InLa Lucha for Cuba,De La Torre shows how Exilic Cubans, a once marginalized group, have risen to power and privilegedistinguishing themselves from other Hispanic communities in the United Statesand how religion has figured in their ascension. Through the 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 the power and privilege they have achieved. Within the context ofla lucha,De La Torre explores the religious dichotomy created between the children of light (Exilic Cubans) and the children of darkness (Resident Cubans). Examining the recent saga of the Eli?n Gonz?lez custody battle, he shows how the cultural construction ofla luchahas become a distinctly Miami-style spirituality that makesel exilio(exile) the basis for religious reflection, understanding, and practiceand that conflates political mobilization with spiritual meaning in an ongoing confrontation with evil.

Miguel A. De La Torreis Assistant Professor of Religion at Hope College. He is the author ofThe Quest for the Cuban Christ: A Historical Search(2002),Reading the Bible from the Margins(2002), and, with Edwin Aponte,Introducing Latino/a Theologies(2001).

List of Illustrations
List of Abbreviations
Preface

1. An Ajiaco Christianity
2. La Lucha: The Religion of Miami
3. Psalm 137: Constructing Cuban Identity while in Babylon
4. Machismo: Creating Structures of Oppression
5. The End of the Eli?n Saga: The Continuation of La Lucha

Notes
References
Index

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