Christmas celebrations officially ceased in Cuba when Fidel Castro declared the country an atheist state in 1969 and banned this festival from being celebrated. When pope John Paul II visited Cuba in January 1998, after Fidel Castro had visited him in the Vatican two years earlier, relations significantly improved between the catholic church and Cuba. Despite Catholicism being repressed initially in the aftermath of the revolution, Cuba is the only communist country with which the Vatican never broke off diplomatic relations. As a symbolic gesture to honour the pope’s visit, Castro decreed Christmas a national holiday for the first time in nearly 3 decades after the Vatican increased the pressure on the Cuban government to do so. John Paul II’s spokesman who spoke with Fidel Castro personally said that when Fidel Castro finally agreed to celebrate Christmas as an official holiday in Cuba he added that it might be for 1998 only as the holiday would be difficult to uphold due to the fact that it fell into the middle of the sugar cane harvesting season. This was the official reason given for suspending the holiday originally as the Cuban government insisted that the Cuban Revolution never had an anti-religious spirit. However, years later, the holiday is still officially celebrated although it remains somewhat in the shadow of the New Year’s celebration which coincides with the commemoration of the Cuban Revolution.
Cuban salsa is in many ways connected to the history and culture of Cuba and as such has seen various influences from the way Christmas has been treated in Cuba. While Christians continued to celebrate Christmas in Cuba even when it was not an official holiday, its importance declined and the majority of Cuban traditions and songs that influenced Cuban salsa are therefore from the pre-revolutionary period. During the time where Christmas was no longer a holiday in Cuba, Santería became more important and its influence on salsa can be seen in many ways (more on this to follow in later posts). As Cuban salsa was still in its infancy before the Christmas ban, Christmas songs from this period are usually centered around other dance styles such as Son, Guaracha, Rumba and Cha Cha Cha such as the famous album by La Sonora Matancera – Navidades Con La Sonora (Christmas with the Sonora).
In recent years, Christmas has gained in popularity and importance in Cuba, partly due to tourism but also due to the relaxation of political tensions between the U.S. and Cuba so new Christmas influences can be expected to leave their mark on future Rueda moves, timba songs and the general culture surrounding Cuban salsa.
