The sale of religious statues on the pilgrimage route to the Shrine of Saint Lazarus is symbolic of the striking economic and cultural openings that President Barack Obama’s policy of normalizing relations with Cuba created over the course of his administration. Mostly acquired by island sellers through business partners in Miami, the statues reflect a fusion or overlap among Roman Catholicism, local Cuban popular variants of the faith, and Santería, a religion originated by Yoruba-speaking slaves in Nineteenth-Century Cuba. The Virgin of Charity, a Black image of Saint Lazarus, Saint Barbara, and the Virgin of Regla are found next to mythical figures meant to invoke specific spiritual protectors through the guise of an Indian, a black child, even a bulldog. Photographed by Roberto García Milián. Camino al Rincón, 17 December 2013.
