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119 5 Unidos en la Fe Transnational Civic Social Engagement between Two Cuban Catholic Parishes KATRIN HANSING Since  over a million Cubans have migrated to the United States; the majority today live in the greater Miami area, also known as the capital of the Cuban exile. Unlike many other immigrant groups in the United States who have and continue to maintain ongoing transnational ties to their countries of origin, the dominant image of the relationship between Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits has been one of two communities in a state of cold war with few, if any, ties but many animosities. Decades of anger, bitterness, and distrust have, in fact, dominated the official discourse and image between the two sides, as was witnessed in the Elián Gonzalez episode in , which focused national attention on the divisions between Miami’s Cubans and the broader U.S. population (Lizza ; McQueen ; De La Torre ; Stepick et al. ). Despite the very real political rifts, economic embargo, and deep-seated emotional wounds that exist between both sides, the two Cuban communities have been and continue to be much more closely connected than is usually publicly acknowledged. Especially since the mid-s, a wide range of transnational ties and activities has emerged of which family visits and the sending of remittances are among the best documented (Eckstein and Barberia , ). In addition, numerous social, cultural, and religious ties have developed which are slowly but surely transforming the relationship between this otherwise divided nation (Tweed ). This chapter examines the transnational ties between the Catholic Church in Cuba and the Archdiocese in Miami. Although not entirely new, these ties increased enormously after the beginning of the s economic crisis in Cuba, a result of both the demise of Soviet subsidies to Cuba and the prolonged U.S. embargo. Since then a host of Miami exile-led religious initiatives toward Cuba have been pioneered , each with varying intentions and influences. Apart from examining the general nature, characteristics, gradual development, and transformations of these 120 KATRIN HANSING ties, this chapter will specifically focus on the relationship and linkages fostered by two Cuban Catholic communities, one in Miami and the other on the island. By focusing on this particular case study, this chapter hopes to bring to light some of the more subtle and detailed nuances of the slowly but surely changing relationship between Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits. In terms of civic social capital (CSC), this chapter reveals the complexities and ambiguities of distinguishing between bonding social capital and bridging CSC. The Cuban Revolution dissolved the bonding among Cuban Catholics, sowing distrust. between those on the island and those in exile. This chapter describes how those bonds are being re-established through nearly invisible bridges to the island and with careful concern for not undermining the intense bonding among Miami Cubans that presumes no contact, no bridging with Cubans in Cuba. Overview of Ties between Cuban Catholics in Cuba and Miami since 1959 Miami and Cuba have been joined by the hip ever since the Cuban Revolution in . Like Siamese twins, in fact, the one does not breathe without the other. Pushing hundreds of thousands of Cuban exiles to Miami, the Cuban Revolution not only profoundly changed Miami socially, linguistically, politically, and economically but also tremendously transformed the city’s religious, particularly its Catholic, landscape. As discussed in this volume’s first chapter, the Miami Catholic Archdiocese has been coterminous with that of the Cuban exile. From the very start the church played a major role in the welcoming, integrating, and resettling of Cuban refugees. In fact, of the seven hundred thousand Cubans who entered the United States between  and , the Catholic Church resettled  percent of them. This active engagement continued throughout the s with the Mariel Boatlift and subsequent balsero (rafter) crisis of the mid-s. Over  percent of all newly arriving Cubans continue to be resettled by the Catholic Church. Over the past four decades the church has also welcomed many Cuban priests, some of whom were expelled from the island. Despite the intense involvement of the Catholic Church in the nearly fiftyyear -old Cuban drama, the actual ties between the archdiocese and the Catholic Church in Cuba were weak, especially in the first three decades after the revolution . This situation can mainly be attributed to the difficult political situation between the United States and Cuba as well as the politicized atmosphere in both communities. In Cuba, the Catholic Church, like all...

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