The black influence in the Caribbean in general and in Cuba specifically permeates all aspects of life. Cuba is ethnically and culturally a product of the mixing of European (Spanish) and African influence. In her seminal book, El monte (The Forest) the ethnologist Lydia Cabrera states that: ‘The weight of the African influence in the white population that claims to be white is incalculable even though at first glance one cannot determine it. Our people will not be understood without knowing the Black man’ (9). Nicolás Guillén's poem La canción del bongo (The Song of the Bongo Drum) brilliantly conveys the mestizo characteristics of Cuban society:

The religious syncretism alluded to in this poem focuses on Santería, a fusion of Catholicism and West African Yoruba religion practiced in Cuba and other Caribbean nations. Other African influences come from the people in the Calabar region and the Bantu-speaking people in the Congo. Santería is the belief in one god (Olodumare, Olorun, Olofi), the creator, and a number of deities that represent various forces of nature or ethical principles called orishas. The most important orishas in Cuba are Elegua, Obatalá, Ochún, Oyá, Yemayá, Changó, Orula, and Babalú-Ayé. All Cubans are familiar with these deities from the Yoruba pantheon, and as a result, they are considered an integral part of the Cuban folklore and beliefs. Rogelio Martínez Furé states in an interview that ‘Cuba is among the countries with the greatest diversity of popular religions of African origin; these religions are alive and in an open process of growth, both here and abroad …’ (28).