TWO OVERSEAS professors have reported that migration of Jamaicans to Cuba has exceeded 300,000 persons, and their descendants have created many active communities which survive in modern Cuba.
Professors Graciella Cailloux and Robert Whitney were speaking in the Intra-Caribbean Migration series at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, last Friday. They said that the first Episcopal Church in Cuba, All Saints in Guantanamo Bay, was founded by Jamaicans in 1905 and the Jamaican community plans to have a major celebration of its centenary next year. They said that the major migration occurred between 1916 and 1940 as labour was required for the sugar industry.
However, laws were passed for their repatriation in 1933 and 1938. Despite this, there were 70,000 legally registered British West Indians in 1940, with the largest majority being Jamaicans. The lecturers presented slides showing photographs of Jamaicans in various activities in Cuba particularly in churches, lodges and fraternal organisations. The descendants of these early migrants now occupy positions of leadership in many of these institutions, and their church services were still conducted in English.
The director of the Latin American Caribbean Centre, UWI, Annette Insanally, introduced the speakers. Professor Cailloux is from the University of Havana and Professor Whitney is from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.
The Intra-Caribbean Migration series has already published a book on the Jamaican migration to Cuba.
On July 3 the series will concentrate on Nicaragua at the UWI, Mona, and all persons with an interest in Jamaican heritage are invited to attend and participate.
