When discussing the Aneho diaspora, history often remembers the spectacular return of the Agudas (Afro-Brazilians) from Bahia. However, there is another route, more discreet but equally fundamental: the Cuba-Caribbean route. Thousands of captives from the Gulf of Guinea coast were deported to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, taking with them their beliefs, rhythms, and resilience.
Today, the echo of Guin and Mina culture still resonates in the alleys of Havana and Santiago de Cuba, forging a secret transatlantic identity between the Caribbean and Aneho.
The Little-Known History of Deportations to the Caribbean
Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the coasts of present-day Togo and Benin were hubs of the triangular trade. While Brazil was the primary destination, Cuba was a massive destination for labor on sugar plantations.
The Gulf of Guinea and Slave Ports
The deported ancestors did not leave with nothing. They carried the architecture of their spiritual world in their memories. Arriving in Cuba, these populations, often grouped under the generic term Arará (a distortion of the Kingdom of Allada) or Lucumí, had to hide their identity to survive.
- Cultural camouflage: To preserve their divinities, slaves pretended to adopt the Catholic saints imposed by Spanish colonists.
- Resistance through language: Ritual songs in Ewe, Mina, and Fon languages were transmitted orally and are still sung today in Cuba, often without the singers understanding the literal translation.
Cross-Cultural Heritage: From Havana to Aneho
The links between Aneho and the Caribbean did not stop at the end of slavery. At the end of the 19th century, a few freed Cubans returned to settle on the West African coast, bringing new influences back with them.
Religious Practices: Santería and Voodoo
The spiritual correspondence between the two shores of the Atlantic is striking:
- Regla Arará: A Cuban religious practice directly derived from the Voodoo of the coastal region (Togo/Benin).
- Mirror divinities: The god of thunder (Hevioso in Aneho) finds his exact equivalent in Cuba (Changó). The divinity of the earth and smallpox, Sakpata, is venerated under the name Babalú Ayé.
Musical and Culinary Influences
The blending extends far beyond the sacred. The introduction of certain percussion instruments, syncopated rhythms, and meat smoking techniques show how Africa shaped the Caribbean, and how the "retornados" (those who returned) enriched Aneho. The architecture of some old Aneho buildings betrays the influence of Caribbean craftsmen who returned to build on the land of their ancestors.
Separated Families: The Modern Quest for Origins
Today, a new generation of Afro-descendant Cubans and Caribbeans seeks to reweave this broken thread.
Genealogy and Colonial Archives
The search for roots is complex. Since African surnames were erased upon arrival at the plantations, many rely on DNA tests or the memory of spiritual practices specific to the Aneho region to identify their lineage. Aneho thus becomes more than a city on a map of Togo: it becomes a beacon, a spiritual motherland for the other diaspora, the one demanding the right to know its true name.