Religion in Cuba has long been marginalized: Marx was promoted over Jesus. Communist elites along with their goons and starry-eyed wannabees wouldn't be caught dead at a Catholic mass -- a subversive act in the hemisphere's last bastion of communism during its worst days; and now an act seen as politically incorrect. So how ironic that Hugo Chávez, thought to be on his death bed in Havana while battling terminal cancer, is getting a boost from Jesus -- not Marx. Hundreds of Cubans and foreign officials have been praying for Chávez in some of the few churches on the Caribbean island -- an overwhelmingly secular state after generations of religious persecution. What's more, the outpouring of religious feelings for El Presidente is apparently taking place with the blessing of the state (though it's not being played up in Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party). Over the years, Cuba's communist ruling class has persecuted ordinary Cubans for embracing...(Read Full Post)