HAVANA (AP) — The two main groups of Cuban Santeria priests who released their Letter of the Year on Friday, as the forecasts for the coming months are called, agreed to warn of an increase in violence and the dangers of war.

Both the Letter of the Year Commission of October 10 and the Yoruba Association reported that the ruling deity for 2026 will be Oggún, sir of metals—or weapons—, roads and conflicts. He is also the patron saint of blacksmiths.

“The danger of war is there,” said Víctor Betancourt, one of the babalawos (priests) who organizes the Commission ceremony. "Cuba should use diplomacy. We would be (in the event of a confrontation) the biggest losers."

Currently the Caribbean faces a scenario of tension due to the deployment of naval forces by the United States and the threats of its president, Donald Trump, to the government of Venezuela, which polarized geopolitical alliances in the region.

According to the Letter of the Year, the ruling sign that accompanies the deity will be Ogunda Masa, whose prophetic prayer reads: “loss installed due to neglect of what is indicated,” the priests warned in a document delivered to The Associated Press.

In the interpretation of the priests this means that the conflictive consequences of problems accumulated and unresolved for years will be seen, such as hygiene in the cities.

The accompanying divinity for Oggún is Oya, the religious explained.

Personally, the combination of this sign and its deities will bring diseases – especially infectious, stomach and liver diseases – and among the social events of interest are the proliferation of fires and accidents, an increase in violent and criminal acts and “significant changes within the government,” explained the October 10 Commission document.

“The Letter of the Year does not have the capacity (by itself) to solve problems, but to warn them,” babalawo Lázaro Cuesta explained to journalists, who called on governments and individuals to take actions to improve living conditions or avoid conflicts or wars at all costs.

At the same time, the Yoruba Association announced its Letter of the Year, which also has Oggún as its ruling deity. But its sign is called Ogunda Otrupom, which also warned about conflicts, violence and diseases that affect the population.

Thousands of people wait on the island every year for the Letters in which their religious houses participate and the indications of actions or rituals for believers transmitted by priests of Santería, the most widespread cult on the island and which expanded to countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain and the United States, where there are strong communities of Cubans.

Santería was born from the syncretism of the Spanish traditions brought by the colonizers with those of the African slaves and was consolidated on the island.

The groups of babalawos – the patriarchs or heads of the family – usually meet on December 31.. They play drums and offer offerings before taking out the Letter - the sign and its deities - and then interpret their prophecies and make them known in the first days of January.