In Cuba, the home of salsa, young people are being seduced by a music phenomenon from a place that could hardly be more geographically or ideologically remote.
K-pop, the South Korean sensation that has already swept over much of the rest of the world, has made it to the shores of a communist isle that once banned the music of the Beatles.
“I am myself (with) K-pop. I can free myself,” said afficionado Mikel Caballero, a 17-year-old who like many of his peers, spends hours each week perfecting the carefully choreographed paces of South Korean sensations like BTS and Blackpink.
Since Cubans gained access to the mobile internet just five years ago, much has changed in a nation where the one-party state nevertheless retains a firm grip on many aspects of life.
There are ride and food-delivery apps, social media, and access to some entertainment sites such as YouTube.
Some Cubans now celebrate Halloween, one of the most quintessential festivals of the United States — which has held sanctions against Caribbean nation for more than six decades.
