K-pop seduces youth in communist Cuba, birthplace of salsa

HAVANA – 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 applications, social media, and access to some entertainment…