What did the Juanes concert in Cuba symbolize?

Authors:
Luis Alberto López Rafaschieri and José Alberto López Rafaschieri
www.morochos.net

For the hard-line Latin American democratic thought, the Juanes presentation in Cuba was interpreted as a betrayal, because it saw the show as a vote of recognition to the regime. However, this event could be read from another perspective:

Juanes, Miguel Bose and Olga Tañon are one of the most important representatives of the entertainment capitalism in Latin America and Spain. What these artists symbolize is globalization, current trends, status, individuality, consumerism, freedom, and values very different from those that once were promoted by the Cuban government.

In Fidel's Cuba, characterized by backwardness, repression, intolerance and isolation, it would have been unthinkable a show featuring open societies icons.

But by mutual agreement, the government of Cuba and the singers installed platforms at the emblematic Revolution Square, as if to demonstrate to Cubans the other world that exists outside of socialist oppression.

So the Juanes concert in Havana represents something never seen during the Fidel era: Cuba opening up to international culture. Symbols of change that undermine the foundations of the undemocratic regime built by Fidel Castro.

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