Cultural colonialism and 21st century Cuba. The challenge of spiritual survival

Abstract

This article addresses the phenomenon of cultural colonialism in the 21st century, especially in the context of Cuba, where it analyzes how foreign cultural values, mainly Western, are imposed as superior, eroding local identities and bringing about the uncritical assimilation of foreign ideologies and lifestyles, especially among the younger generations. It highlights how mainstream culture stereotypes and simplifies peripheral identities, promoting a “tolerance” that is actually a form of symbolic domination. It points out the importance of aesthetic education and the need to strengthen spaces for indigenous cultural creation and consumption to counteract this influence. Finally, a critical dialogue is proposed between the local and the global, where cultural identity is preserved without falling into isolation, but neither into uncritical submission to values imposed from outside.