Rumba is considered "the quintessential genre of Cuban secular music and dance". In 1985 the Cuban Minister of Culture stated that "rumba without Cuba is not rumba, and Cuba without rumba is not Cuba." For many Cubans, rumba represents "a whole way of life", and professional "rumberos" have called it "a national sport, as important as baseball". The genre has permeated not only the culture of Cuba but also that of the whole of Latin America, including the United States, through its influence on genres such as ballroom rumba ("rhumba"), Afro-Cuban jazz and salsa.