'Despacito' singers veto Venezuelan leader's campaign remix
There's a new take on the hit Latin pop song "Despacito." And this one is not
garnering accolades from its producers.
According to Associated Press, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro premiered a remix of the song by Puerto
Rican duo Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee Sunday, transforming the record-setting
single about a slow, romantic seduction into a campaign jingle for his contested
constitution rewrite.
"For the unity and peace of our country," the remix begins. "The constituent
assembly moves forward."
Fonsi and Daddy Yankee took to social media Monday to veto the new spin on
their song, which recently became an even bigger hit with a remix featuring
Justin Bieber.
"My music is for everyone to listen to and enjoy, not to be used as
propaganda that intends to manipulate the will of a people who are screaming for
their liberty and a better future," Fonsi said in a message posted to his
Twitter account.
"What can you expect from a person who has robbed the lives of so many young
people filled with dreams?" Daddy Yankee said on Twitter, along an image
picturing a news story about Maduro's take on the song crossed out in red. "That
you illegally appropriate a song (Despacito) doesn't compare with the crime you
commit and have committed in Venezuela."
Maduro is pressing forward with his pledge to hold a July 30 election to
select delegates to a special assembly that will be tasked with rewriting the
troubled nation's constitution despite international outcry and a protest
movement that has left at least 97 dead.
More than 7.5 million Venezuelans recently voted in a symbolic referendum
against the constituent assembly and the opposition has vowed to hold a 48-hour
strike in protest this week.
Opposition leaders fear Maduro will use the constitution rewrite to further
consolidate his power and silence any critical voices.
Supporters of the president swayed to the catchy remix while dressed in
matching T-shirts and baseball caps featuring campaign slogans Sunday. Maduro
often sings and dances while giving forceful speeches aired on state
television.
"Is that video approved?" he asked after the song concluded.
"Yes!" the crowd responded in unison.
Panamanian singer Erika Ender, who composed the song with Fonsi, also gave
thumbs down to the new recording.
"To see a song that I co-wrote used without permission to promote campaigns
tied to the regime that has a country unhappy and suffering, far from making me
happy, enrages me," she wrote on Instagram.
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