President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela has been trying to create a new constitution that would effectively establish a dictatorship in the country. On Sunday, Maduro used a remix of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" to promote his vision for the Constituent Assembly.
"Our call to the 'Constituent Assembly' only seeks to unite the country ... Despacito!" the new version of the song goes. Maduro played the song on his weekly television show.
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On Monday, Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, both of whom are Puerto Rican, spoke out against Maduro's use of their hit song on social media.
"At no point was I asked, nor did I authorize, the use or the change in lyrics of 'Despacito' for political ambitions, and much less in the middle of a deplorable situation that Venezuela, a country I love so much, is living," Fonsi wrote.
"My music is for all those who want to listen to it and enjoy it, not to be used as propaganda that tries to manipulate the will of a people who are crying out for their freedom," he continued.
Daddy Yankee took to Instagram to post a screenshot of headlines about Maduro's use of the song, which he crossed out in red.
"That you illegally appropriate a song (Despacito) does not compare with the crimes you commit and have committed in Venezuela. Your dictatorial regime is a joke, not only for my Venezuelan brothers, but for the entire world," he wrote in the caption.
Earlier in the month, 7 million Venezuelans voted to reject the new constitution in an unofficial referendum. The political unrest in Venezuela has led to nearly 100 deaths, and the country is facing an economic crisis that has left people without access to food or medicine.
You can read both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's statements in Spanish above.
Thumbnail image from Sergi Alexander/Getty Images.
