MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi and rapper Daddy Yankee objected to their hit being used at promotion events by the Venezuelan government, with Fonsi stressing that he had not authorized such use or the changes made to the lyrics "for political purposes."
"Maduro is not rewriting song lyrics contrary to what the song owners said. It's the people who are using their creativity to amend texts of this or that song and give them a new meaning," the ambassador said.
"A singer is outraged about song lyrics having been changed, but what are we to do then?" the ambassador said.
Tortosa said the coverage of the events in Venezuela should be more truthful and added that this would be his answer to those who "overreact."
Despacito was released in January and currently has over 2.8 billion views on YouTube. Last week, Universal Music said the song had become the most streamed track of all time, with more than 4.6 billion plays across major streaming platforms.
Venezuelans will go to polls this Sunday to choose members of the Constituent Assembly, which will be charged with amending the country's constitution. The government said this would help bring peace to the country, which has been engulfed by protests for months. Venezuelan opposition, however, fears that the new constitution would be strongly in favor of the current government, giving the president more power. The opposition organized a 48-hour protests that began earlier in the day.
The protests began in April, and were initially triggered by the national top court's attempt to take on the legislative powers of the National Assembly. The court then reversed its decision, but the protests continued, reportedly leaving about 100 people dead.
