Brazil's Lula turns to Bad Bunny tune to criticise Trump ahead of polls / Photo: © AFP
Brazil's Lula turns to Bad Bunny tune to criticise Trump ahead of polls
With elections just days away, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's campaign adapted a song by Latin music powerhouse Bad Bunny to assert the country's sovereignty in the face of pressure from the United States.
"They want to take the river, and the beach too. They want the rare earth minerals," goes the reworked Portuguese version of "Lo que le paso a Hawaii" (What Happened to Hawaii) by Bad Bunny, posted by Lula on his social media accounts.
Brazilians will vote in a nail-biting first-round presidential election on Sunday, pitting Lula, 80, against right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula has made sovereignty a key plank of his campaign, amid pressure from US President Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally who has backed several right-wing candidates in Latin American elections.
Washington has slapped punitive tariffs on Brazil and has expressed keen interest in its massive reserves of critical minerals.
With nearly seven million views on social media, the campaign jingle inspired by the Puerto Rican star calls on people not to "let go of the Brazilian flag."
It also features an image of Trump holding a rope around Bolsonaro's neck like a leash and ends with Lula's gravelly voice declaring: "Brazil has only one owner: the Brazilian people."
Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign has often featured United States flags and images of Trump.
Bad Bunny's song addresses the loss of local control through the impact of tourism, gentrification and displacement -- using Hawaii as a cautionary tale for Puerto Ricans.
The singer included the tune in his setlist at the Super Bowl halftime show in February, described by Trump as "an affront to the Greatness of America."
A source from Lula's Workers' Party, requesting anonymity, said Bad Bunny had not granted rights for the song's use. The artist's press office did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
"Bad Bunny is an artist who recognizes our worth... he stood on the world's biggest stage to reaffirm that we are all America," said Warlen Pereira, a 30-year-old accountant, during a Lula campaign event in Sao Paulo.
Lula has warned Trump against "meddling" in his country's elections and last week told the UN General Assembly that "Brazil does not belong in anyone's backyard."
Trump has not openly endorsed Flavio Bolsonaro, whom he hosted at the White House earlier this year.
(V.Sørensen--DTZ)
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