Heading Into The Election, Bad Bunny’s Venezuelan Ties Create Controversy In Puerto Rico

By Mario H. Lopez

Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny is the latest artist to garner attention for political involvement during this campaign season.  The rapper, singer, and producer has been behind a series of political billboard advertisements in his home of Puerto Rico.  Not terribly unusual at first, until reports that the reggaeton star’s political connections extend to Nicolás Maduro’s oppressive and corrupt regime in Venezuela.

A recent report revealed that Bad Bunny’s record label, Rimas Entertainment, previously received millions of dollars from Maduro’s Venezuela to help grow the label.  Nina Valedón Santiago, a politician and Senate candidate for one of Puerto Rico's major political parties, the Popular Democratic Party (Partido Popular Democrático, or PPD), called for the FBI to investigate the connection between Rimas and the Maduro government as “interfering in the democratic process of Puerto Rico and the United States.”[1][2]

Valedon’s call lends further credibility to the pushback in that the ads Bad Bunny financed actually criticized the island’s New Progressive Party (Partido Nuevo Progresista, or PNP), the generally pro-statehood party.  “We cannot allow money from oppressive and corrupt regimes to influence our society. In Puerto Rico, unlike Venezuela, we all have freedom of expression. It is our responsibility to protect democracy and the freedom of our people,” Valedón stated.

If the allegations are true, the financial connection between Rimas and Maduro’s socialist regime has some troubling implications for Puerto Rico’s self-determination and perhaps even broader U.S. national security.

Foreign adversaries interfering in the democratic processes of other countries with a goal of harming the United States is not new.  Oppressive regimes have previously worked to destabilize Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and others, often by employing a variety of influence tactics including funding political movements.

But these allegations coming to light in a U.S. territory like Puerto Rico is alarming.  Serious instability in Puerto Rico would be a significant boon to our foreign adversaries, with both economic and national security implications.

At the root of the reported connection between Rimas and Venezuela is Rafael Jiménez Dan, the label’s co-founder and a former vice minister under the late Hugo Chávez’s authoritarian government.  Jiménez Dan was a major financial backer of Rimas, allegedly using money many believe he amassed during his time under Chávez.  Of course, he maintains that his investments were legitimate and that he had no contact with Bad Bunny or any other Rimas artists.

Just as on the mainland, Puerto Rico faces some important choices in November.  The election includes a gubernatorial race as well as a plebiscite on the island’s political status—always a contentious issue.  The head of the PPD distanced himself from Valedón’s statements, as well as the general allegations, and others within the party defended Bad Bunny’s right to express his political opinions.

But the reporting and claims are sobering enough to warrant further investigation.  A potential security threat should be dismissed as an internal party dispute without thorough vetting, regardless of the popularity of the central figure involved.

The downward slide of the pro-commonwealth PPD is creating political uncertainty on the island.  It is the type of upheaval that history shows provides an opening of which bad actors with undemocratic motives often take advantage.  The potential influence of foreign-backed money in Puerto Rico undermines both the American citizens of Puerto Rico’s interests, as well as the United States’ generally.

Let’s be clear: Bad Bunny has the right to exercise his political beliefs and should not be criticized for doing so.  But the questions about connections to a regime as hostile as Maduro’s in Venezuela should not be swept under the rug.  An FBI investigation, as called for by concerned Puerto Rican officials, might be a necessary step to ensure transparency and protect the integrity of the Puerto Rico’s elections.

While Bad Bunny's music has brought global attention and acclaim to Puerto Rico, his label’s political ties raise serious concerns.  Foreign interference in American elections, whether on the mainland or in Puerto Rico, are a threat to democracy.  All Americans deserve to know that it will be their voice, not that of a foreign government, that will be the decisive factor on election day.

Mario H. Lopez is the President of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, a public policy advocacy organization that promotes liberty, opportunity, and prosperity for all.