SAN JUAN,PUERTO RICO – JULY 28: Bad Bunny performs during his concert, “Un Verano Sin Ti” at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on July 28, 2022 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.(Photo by Gladys Vega/Getty Images)
In his latest music video for the song "El Apagón," Latin artist Bad Bunny joined the protests against the company LUMA Energy after constant power outages in Puerto Rico.
In the nearly 23-minute video, the global superstar combined his music with testimonies from members of the Puerto Rican community, who explained the hardships they experience in homes, schools, and hospitals when long blackouts occur.
The Puerto Rican people have protested on different occasions, to the point of confronting the police. A group of legislators in the House of Representatives has already made calls to take to the streets to pressure Governor Pedro Pierluisi to cancel the contract granted to LUMA Energy.
Amid calls for the cancellation of the LUMA contract, Quanta Services' Chief Executive Officer Duke Austin held a press conference in which he assured the consortium would make significant changes to end the outages.
In the video for "El Apagón," community members claim that multimillionaires have used the island to make large investments, tearing down schools and other facilities for the construction of private property.
More than 7,000 comments were posted on Youtube in the video's first few hours — many of them thanking Bad Bunny for raising his voice to speak on the issue.
"I am Puerto Rican. I live this every day. They are taking everything from us. We ourselves think that in a few years, it will not be possible to survive here," read one comment in Spanish. "Bad Bunny, I have supported you and will continue to do so. Thank you for raising your voice with us."
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Additionally, as part of the video, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, Rafael "Tatito" Hernández, spoke about private construction in the public territory, asserting that the issue is "complicated" and that development will not stop.
The Individual Investors Act (Act 22) seeks to attract new residents to Puerto Rico who offer to replace infrastructure with new local investments in real estate, services, consumer products, and capital injections to Puerto Rico's banking sector.
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Act 22 allows new residents to enjoy a 100% Puerto Rico income tax exemption on all dividend and interest income.
At the end of the video was a list of authority figures who did not respond to an interview request, including Pedro Pierluisi (Puerto Rico's governor), Brian Tenenbaum (an investor and owner of a school territory), Brock Pierce (a beneficiary of Act 22), among others.
