Mexico: PRI gets endorsement from unlikely YouTube star Rebecca Black
Rebecca Black, known for her infamous “Friday” song, angered Mexican social media users after endorsing Presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto.
It may come as a shock to many but Rebecca Black is in fact Latina. As she proudly stated in this mun2 interview, her mother is Mexican. Yet, her cultural heritage may not be as strange or shocking as the political stance that the 14-year-old YouTube singing sensation recently took in Mexico.
Black showed her support for PRI presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto in a video posted by his supporters on the web on Monday. Her statements were made during a recent PRI meeting in the state of Morelos.
“I believe that Peña Nieto is going to do a fantastic job,” the teen said with her mother at her side in a room full of young PRI supporters. Black’s mother, Georgina Marquez, translated her words into Spanish, as the singer is not fully proficient in that language.
“I can’t thank you enough and I’m so glad to kind of be home, because I have so much family [in Mexico] and so much support here from my family,” Black said in the video.
Mexican celebrities like actors Gael Garcia and Demian Bichir have recently voiced their views on the country’s upcoming elections, and spoken openly in favor of leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
But the video by the Mexican-American Rebecca Black was not very well taken by many social media users in Mexico, who wondered how a 14-year-old from California, who does not speak Spanish properly, ended up endorsing a Mexican presidential candidate.
“I think this is a bad joke from the PRI,” said Astrid Capon, an entertainment reporter who hosts a videoblog on Youtube.
“This girl is not Mexican, she is not well informed (on the country’s politics) and for the PRI to believe that because she is famous, young people will follow (her views) is almost offensive,” Capon said in her videoblog.
Capon explains in her video blog that Black’s uncle, Gustavo Petricioli, is a city council member for the PRI in Cuernavaca, the capital of Morelos state.
This family connection could explain how the teen singer ended up at a PRI party meeting in that city. According to Milienio newspaper, the video was initially posted on YouTube through an account managed by Peña Nieto activists in Morelos.
Black’s video only contains one bite where she backs Peña Nieto. In the rest of the three-minute clip, she is talking about how she feels at home in Mexico, and telling youths about why it’s important to learn about their political leaders.
“I personally think that it is very important for youth and teens to be so involved in politics,” Black said. “…You don’t want to be eighteen and not know anything about what you are going to vote about.”
Despite the moderate tone of her statements, criticisms of the video flooded Black’s Facebook page on Tuesday.
“Mija, you have nothing to do in Mexico,” Facebook user Ma Jime Garcia wrote on Black’s Facebook wall. “Why do you support Enrique Peña Nieto?…We don’t want him in the government…please shut up!”
“Rebecca, don’t obey your parents or manager or whoever it is telling you to do all of this,” wrote user Alejandro Acosta. “Stop singing, stop making promotions, study and move on.”
Facebook user Adrian Meneduart avoided insults and chose to give the “Friday” girl a brief lesson in Mexican politics. He cited article 33 of Mexico’s constitution.
“Foreigners cannot, in any way interfere in the political matters of the country,” Meneduart wrote on Black’s Facebook wall.
(Photo: Screen capture Youtube)
