(Updates with quote from band's management, paragraph 5)
CARACAS, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Venezuelan pop group Los Amigos
Invisibles says it is the latest victim of socialist President
Hugo Chavez's wave of expropriations.
The group is demanding a state-owned radio station yank a
publicity spot remixing its song "Majunche" as a re-election
campaign plug for Chavez, who is known for his frequent and
often uncompensated nationalizations of businesses.
The 2004 tune is mostly an instrumental jam in which the
singers occasionally shout, "Majunche," which roughly translates
as "loser." Chavez, seeking a new six-year term on Oct. 7, uses
the epithet to describe opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.
The band says the radio station did not seek rights to the
song. "They've expropriated Majunche, just what we needed,"
tweeted bass player Jose Rafael Torres.
"In every case, one must ask for permission to make use of a
musical work. In this case, that never happened," a spokeswoman
for the band's management told Reuters by email.
The group, which plays a Latin blend of jazz, funk and
disco, is well-known for its sexually tinged lyrics and sense of
humor.
State-owned radio station YVKE Mundial used the Amigos
Invisibles tune as a backdrop to one of Chavez's blustering
speeches in which he says, "The loser won't win elections in
Venezuela ... this year, or even in 2,000 years!"
The president has nationalized large parts of the OPEC
nation's economy, from multibillion-dollar oil facilities to
parking lots and even a toilet-maker.
He has won a devoted following among much of the country's
poor by channeling oil revenue into health, education and social
welfare programs.
YVKE Mundial did not answer calls seeking comment.
(Editing by Hugh Bronstein and Peter Cooney)