Maduro’s arrest made this Venezuelan song go viral

After Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was seized by United States forces on Jan. 3, one song became a celebratory anthem for many Venezuelan nationals, but it came from an unconventional source: a meme account. The track “Maduro Renuncia” reached the top spot on the Spotify Viral chart in Venezuela, which keeps a daily tab of the 50 most buzz-worthy tracks in the country; chart placement is based on recent song plays, number of shares and new listeners. The upbeat EDM song, in which one high-pitch voice repeatedly chants “Maduro, resign,” as well as obscenities, was created by Venezuelan artist Pupu Records. (The excrement-inspired moniker is indeed his official alias — which provides him a necessary shield of anonymity as he critiques the Venezuelan government through various smutty meme songs.)

“Pupu Records is like a facade where everything is a meme, everything is a joke and nothing is serious,” said Pupu Records through a Zoom interview. He preferred not to disclose his real name or current location — although he confirmed his residence outside of Venezuela. “It’s an escape from the seriousness.” The songwriter-producer first uploaded a snippet of “Maduro Renuncia” to his TikTok, where it gained traction with Venezuelan audiences on social media. It was later uploaded to YouTube on July 26, 2024, two days before the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election. That’s when Maduro ran for a third term against independent candidate Edmundo González, who was backed by opposition leader María Corina Machado.

Despite reportedly winning the opposition party’s primary election in 2023, Machado was barred from running for office by the Venezuelan government due to allegations of tax fraud. In 2025 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Pupu Records put a lewd spin on the country’s politics at that time: “Con Edmundo y todo el mundo, es que se viene lo bueno. Corina Presidente, Maduro mamame el h— !”

“My focus in that moment was to express discontent with the regime, and give support to the opposition — giving them hope that some change could happen for real, a change in the country,” said Pupu Records. He has made other songs critiquing the Venezuelan socialist government, including his debut single, “Maldito Internet,” a song that criticizes CANTV: the state-run telephone and internet service provider in Venezuela. When “Maduro Renuncia” reached mainland Venezuela on YouTube, it snagged the No. 2 spot on the country’s trending videos chart at the time. Pupu Records couldn’t believe its reach. “I imagined that the song would be revived at some point,” he says.

Following Maduro’s arrest earlier this month, the track made the rounds on social media again. On YouTube, the video reached over 1.4 million views, with many in the comments rejoicing in celebration. On Spotify, it has been played over 760,000 times. “Many people say it’s an anthem — the new national anthem of Venezuela,” says Pupu Records. “In fact, I have family elsewhere that send me videos of them (from protests in) the street and my song is playing.” Pupu Records took further advantage of this historic moment to release another one of his experimental tracks: “ La Cacerola,” a celebratory tribute to the cacerolazo, a form of protest where demonstrators bang on pots and pans using kitchen utensils.

“After the (2024) elections, I created that song because I had this sensation that the regime would fall,” he said, later opting to release it on the day Maduro was taken by the US The Venezuelan leader now awaits a lengthy trial in New York City, where he is being held on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges. For Pupu Records, the removal of Maduro has given him hope for the country’s future; he cited the Venezuela of the 1970s, when a booming oil industry and prosperous middle-class transformed the nation into one of the wealthiest in South America. “We could end up becoming a colony of the United States, who knows,” said Pupu Records.

Tribune News Service