Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin just took apart US colonialism at the Super Bowl

[bad bunny]

Bad Bunny just shook the US with his [Super Bowl][1] halftime show. And perhaps the most beautiful moment was when fellow Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin sang about US colonialism in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. This was especially poignant because of [escalating US terror against Cuba][2] right now.

## Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin, and US colonialism

Puerto Rico is a [US territory that has been denied full democratic rights][3]. And Bad Bunny [speaks][4] to the island’s [resistance][5] during many years of financial [crisis][6]. His song *Lo que le pasó a Hawaii* (‘*What happened to Hawaii*‘) expresses a desire that the US doesn’t do to Puerto Rico what it has done to Hawaii.

Ricky Martin, who has previously joined Bad Bunny and others on the island in [progressive political mobilisations][7], [sang][8] *Lo que le pasó a Hawaii* at the 2026 Super Bowl. The song [says][9]:

> They want to take my river and my beach too
> They want my neighborhood and grandma to leave
> No, don’t let go of the flag nor forget the [*lelolai*][10]
> ‘Cause I don’t want them to do to you what happened to Hawaii

> RICKY MARTIN IN THE HOUSE [🔥][#AppleMusicHalftime][11] [pic.twitter.com/7JLXOKaTjj][12]
> 
> — TSN (@TSN_Sports) [February 9, 2026][13]

> Ricky Martin looking straight into the camera while singing “LO QUE LE PASO A HAWAII” was [✨]chef’s kiss[✨] This is politics. [pic.twitter.com/JkmEHyIJSN][14]
> 
> — [✨] (@greenzeldy) [February 9, 2026][15]

As Hawaiian news outlet KHON2 [explains][16]:

> Puerto Rico has been a colony of the United States since 1898 — the same year that the US illegally annexed Hawaiʻi…
> 
> As people indigenous to the land get pushed out, Bad Bunny described outsiders who came into the island, hungry to take things for themselves…
> 
> The song compares Puerto Rico’s colonization to that of Hawaiʻi’s; the issues Bad Bunny highlighted in the song are the same issues shared by many Native Hawaiians today.

## The same story in Cuba – right now, in 2026

The US didn’t just occupy Puerto Rico after independence from Spain. It occupied and interfered in Cuba too, which [shared culture and history][17] with Puerto Rico. But to stop its influence waning in the Caribbean after Cuba’s 1959 revolution, the US embedded itself further in Puerto Rico while seeking to strangle Cuba economically.

US imperialism has long sought to dominate in the Americas, often through [brutality][18]. And following its illegal invasion of Venezuela and [abduction of its president][19], the US under Donald Trump has intensified its [stranglehold on Cuba][20]. There was no provocation. This is blatant imperialism, out in the open for all to see.

Trump’s racist regime, with the support of [largely white][21] Cuban exiles in Florida like [Marco Rubio][22], is [manufacturing a famine][23] on the island. In an escalation of its devastating economic terrorism, it has been intimidating other countries into cutting Cuba off from the outside world.

> The American government is generating a famine in Cuba with its fuel embargo. Once again, The United States uses hunger as a weapon of war
> 
> — Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) [February 8, 2026][24]

> [🇨🇺] BREAKING | Cuba has warned international airlines that it will run out of jet fuel within 24 hours, citing intensified U.S. energy pressure, according to an official aviation notice seen by EFE. The shortage affects all of Cuba’s international airports from Feb. 10 to March… [https://t.co/MWbTWIt8AI][25]
> 
> — Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) [February 9, 2026][26]

> "We call it a blockade, they euphemistically call it an embargo.
> 
> It is neither blockade nor embargo – it is war." [https://t.co/X74iiq1UOk][27] [pic.twitter.com/Bxe2f5kAWn][28]
> 
> — COMBATE |[🇵🇷] (@upholdreality) [February 8, 2026][29]

> If other countries allow the US to get away with starving Cuba of oil, any one of them could be next.
> 
> Starmer, Macron and other Euro leaders may be as anti-Cuba as Trump, but that will count for nothing.
> 
> As Greenland shows, he'll pursue US self-interest no matter who it hurts. [https://t.co/AIv2cDfYFZ][30]
> 
> — Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) [February 8, 2026][31]

> Cuba has sent tens of thousands of doctors, nurses, teachers, & scientists to more than 100 countries around the world
> 
> The international community owes a debt of humanity to ensure Trump does not starve the Cuban people into submission
> 
> The medieval US blockade is a war crime
> 
> — Chris Hazzard MP (@ChrisHazzardSF) [February 7, 2026][32]

The 2026 Super Bowl got the [biggest viewing figures][33] ever, for one of the world’s highest-profile sporting events. So Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin bringing the reality of US colonialism into the heart of the empire was a massive moment. And it came at a moment when Cuban lives literally depend on global resistance to US terror.

*Featured image via the Canary*

By [Ed Sykes][34]

[1]: https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2025/02/10/superbowl-tv-off/
[2]: https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2026/02/02/cuba-pope-leo/
[3]: https://phoenixcoop0.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/puerto-rico/
[4]: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/us/bad-bunny-puerto-rico.html
[5]: https://www.tni.org/en/article/resisting-disaster-capitalism-through-mutual-aid-in-puerto-rico
[6]: https://phoenixcoop0.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/puerto-rico/
[7]: https://tumusicahoy.com/ricky-martin-residente-y-bad-bunny-unidos-por-puerto-rico/
[8]: https://youtu.be/WWB9eucs1eg?si=GcgTl7dbwblON95v
[9]: https://genius.com/34318842?
[10]: https://genius.com/34318842/Genius-english-translations-bad-bunny-lo-que-le-paso-a-hawaii-english-translation/Lelolai
[11]: https://twitter.com/hashtag/AppleMusicHalftime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[12]: https://t.co/7JLXOKaTjj
[13]: https://twitter.com/TSN_Sports/status/2020673607723098513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[14]: https://t.co/JkmEHyIJSN
[15]: https://twitter.com/greenzeldy/status/2020685027185405991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[16]: https://www.khon2.com/local-news/super-bowl-performer-bad-bunny-has-a-song-about-hawai%CA%BBi-what-does-it-say/
[17]: https://phoenixcoop0.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/puerto-rico/
[18]: https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2019/02/06/three-terrifying-reasons-never-to-trust-us-intentions-in-latin-america/
[19]: https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2026/01/06/delcy-rodriguez-venezuela/
[20]: https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2026/02/02/cuba-pope-leo/
[21]: https://www.culanth.org/fieldsights/miami-minstrels-a-farewell-to-the-cuban-nation
[22]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15412810
[23]: https://twitter.com/codepink/status/2020524984624406651
[24]: https://twitter.com/ClimateDefiance/status/2020523767601000576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[25]: https://t.co/MWbTWIt8AI
[26]: https://twitter.com/DropSiteNews/status/2020678870865694842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[27]: https://t.co/X74iiq1UOk
[28]: https://t.co/Bxe2f5kAWn
[29]: https://twitter.com/upholdreality/status/2020623967472824773?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[30]: https://t.co/AIv2cDfYFZ
[31]: https://twitter.com/FromSteveHowell/status/2020614304379367892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[32]: https://twitter.com/ChrisHazzardSF/status/2020177831519744446?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[33]: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/entertainment/2026/02/09/how-many-people-watched-turning-point-bad-bunny-halftime-shows/88586613007/#:~:text=Nielsen%20estimated%20127.7%20million%20viewers,from%20the%20last%20five%20years.
[34]: https://www.thecanary.co/author/oso/


https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2026/02/09/bad-bunny-colonialism/