US Edition
Kamala Harris clapped along to a musical performance in Puerto Rico unaware that the Spanish song was a protest anthem aimed at her.
The US vice president initially looked enthusiastic as the song began as she made her way outside a San Juan community centre where she had been speaking to civic leaders on Friday.
She pointed and clapped as the singing began, lingering outside the building to take in the performance.
Unbeknown to the vice president, the song’s lyrics criticised her and Joe Biden, the US president. According to Newsweek, it included the lines: “We want to know, Kamala, what did you come here for? We want to know what you think of the colony.”
A woman, named by US media as Mariana Reyes, the director of the community centre, whispered into Ms Harris’s ear, apparently translating the song.
Footage shows Ms Harris’s smile dipping slightly as she stopped clapping and nodded her head.
Her five-hour visit to Puerto Rico to tout federal aid in the wake of natural disasters and attend a fundraiser took place days after the Biden-Harris campaign announced measures to entice Latino voters to vote Democrat in the election.
“President Joe Biden and I have been very intentional about what we are doing for the leaders and the people and the families of Puerto Rico,” she said in a speech.
“So far, our administration has invested over $140 billion in Puerto Rico.”
However, a number of the locals did not appear impressed. Dozens of protesters gathered in San Juan to criticise US support for Israel over the war in Gaza and to protest Puerto Rico’s territorial status.
“Yankee, go home!” some shouted, while one demonstrator waved a sign labelling Ms Harris a “war criminal” and “vice president of genocide”. “She is not welcome here,” said another.
“We find her presence disrespectful,” said Joselyn Velázquez, the protest spokesman, as a group around her waved Palestinian flags.
One activist reportedly trampled on a US flag while others set the flags on fire.
Later on Friday, Ms Harris spoke at a campaign reception before flying back to the US mainland later that evening.
She took the opportunity to hit out at Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, whom she said had described Puerto Rico as “dirty and poor and corrupt”.