Venezuela pop band says Chavez expropriates 'Loser' song

Boys sit on a fence next to a poster of Venezuelan President and presidential candidate Hugo Chavez during his campaign rally in the district of Catia in Caracas September 17, 2012.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan pop group Los Amigos Invisibles says it is the latest victim of socialist President Hugo Chavez's wave of expropriations.

Local media say 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, up for re-election on October 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.

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 2000 years!"

Chavez has nationalized large parts of the OPEC nation's economy, ranging 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.

A representative for Los Amigos Invisibles did not immediately respond to a request for comment. YVKE Mundial did not answer phone calls seeking a request for comment. (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Hugh Bronstein and Eric Beech)