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Pitbull has a lot on his mind and he’s not afraid to say it. The Cuban-American rapper recently made it clear that he doesn’t appreciate people who criticize the United States. During a recent performance, Pitbull (aka Armando Christian Pérez) condemned critics of the US with a fair amount of foul language. “To whoever the f— doesn’t like the United States of America, may God bless you, but f— you at the same time,” he said.

He continued: “If you don’t like the United States of America, go back to the countries that we the f— from and you’ll see how much you appreciate the United States of America.”

In all likelihood, Pérez was referring to the recent protests and unrest in Cuba. Pérez has been an outspoken critic of Cuba’s communist regime, recently calling on world leaders to “step up” and help the people of Cuba. “Not only is this a Cuba event, this is a world event,” he said in July. “This isn’t about politics. This is about saving lives. This is about unity, not division. And bottom line, this is about taking action.”

In that same statement, he expressed his frustrations over feeling powerless to help Cubans. “It bothers me…being a Cuban American, and having a platform to speak to the world and not being able to help my own people, not being able to get them food, not being able to get them water, not being able to get the medicine. But most of all, not being able to help and really get them what they deserve, which is freedom.”

But some people are pointing out that criticizing one’s country doesn’t take away from their patriotism.

“He’s missing the point for some people,” wrote one Twitter user. “I can love my country enough to see it’s faults and want to make it better. That doesn’t mean I need to leave, it means I’m willing to stay and fight to make sure it’s what we want it to be.”

“You can simultaneously live in America and want it to change for the better,” said another Twitter user. Others were pointing out that silencing critics is a tactic of authoritarian regimes.

It also should be noted that Pitbull himself has criticized the United States in the past.

In 2011, he expressed dismay at Arizona’s new Senate Bill 1070 law–a law that would allow police officers to demand to see immigration papers from people when “lawfully” stopping them for arrests. Critics said the law would promote racial profiling of Latinos.

“The United States was built by immigrants, so [the law is] very sad,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. “I know everything in life has to have boundaries, rules and regulations. I agree with that. I don’t agree when the USA, that lives by a constitution, says, OK, just because you look this way, we’re going to ask you for your documentation, or you gotta go back to your country. The [Arizona SB 1070 law] is like we took 10 steps back. I’m watching all the refugees entering Italy from Libya, too, and all the things going down in Sri Lanka – when I watch these different forms of migration, I relate to it, because my family did the same.”

Just like Pitbull illustrated, one can love their country and still be disappointed in its laws and want it to change for the better.

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