The insistence of the Puerto Ricans taking to the streets for more than two weeks as part of a national strike has succeeded in acchieving its objective. It was part of a strategy to maintain pressure upon now ex-governor, Ricardo Rosselló, to force him to resign, which was finally acchieved today.
The protesters, that marched with signs and banners that read “Ricky, leave already” and “No corrupt cowards”, cut off the main motorway in the city of San Juan, the Americas Express, until the governor finally announced he would be resigning through a video uploaded to Facebook. The music began and people began to dance to the beat of reggaeton shortly after.
The crisis began after a series of private messages from the application Telegram from a chat between Rosselló and his ministers including homophobic, mysoginistic and profane comments were leaked to the press. In one of the comments, Rosselló even mocks the victims of hurricane Maria that devastated the island only two years ago.
Puerto Rico is experiencing one of its most difficult moments, after a decade of recession that led the island to declare bankruptcy, with a public debt of 123.000 million dollars. The unemployment rate is almost 10%, which is more than double the US average of 4%, meanwhile 40% of Puerto Ricans live below the poverty line.
The arrival of hurricane Maria to the island two years back worsened significantly the situation and produced more deaths than 9/11, and thousands of Puerto Ricans to this very day still don’t have access to electricity, transportation and infraestructure.
That’s why Puerto Ricans are saying no to a governor who has failed them multiple times. He was unable to improve the situation on the island after the most devastating natural desaster of this century, instead joking about the victims and about those trying to help.
What do the controversial messages say?
The messages leaked to the public exchanged between Rosselló and his advisors and ministers include homophobic, sexist comments directed towards public figures and politicians from the island. The leak, known as “RickyLeaks” has infuriated an entire island tired of his bad management of the crises of the past.
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