Ricky Rosselló, governor of Puerto Rico, resigned. Strong protests forced his resignation
Puerto Rico experienced eleven days of intense protests, after a chat with misogynistic and homophobic statements by Governor Ricky Rosselló was made public, the indignation of the people led to mass demonstrations. Several artists of the stature of Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente de Calle 13 and Benicio del Toro were present demanding their resignation. A few hours ago, Roselló resigned amid the uproar of Puerto Ricans who shouted: "Ricky we kick you out."
"With detachment I announce that I will be resigning the post of governor, which will be effective on Friday, August 2, 2019", was the content of the video message where Governor Rosselló announced his resignation.
Who will remain as governor of Puerto Rico when Ricky Roselló resigns?
Legally, what the constitution of the island contemplates is that it is the next in the command line who assumes in a scenario like the current one, but in the midst of the governance crisis several days ago the Secretary of State, second in command, resigned de Roselló, for this reason who will assume will be Wanda Vásquez Garced, Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico.
"When his resignation becomes effective, if necessary, I will assume the historical mandate imposed on us by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the applicable laws. We will be working together to carry out an orderly and transparent transition process." The senior official declared, making clear the commitment to the historical responsibility that corresponds to the people of Puerto Rico.
Governor Costelló tried to calm the people by announcing that he would not run for the next elections and would abandon the political race, but the protesters did not accept such an "offer", the demand was only one: Resign NOW and apparently, the people's struggle in the calle achieved the expected result.
Artists and characters of the island committed to the people's struggle
The world witnessed a little-seen event in political events, except Venezuela, where Venezuelan artists and artists of all nationalities protest, it is difficult to see great singers or athletes taking a political position in favor or against the government of their country without import the mistakes that are being made.
In Puerto Rico it happened. World-class singers came to accompany their countrymen in the streets and joined the fight, side by side with any citizen of Puerto Rico, we saw Bad Bunny with the flag calling people to protest and even made a commitment not to schedule new shows or write new songs until the governor resigns.
We also saw the fighter Subriel Matías from Puerto Rico, who when defeating the Russian Maxim Dadashev a few days ago and after raising the flag of the island, asked for a poster and showed it where it clearly read: "Ricky, heck, resign."
Roselló's chat also contained mockery against victims of Hurricane María
The chat is long, contains varied conversations and apart from the aforementioned misogical and homophobic comments that directly reach artists and personalities on the island, it was known that in the chat there are also mocking comments about the people affected by the hurricane Maria. This natural phenomenon devastated the island in 2017 and left about 4,000 affected.
The allegations that were found in the chat include offenses to a former New York councilor, misogynistic comments against the current mayor of San Juan de Puerto Rico, even Ricky Martin, who would go on to lead the protests along with other artists, was subject to offenses for part of Governor Ricky Roselló.
Corruption cases were drowning Governor Roselló
It is something that many commentators have wanted to clarify. The Roselló government was the subject of accusations by a federal judge, the crimes covered areas as serious as money laundering, electronic fraud and theft.
Actually the chat was the last straw. However, the citizens of the island know that without that drop it was most likely that Roselló would continue in his position without any problem despite the corruption, that is why they also decided to take advantage of the explosion and outrage over the Telegram conversation revealed and fight until achieve the goal.
Another of the biggest pressures for Roselló came from the Financial Supervision and Administration Board for Puerto Rico. Let us remember that Puerto Rico is linked to the United States of North America and in said board it is the United States government that appoints seven of the eight members of the cabinet, who perform supervisory functions in the governments that are elected for the governorship of Puerto Rico.
This Oversight Board had been silent throughout the crisis but just one day before the resignation, they spoke out calling for "speed in solving the governance crisis on the island". Apparently, that statement also had a decisive weight in Costelló, who perhaps expected some sign of support from the US government.
Building a new Puerto Rico was Roselló's promise
Some Puerto Ricans remember that announcement of Ricky Roselló's campaign as a bad joke, his promise to build a new Puerto Rico was destroying the island with the corruption of his government and with the moral debacle that his government represented when he was expelled by the people for such offenses to women and sexual diversity.
The resignation of Ricky Roselló makes him the first governor in the history of Puerto Rico to leave office in this way. His father, Pedro Roselló, ruled the island from 1993 to 2000, without significant setbacks in his administration.
