Almost one hundred thousand Puerto Ricans marched on Wednesday chanting “Ricky Renuncia!” for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló, following the leak of hundreds of misogynistic, homophobic and violent text messages between the governor and members of his Cabinet.
In the private chat messages published on Saturday by Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism, the governor and his inner circle use misogynistic language to talk about women, use homophobic language to talk about journalists and Ricky Martin.
They engage in fat-shaming. They talk about manipulating the media and public opinion polls. And they make jokes about shooting the mayor of San Juan and also about victims of Hurricane Maria.
All of this comes as former Education Secretary Julia Keleher and five others have been arrested on charges of steering federal money to unqualified, politically connected contractors.
Many of the island’s top officials resigned Saturday afternoon following an 889-page leak of their private chats with Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Rosselló has apologized for the texts but has insisted that he intends to remain in office.
On Monday, Denis Márquez of the Puerto Rican Independence Party introduced formal complaints against Ricardo Rosselló and called for his impeachment.
During the day, trap artist Bad Bunny and singer Ricky Martin were among the huge crowd that marched to the governor’s mansion.
Tensions ratcheted up in the evening as protesters burst through a barricade at the governor’s mansion and security forces fired tear gas at the crowd, causing many to flee into surrounding streets.
By early hours Thursday, the old city of San Juan resembled a war zone, with police chasing protesters through the streets while firing rubber bullets, gas canisters and what appeared to be flash bombs.
>Juthy Saha
