Puerto Rico governor insists he won’t resign
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Facing intense pressure to resign, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló addressed Puerto Rico on Tuesday, the morning after tumultuous street protests shook the capital of San Juan, and refused to step down despite what he acknowledged was widespread public discontent.
“I understand perfectly that this was a message against me personally,” he said in a lengthy news conference at the governor’s mansion. But, he added: “I’m going to keep working for the people of Puerto Rico.”
Lawmakers from Rosselló’s governing New Progressive Party had said they were willing to give him time to reflect amid a political crisis that has overtaken his administration. Rosselló signaled Tuesday that he had made up his mind to stay, though he would not say whether he would run for reelection in 2020 as planned.
The ongoing political convulsions on the island, including federal corruption arrests last week, prompted the White House to contend Tuesday that President Donald Trump had been right in the past to call Rosselló’s administration incompetent. Puerto Rico continues to seek billions of dollars in federal funds to recover from Hurricane Maria.
“The unfortunate events of the past week in Puerto Rico prove the president’s concerns about mismanagement, politicization, and corruption have been valid,” Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said in a statement. “We remain committed to Puerto Rico’s recovery and steadfast in protecting taxpayers and the Puerto Rico survivors from political corruption and financial abuse.”
In response to the White House, Rosselló said that corruption has plagued administrations everywhere, not just in Puerto Rico. He conceded that it has been a problem “historically” on the island.
Rosselló brushed off questions about his possible impeachment, suggesting that that would be an overreaction.
“I have not committed illegal acts,” he said. “I committed inappropriate acts.”
He was referring to a group chat that the governor and 11 of his top aides maintained on messaging app Telegram. Hundreds of pages of messages from the chat were leaked over the weekend.
In the Telegram chat, the men wrote derisively and often profanely about an array of people, including leaders of their party; political critics; members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community; the media; an obese young man who met the governor and a blind Cabinet secretary. The chat also revealed a cozy relationship between Rosselló and former staff members who now represent special interests.
Rosselló said Tuesday that his executive team had conducted a “legal analysis” to determine that nothing that was discussed in the chat was illegal. But confusingly, he also characterized the analysis as one that was done for him personally and that would not be made public.
Rosselló defended the actions of police during Monday night’s tense demonstrations, which culminated in three hours of clashes between protesters and officers, who launched tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets into an electrified crowd of several thousand people.
Authorities said they made five arrests and that 21 police officers were hurt.