Scramble for P.R. gov gig
Fear Rossello crony will get nod
It’s possible — and maybe likely — prior to Rossello’s planned Aug. 2 departure, that he will designate a new secretary of state, though that candidate would need Senate confirmation.
But the thousands who took to the streets and protested Rossello and his allies are rightfully concerned he and the pro-statehood New Progressive Party will designate someone to continue Rossello’s neoliberal, austerity policies that include school closings, attacks on the University of Puerto Rico, methane gas electric projects — and corruption.
Rossello’s former primary challenger, Pedro Pierluisi, is also being mentioned as a likely contender for the secretary of state-to-governor position, a veteran politician and former resident commissioner, Puerto Rico’s only (nonvoting) member of Congress.
Problem Two: He also promotes neoliberal policies and has been tainted by accusations of using his political positions and influence for family benefit.
Then there’s the current resident commissioner, Jennifer Gonzalez, a Republican who was Rossello’s running mate, though Rossello is a Democrat, within the New Progressive Party, and she also has political aspirations — along with the apparent favor of President Trump.
If there’s no Senate designation of someone to fill the secretary of state position, the next person in the line of succession is the secretary of justice, Wanda Vazquez Garced, a staunch Rossello loyalist best known for her failure to investigate and prosecute local corruption scandals.
Today in Puerto Rico, only one thing is certain: with Rossello’s departure, Puerto Rican civil society has achieved a victory of historic proportions.
So much more needs to be done to achieve a functioning democracy.
Rossello and the ruling class he represents are the architects and intellectual authors of obscure administrative processes, like one currently pending to amend all of the zoning maps for the entire island archipelago.
Those amendments will be used to displace local communities and facilitate luxury developments in coastal areas. That’s one of the reasons protesters chanted that Rossello was selling off what’s left of the country.
Many other politicians before him participated in costly tax-exemption schemes, bond deals and egregious consulting contracts that led to the current insolvency. His father’s administration sold off the public hospitals at below-market prices, which led to criminal convictions and contributed to sky rocketing health costs that are also a major contributor to Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy.
Many of us on the island and in the diaspora struggle with how to best contribute to the necessary and urgent transformation of the island.
As Rey Charlie, a grassroots protest leader, so eloquently said as he led thousands of motorcyclists through the public housing projects to the governor’s mansion to demand Rossello’s resignation, “The power is with the people.”
Santiago is a lawyer and community activist in Salinas, Puerto Rico