Puerto Ricans take to streets to protest governor
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Infuriated by years of recession, corruption and living under a bankrupt government, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans protested in Old San Juan, demanding the ouster of Gov. Ricardo Rossello after leaked text messages showed him and his aides to be vindictive, sexist and profane.
Whether he stays or goes might matter little to the forces that will help determine the island’s economic fate.
After all, power over the U.S. territory isn’t wielded in the governor’s Fortaleza mansion alone. A significant portion resides 5 miles away in the offices of a Congresscreated financial oversight board handed sweeping authority — and with a bankruptcy judge. The turmoil in the streets may only prolong the two-year legal case that has left residents feeling powerless and that has stoked simmering resentment about quasi-colonial rule.
“Principally, we are here to protest Ricky,” said 21-yearold Carlos Crespo, who turned out with thousands of others Wednesday to demand change. “He doesn’t respect women, he made jokes about the people who died in Hurricane Maria.”
Since Sunday, protesters have raged against a government whose power traditionally has been wielded by small, well-connected factions. Many younger demonstrators have said they are fed up with the island’s two main political parties, which are split on the question of statehood but united in failure to improve a hurricane-ravaged commonwealth with a 45% poverty rate.
Tens of thousands took to the streets again Wednesday night. The protests, largely peaceful at the outset, degenerated into a tear gassuffused melee, with small bands of masked protesters and police playing a game of cat-and-mouse through the streets of Old San Juan.
Police said at least five people were arrested during the protests, the latter part of which saw demonstrators setting fires and police firing tear gas that wafted into many homes.
“I recognize the challenge before me for recent controversies, but I firmly believe that it is possible to restore confidence and that we can, after this painful and sad process, achieve reconciliation,” Rossello said in a prepared statement Thursday.
However, the decisions most central to Puerto Rico’s future are being made in law offices, decorous courtrooms and in Washington as creditors tangle with the oversight board over the massive public debt.
Congress created the board to supervise Puerto Rico’s budgets and address its debt crisis.
Puerto Rico is seeking to restructure about $27 billion of obligations tied to the central government and its main utility, the Electric Power Authority, which was ravaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017. The board is now negotiating with owners of some $18 billion of central governmentbacked debt, the last major piece that needs to be dealt with in the bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, Rossello is beset on many fronts.
Rossello’s ability to pry money out of Washington is in doubt, which set the stage for the scandal some call “Ricky Leaks.” Local news outlets published texts among the governor and his aides that used misogynistic language and disparaged opponents and ordinary Puerto Ricans.
In one chat, Rossello refers to Melissa Mark-viverito, the island-born former New York City Council speaker, as a “whore.” When Christian Sobrino, a key financial official, suggested he was “salivating” at the idea of shooting San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, Rossello responded: “You would be doing me a favor.”