The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Protest on the green
City’s hispanics call for Puerto Rico gov to resign
NEW HAVEN — The message they carried was clear: Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello should resign and the island needs a better government
About 125 demonstrators turned out on the New Haven Green Friday to demand that Rossello resign, joining from Connecticut in the call in Puerto Rico that drew hundreds to a march on Rosello’s residence and and smaller events across the island.
The New Haven rally was organized by Giovanna GuerreroMedina and Adry Sotolongo, who are part of a group of New Havenarea Puerto Rican citizens and allies who were inspired to action as mass protests escalate on the island in response to the leak of derogatory private messages between Rossello and his cabinet.
Under a scorching lateafternoon sun in New Haven, protesters waved Puerto Rican flags, marched around the World War I memorial fountain to the beat of tambourines, and chanted “Renuncia Ricky, Renuncia,” which translates to Resign, Ricky, Resign.” They sang the Puerto Rican national anthem “La Borinquena.” A young woman carried a sign that pictured the governor as a rat.
The protesters were part of the Puerto Rican diaspora in cities such as Miami, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Seattle, and across the globe, that have come out in droves in the past week to voice their anger at the Puerto Rican government and to support those who have jammed the cobblestone streets of colonial San Juan for nearly a week.
According to GuerreroMedina, the protests aren’t simply about the nearly 900 pages of chat messages showing the governor and key aides mocking women, the disabled, and Hurricane Maria victims.
“This is about a governor and leadership that shows no respect for the people who are still suffering after Hurricane Maria, for the [estimated] 4,625 people who died in the hurricane,” she told the crowd.
“This is about years and years of corruption, of a decadeslong recession, about people suffering from economic hardship,
from power outages, from school closures,” she said. “That’s why we’re here today, to make sure the world knows that.”
For Carlos Torre, a professor of education at SCSU and former New Haven Board of Education member, the popular uprising has been historic.
“If you read Columbus’ diary, he described Puerto Ricans as very happy people, people who make work into play,” he said.
“For our people to get to the point where they have to say, bastante, enough, now that’s something,” Torre said. “They have taken so much from us that they have taken away our fear.”
Sotolongo, the coorganizer, voiced concern that the governor’s failings might threaten the $12 billion in federal Medicaid funds for the island.
“We urge the federal government and U.S. legislators not to retaliate against the more than 3 million U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico, many of whom are still recovering from one of the biggest hurricanes in history,” she said.
“We are their voices and it’s up to us to represent them.” she told the crowd as the sun beamed down on the Green. “Puerto Rico is our home and our heart.”