‘We deserve better’
Rally, march held in Hartford to join calls for resignation of Puerto Rico’s governor
HARTFORD – More than 100 members of Hartford’s Puerto Rican community marched in circles, carrying signs, banging pots and pans, singing songs and waving the flag of their homeland Tuesday evening at the intersection of Park and Washington streets. Many of the signs said “Ricky Renuncia,” the slogan calling for Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to resign.
The FBI arrested two former officials in Rosselló’s administration earlier this month as part of a corruption investigation into the handling of $15.5 million worth of contracts. Just days later, homophobic and misogynistic text messages he sent in a private group chat with 11 advisers were published. In response, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans have been protesting for a week and a half in what is likely the largest mobilization in the history of the territory. The U.S. acquired the island as a colony during the Spanish-American War of 1898, and it became a self-governing territory in 1952.
More than a dozen government officials have resigned since the publication of the text
messages. A judge issued search warrants Tuesday for the 12 men’s cellphones, and one warrant said the officials used the chat to transmit official and confidential information to private citizens in potential violation of ethics laws. Rosselló has apologized and said he will will not run for reelection but also will not resign.
Hartford has a large Puerto Rican population, and the island’s flag was raised at city hall Monday. City and state officials, many of Puerto Rican heritage, said Tuesday morning at a press conference that they stand in solidarity with the public uprising against Rosselló. Two of those Hartford officials, Mayor Luke Bronin and state Rep. Edwin Vargas, both Democrats, marched in the rally.
More than 8 percent of Connecticut’s population is Puerto Rican, the highest percentage of any state. Some of these residents expressed support Monday for the protesters that flooded the streets of San Juan on Monday.
Rosselló “should resign and get the hell out of there,” Vargas said Tuesday morning. Hewas born in New York City to Puerto Rican parents.
Other officials who spoke at the press conference were City Council Majority Leader James Sanchez, Minority Leader Wildaliz Bermudez, Superintendent of Schools Leslie TorresRodriguez and former City Council President Calixto Torres.
Gov. Ned Lamont denounced Rosselló’s offensive comments at an unrelated press conference Tuesday afternoon but did not call on him to resign.
Rally participants chanted, “Yo soy boricua, pa’que tu lo sepas,” a Puerto Rican anthem meaning “I am a Puerto Rican, so you know it,” and sang “Que Bonita Bandera,” an ode to the island’s flag. The circle expanded as the crowd grew past 100 people, and cars honked their support as they drove by.
‘We’ve suffered enough’
In addition to homophobic and misogynistic comments, Rosselló and his advisers also made jokes about the bodies of those who died in Hurricane Maria in 2017. This was personal for Vivian Perez, who was born on the island and said she lost several relatives to the hurricane.
“When you mock us and laugh about it and say how you took us for suckers, that’s inappropriate and unacceptable,” Perez said. “Puerto Ricans are tired. We want better. We deserve better. We’ve suffered enough.”
The hurricane took the lives of more than 3,000 Puerto Ricans, even though Rosselló’s administration initially claimed the death toll was only 64.
Most of Perez’s remaining family is in Hartford with her. She said she votes in every presidential election, which residents of Puerto Rico cannot do even though they are U.S. citizens.
‘We can’t take it anymore’
Kassandra Rodriguez’s family left Puerto Rico years ago because they could not find work there, she said. She was born in Hartford but considers the island her homeland, and Tuesday’s rally was her first protest, she said.
Rosselló acted selfishly in light of Hurricane Maria, which affected her relatives that stayed on the island, Rodriguez said.
“To know that he withheld information and he withheld help (from the people), we’re angry now and we can’t take it anymore, so we’re holding on until he’s out,” she said.
‘Here to support my people’
Three generations of women in one Puerto Rican family attended the rally: Ivelisse Gracia and her mother and daughter.
Gracia has lived in Hartford for 40 years, and half of her family still lives in Puerto Rico, she said. She echoed others’ concerns about Rosselló’s response to the hurricane and also spoke against his financial behavior.
“What he’s doing is not right,” she said. “I was born in Puerto Rico, and I’m here to support my people.”
‘Forced me to get out’
Many Puerto Ricans left the island after the hurricane, including Agnes Torres, who worked for City Councilwoman Wildaliz Bermudez until recently.
“The actions of the government forced me to get out and come here,” she said.
In addition to the governor’s resignation, Puerto Ricans want full government accountability and an audit to help fix the longstanding debt crisis, Torres said.
She helped organize the rally and advertised it mainly on social media, she said, after one in the same place last week drew about 50 people and many wanted to have another. There might be more rallies until, and if, Rosselló resigns, she said.
‘Keeping the struggle’
Puerto Ricans have a history of protests both on the island and in Hartford. Valentin Rosario has been in Hartford since 1981 and remembers the protests at the same street corner in 1999, when the U.S. Navy tested its weapons on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. Those protests continued in Puerto Rico until the military left Vieques in 2003.
“We got together big-time, but this one is bigger,” said Rosario, whose mother and siblings live in Puerto Rico.
He said he appreciated that the city’s younger Puerto Rican population organized the rally and is active in the community.
“That’s a beautiful thing, that the young people are taking the flag and keeping the struggle,” Rosario said. “Someday we want Puerto Rico to be independent.”
A report from the Associated Press is included in this story.
Tess Vrbin can be reached at tvrbin@courant.com.