The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Puerto Ricans in state join call for Rossello to resign
More than a million on island want governor gone
Puerto Ricans in Connecticut are standing in solidarity with more than one million people on the island calling for Gov. Ricardo Rossello to resign.
People have organized in the streets of Puerto Rico for the past weekandahalf demanding the governor step down after an 889page transcript was leaked showing Rossello participating in an obscenityladen chat with top advisers.
As of Wednesday evening, he had not announced his resignation, but an investigation commissioned by Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives found five offenses that constitute grounds for impeachment, according to
NBC News.
“I’ve never seen a community so united with one demand — the governor must resign,” said Kica Matos, a native of Puerto Rico and social justice advocate who lives in New Haven. “It’s widely shared within the Puerto Rican community, not just on the island, but it’s shared on mainland U.S., too.”
More than 100 demonstrators turned out on the New Haven Green Friday to demand Rossello’s resignation.
“For all of us who are Puerto Rican, it’s just outrageous what has happened on the island,” Matos said.
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 spoken out in the past week to voice their anger at the Puerto Rican government and to support those who have crowded outside the governor’s home in San Juan.
“This is like nothing I’ve ever seen before in my lifetime,” Matos said
Matos said the shared call for Rossello’s resignation isn’t only about the leaked chat — it’s because of the history of suffering. She said Hurricane Maria exposed the island’s inability to respond to the natural disaster and, coupled with the debt crisis, school closings and a higher demand for services, Puerto Ricans are fed up.
“This was the proverbial straw and it’s time for Puerto Rico to think about a better way of governing,” she said. “It’s time for a more democratically based system of governance and one that’s there to serve the people instead of the historically rich in power.”
Connecticut’s Puerto Rican population was approximately 292,000 in 2017 and migration from the island has been growing.
Puerto Ricans now make up more than 8 percent of the state’s population, especially in the large cities such as Hartford New Haven and Bridgeport — 104,320 Puerto Ricans lived in Hartford County in 2015; 83,800 in New Haven County; and 55,849 in Fairfield County, according to Puerto Rico Rises Corp.
In Bridgeport, where the 2010 U.S. Census estimated more than 20 percent of the population was Puerto Rican, a mural has been painted on the wall of an East Main Street market in recent days displaying the Puerto Rican flag and the words, “Ricky Renuncia,” the island’s call for the governor’s resignation.
“I’m very proud that our people in Puerto Rico have stood up and pushed back. … It has come to a moment when people have said, ‘enough is enough,’ ” said City Council member Maria Valle, a past president of the Puerto Rican Parade of Fairfield County organization.
State Rep. Christopher Rosario, DBridgeport, said he, Carolyn Gonzalez and Lisette Colon, of the Greater Bridgeport Latino Network, and Alina Gutierrez, owner of Sazon y Mambo, have
planned a solidarity march in support of the island residents on Saturday at 11 a.m.
If does not resign, marchers will convene at the median of East Main Street and Boston Avenue to march to Washington Park.
If he does resign, wouldbe marchers instead will meet in the parking lot of Sazon y Mambo, located at 1691 Main St., to celebrate.
“You kind of feel helpless over here so you do as much as you can to help,” said Gutierrez, owner of the restaurant, which has played host to many community events, including relief efforts after Hurricane Maria.
On social media, countless people are engaged around calling for ’s resignation and documenting the demonstrations.
“There’s such unanimity in the demand — our people have suffered enough, this man has to go,” Matos said.
The humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria caused more than 160,000 people to leave the island for the the mainland U.S., according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at City University New York.
Approximately 13,000 families came to Connecticut from Puerto Rico in the wake of Maria and organizations such as Junta for Progressive Action helped place families in temporary homes and enroll children in schools.
Though some on the mainland are anticipating an influx of Puerto Ricans due to the island’s troubles, similar to that which occurred after Hurricane Maria, Valle and Rosario both said that they did not expect to see many leave the island if Rossello were to resign.
“I think people will stay,” Rosario said, “They want to rebuild the nation … and see the island succeed.”
If the governor were to not resign, Rosario said the instability on the island could drive Puerto Ricans to leave.