Shouts of “Ricky renuncia, el pueblo te repudia” (Ricky resign — the people repudiate you!) reverberated through the streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico, as thousands of people on the island marched demanding that Governor Ricardo Rosselló, who is nicknamed ‘Ricky’ — resign.
Protests intensify as Puerto Rico governor faces ongoing calls to resign
Thousands of protesters marched in the capital for a third day Monday to call for Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation. Police tried to disperse the marchers with pepper spray in front of the Fortaleza governor's residence, which was protected by barricades. The leaders of the U.S. territory's house and senate said they weren't planning impeachment proceedings, but an influential association of mayors from Rosselló's pro-statehood party said he had lost their support. The backlash comes in response to a profanity-laced and at times misogynistic online chat conducted between Rosselló and nine other male members of his administration.
The leak of at least 889 pages of the private chat has sunk Rosselló into the deepest crisis of his career. In the chats on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, Rosselló calls one New York female politician of Puerto Rican background a "whore." The chat also contains vulgar references to Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin's homosexuality.
Puerto Rican artists Benito A. Martínez Ocasio, known as Bad Bunny, and René Pérez, known as Residente, both said on Twitter they planned to return to Puerto Rico to join the protests. Playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose production of "Hamilton" on the island is mentioned in the chats, called them "a very disturbing portrait of how this Administration operates."
The peaceful protests were met with ugly police action in the evening:
Police Fire Tear Gas to Quell Protests Over Puerto Rico’s Governor
SAN JUAN, P.R. — An afternoon of extraordinary protests demanding the immediate resignation of Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico turned chaotic late on Monday when police in riot gear launched tear gas and pepper spray into a crowd of thousands of demonstrators.
The volleys of gas just after 8:30 p.m. dispersed much of the gathering that had swelled outside of the governor’s mansion, La Fortaleza. But some protesters defied the authorities, sitting in a row in front of the police wall, raising their arms and holding hands.
“¡Somos más y no tenemos miedo!” they yelled. There are more of us, and we are not afraid.
…
The skirmishes continued late into the night as protesters pushed to get closer to the mansion and officers responded with more rubber bullets. Many protest posters displayed “4,645,” referring to the number of people, according to a Harvard study, who may have died after Hurricane Maria.
“My mother died on Nov. 13, 2017, after the storm,” said Mildred Feliciano, 55, of Yabucoa, P.R. “I am here for her.”
Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente, Kany Garcia and more artists have taken to social media condemning Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló and the territory's government.
During the past weekend, a nearly 900-page private group chat between Rosselló and several associates in his executive team was published, generating a wave of protests and doubts about decisions by the government.
The 889-page document reveals a list of profanity-laced comments in a sexist, misogynistic and homophobic tone at opposition leaders, public figures and journalists, and showcases strategies in efforts to manipulate different situations from late 2018 to January 2019. The leaders were using the messaging app Telegram to correspond.
#RickyRenuncia (Ricky Resign) has been trending on twitter:
Puerto Rico's governor faces new calls to resign over leaked conversations that reveal his role in a profane, sexist and homophobic group chat. The island has struggled to recover from Hurricane Maria in 2017 and Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s administration has been plagued by scandals involving funding. Two top officials stepped down this weekend after the leaked group chat. It showed Rosselló and his allies discussing confidential government information and disparaging officials, politicians and journalists. David Begnaud reports.
Thanks to the work of the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (Center for Investigative Journalism) 889 pages of private chat has been revealed.
#TelegramGate Continues: New Leaks Expose Sexist Language From Puerto Rico Governor Rosselló
UPDATE, July 13, 2019: Puerto Rico’s Centro de Periodismo Investigativo has published the full Telegram chat thread, all 889 pages of it.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A new set of Telegram leaks show Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló and his friends hurling sexist insults to two women and making fun of the Financial Oversight Board, Senate president Thomás Rivera Schatz, and a former gubernatorial candidate.
One of the most disturbing findings is the use of strong sexist language against former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Natalie Jaresko, executive director of the Financial Oversight Board.
The members of the group chart appear to be governor Rosselló, Chief of Staff Ricardo Llerandi; the Governor’s former legal advisor Alfonso Orona; former Public Affairs Secretary for La Fortaleza Ramón Rosario; government communications advisor Carlos Bermudez; government communications advisor Rafael Cerame D’Acosta; publicist and statehood party donor Edwin Miranda, and the executive director of the Financial Advisory Authority and Fiscal Agency and representative to the Governor on the Financial Oversight Board Christian Sobrino; and the person identified only as “F do” (who many are speculating to be Elías Fernando Sánchez, Rosselló’s former campaign manager and representative in the Oversight Board).
In the chat, Rosselló can be seen threatening Mark-Viverito and calling her a puta (a slut) for criticizing DNC Chair Tom Perez, who was siding with statehood Democrats. Rosselló is a registered Democrat and leader of the Statehood party (PNP, in Spanish) in Puerto Rico.
The work of the Center, has been extraordinary — they could really use your support.
Melissa Mark-Vivarito, former former speaker of the New York City Council, and now Interim President of Latino Victory Project, was one of the women smeared in the chats, as was San Juan’s Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.
Viverito tweeted:
“Women are not "whores" or "daughters of whores", we are fighting, brave and worthy human beings who contribute to society. Enough of machismo!
The leaked chats, were loaded with homophobic comments.
Hundreds of leaked chat messages show Puerto Rico’s governor using vulgar antigay slurs repeatedly
Many of the messages targeted Puerto Rico senator Eduardo Bhatia. A publicist posted a picture of Bhatia and another person responded with “20 years and 200 pounds ago.”
“And seven men ago, too?… sorry,” the publicist responded. Bhatia is married to a woman.
In a separate discussion, Rosselló posted a video of Bhatia and wrote “historic c*cksucker levels.” He used the same word to refer to journalist Benjamín Torres Gotay as an “unprecedented c*cksucker” after Torres Gotay tweeted about ferry problems on the island.
In another discussion, Puerto Rico’s chief financial officer Christian Sobrino accused singer Ricky Martin of being sexist because he’s gay.
“Nothing says patriarchal oppression like Ricky Martin,” Sobrino wrote. “Ricky Martin is such a male chauvinist that he fucks men because women don’t measure up. Pure patriarchy.”
All of this is happening in the midst of corruption scandals.
The latest scandal involves the July 10, 2019 arrest of six people closely linked to his administration, two of the most notable being former Health Insurance Administration Director Ángela Ávila Marrero and former Department of Education Director Julia Keleher.
The arrests were carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as part of a probe that uncovered a widespread scheme — involving several agencies — to bypass regular bidding processes for government contracts. The charges in the FBI's indictment included money laundering, theft, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.
Journalist Andrew Scurria (@AndrewScurria) quoted part of the indictment that describes the scheme:
For more on Keleher, back in February I wrote, Privatizing Puerto Rico: DeVos clone Julia Keleher and Gov. Rosselló push charter schools
For now, Ricky is refusing to resign.
Puerto Rico Governor Defies Calls To Resign Amid Growing Protests Over Text Chats
The governor of Puerto Rico is resisting calls to resign despite growing protests against his government after leaked text chats revealed conversations rife with homophobic and misogynistic slurs…
"I've asked everyone for forgiveness," Rosselló said in Spanish during an interview on the radio show Nacion Z.
But much of the public has not been in a forgiving mood. And Rosselló's mea culpas have done little to assuage feelings of betrayal, anger and frustration over the leaders' callous attitudes and repeated corruption scandals that have plagued the island.
If Gov. Ricky does resign — who takes over?
Last week, the FBI announced a criminal investigation of former administration officials arrested and accused of giving out fraudulent government contracts. This latest scandal also happens as the island still tries to recover from Hurricane Maria and a billions dollars debt crisis. What would happen next is of much speculation in an island that sees political debate as important as the sport of baseball. It’s unprecedented because there's never been a governor impeached in Puerto Rico. But it’s also uncertain.
Top leaders in Governor Rosselló's party, PNP or the statehood party, have asked him not to seek reelection. This includes former Governor Luis Fortuno. He published on Facebook his demands for Rosselló not to be the party’s leader in 2020. The island’s Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez, who represents Puerto Rico in Congress, has also asked Rosselló not to seek reelection in 2020. On Monday, Governor Rosselló went on a radio program to again reject calls for his resignation, explain what happened and fight for his job.
Over the weekend, about 889 pages of the scandalous group chat was published by the Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico.Rosselló said not all that was published is factual. The governor's own party is in power.
The House and Senate leaders are all from the same party. Reportedly, they said Rosselló has a deadline. It has to do with the line of succession. If the governor were to resign, the Secretary of State would assume powers. Except he resigned over the weekend as a result of the same social media scandal now dubbed as #Rickyleaks or #Telegramgate. Next in line would be the Puerto Rico Justice Secretary. According to the Puerto Rican Constitution, the island's version of the House of Representatives would impeach with a two-thirds vote. The Senate would have to approve it with a three-fourth's vote.
Meanwhile, conditions on the island are still dire, with thousands still living under leaking blue tarp roofs — and there is a looming cut to Medicaid for 900,000 residents.
Pa’lante Puerto Rico
