While it is yet to be confirmed by Rosello himself, multiple news outlets are reporting that Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rosello will step down tomorrow.
Links:
www.latinorebels.com/…
www.elnuevodia.com/…
www.wapa.tv/...
For anyone who missed this story, Governor Rosello has been facing calls to resign from other politicians, celebrities, and Puerto Ricans themselves who have organized massive protests in the streets for days.
In addition to criticism for his handling of Puerto Rico and Trump after Hurricane Maria, protests and calls for resignation were spurred by 900 pages of leaked texts published by The Center for Investigative Journalism.
The texts contained sexist and homophobic slurs. Insults and threats toward other politicians including San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, and rude comments about the victims of Hurricane Maria. There was also evidence of possible corruption and self-dealing.
The response from the people of Puerto Rico was strong, loud, and unrelenting. They stayed peaceful and faced threats and tear gas to protest Rosello.
Major recording artists Bad Bunny, Residente, and Ile co-wrote, produced and released a protest song “Afilando los Cuchillos” calling for Rossello’s resignation.
In spite of the leaked text chats and evidence of multiple felonies as noted by a panel of attorneys gathered by Puerto Rico’s Bar Association, the Speaker of Puerto Rico’s legislative body indicated that they would not impeach Rosello, and called upon their own panel to review the leaked chats.
After days of protests, Rosello announced that he would step down from the party, and that he would not seek reelection, but refused to resign. He also participated in a terrible showing on FOX News — no link provided so as not to provide them more views and business.
The protests continued. One million protestors were out in the streets. They shut down roads and cruises had to cancel port stops.
And today we have the aforementioned reports that Governor Rosello will step down tomorrow.
Perhaps these reports are wrong. It’s possible. However, what is unquestionable is that this massive and sustained action from Puerto Ricans has changed the national dialogue. The pressure on Rosello is mounting.
This is a model for us here on the mainland. We also have a leader who is sexist, and he is racist to boot. He doesn’t hide it in private chats, he says it publicly on Twitter for us all to see. He doesn’t hide his corruption and self-dealing either, he holds court in his own hotels and spends our tax dollars on his trips to his Florida golf club. He lies, publicly. It is clear from the Mueller report and from testimony from Michael Cohen that he has committed felonies. He was elected with the help of a foreign dictator, and he meets with that dictator in private on our dime.
I do not know what it will take to get the American people (yes, Puerto Ricans are Americans too, but it’s hard to articulate what I mean differently) to rise up and take on this president. I don’t know what it will take to get us to take our frustration to the streets and to demand that he step down. I don’t know what it will take for us to stop listening to political leaders who refuse to take action because of political agendas.
All I know is that Puerto Rico has just provided us a model of how to get it done. I hope that the reports are true and that Rosello steps down. I hope that we listen, learn, and follow their lead before it is too late.