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We The Puerto Rican People Made Our Governor Resign In Just Two Weeks, Here’s How We Did It.
On July 8th, 2019, part of a chat between Governor Ricardo Rosselló and eleven other government functionaries was leaked. During the following days, 889 pages of content made their way through the press and social media. What those chats revealed and confirmed about an incompetent, corrupt government became the last straw for us. Misogynistic and homophobic remarks were made against local government women and other particular Puerto Ricans. Tasteless jokes were made about the victims of Hurricane María. Boastful comments about corruption and thievery were also made. From July 10th to July 24th we went out to the streets and demanded the Governor to resign from his position. On July 24th at almost midnight, Governor Rosselló finally announced his resignation.
Protests started on July 10th in the streets near the Governor’s mansion in Old San Juan. It all began with a modest manifestation of only a few dozens of people.
On July 11th, a bigger crowd protested for the Governor’s resignation in the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
Later that day, the Governor spoke to the People of Puerto Rico. He apologized for what he said in the chats and claimed he was not going to resign.
On July 12th the full 889-page chat was finally leaked and on the next day, people began to protest in front of the Governor’s mansion again. The number of protesters had now risen to the hundreds. This was the first time during these protests that the police used tear gas to deter the protesters.
On July 14th, the protests in Old San Juan continued, this time with a bigger crowd. The manifestations intensified when it became known that everyone in the chat had either been fired or resigned, yet Rosselló remained Governor.
The protests heavily intensified on July 15th. Protesters and the police clashed and some even got arrested. Fires were started and the amount of protesters rose up to the tens of thousands.
Many streets and buildings ended up vandalized due to what many think were undercover agents trying to make the manifestations look bad. On the morning of July 16th, business owners and protesters got up to clean the mess, ready to begin another day of manifestations.
The number of protestors kept rising on July 16th.
Protests througout many USA cities such as San Francisco, Washington DC, Miami, and Orlando also began that day.
The largest protests so far took place on July 17th, when more than 500,000 people met in front of the Capitol building to keep protesting for Governor Rosselló’s resignation.
That day the manifestations were lead by multiple Puerto Rican celebrities, Ricky Martin (whom was made fun of in the infamous chat), Residente, and Bad Bunny, among others.
On July 18th the protests turned violent again.
The Police managed to deter the People again with tear-gas.
The protesters returned to Old San Juan on July 19th. This time all protesters remained peaceful and no police intervention was neceessary.
A “cacerolazo” was programmed for July 20th. Thousands of protesters made noise and music with pots and pans on a pacific demonstration.
On the next day, July 21st, protests began with a massive yoga session in El Morro.
Later that day, an aquatic protest took place in Bahía de San Juan.
Almost 600,000 attended the largest national march ever made in the Island. On July 22nd, Puerto Rico took over one of the most important highways in San Juan and peacefully demanded for Rosselló’s resignation.
The amount of people that day represented about 20% of the population of the Island.
Protests continued in the streets of Old San Juan on July 23rd. This time, the people had to face the police again. Police forces were accused of using tear-gas unnecessarily, since the protests were civil.
On July 24th, after rumors regarding Governor Rosselló’s resignation surfaced, people met again near the Governor’s mansion. This time, flowers were placed on the barricades in rememberance of the 4,656 people that lost their lives during Hurricane María.
Ricardo Rosselló had announced that he had a message for Puerto Rico, but no one knew with certainty if it was a resignation message. It was prerecorded and set to be played at 5:00 pm. However, that did not happen.
After a long 6.5 hour wait, Rosselló’s message finally aired. He announced his resignation, effective on August 2nd, 2019 at 5:00 pm.
The People of Puerto Rico celebrated for hours, both in front of the governor’s mansion and at home.
The day after Governor Rosselló announced his resignation, Puerto Rico got up again to celebrate and to communicate to the governement that this was not the end. Rosselló resigned, but many changes still need to be made in the Island.
The manifestation made on July 25th, named “Somos Más”, served, not only as a celebration, but also as the beginning of a new era in Puerto Rico. A positive stride for democracy was made in the Island, and we will not back down now.
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