translated from Spanish: Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans demanded the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello

Waving flags, singing and pounding pots and pans, tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans took a road on Monday to demand the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello in a crisis caused by a leak of chat chat messages laden with obscenity between him and his advisers. The demonstration appeared to be the biggest protest on the island in nearly two decades.” Eventually, the government mask has fallen,” said Jannice Rivera, a 43-year-old mechanical engineer who lives in Houston, but was born and raised in Puerto Rico and flew to join the crowd. The protest came 10 days after the leak of 889 pages of online chats in which Rosselló and some of his close collaborators insulted women and mocked voters, including the victims of hurricane María.La escape has intensified anger burning on the territory of the United States by persistent corruption and mismanagement of the island’s two main political parties, a serious debt crisis, a sick economy and a slow recovery of Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017.” People have woken up after so much outrage,” said retired nurse Benedicta Villegas, 69. “There are still homeless people and roads without lights. The conversation was the tip of the iceberg.” The crowd moved along the Highway of the Americas despite the heat that punished young children, teenagers, professionals and the elderly, all dripping in sweat and smiling as they waved flags large and small of Puerto Rico.” This is to show that people respect themselves,” said Ana Carrasquillo, 26. “We have endured corruption for so many years.” In an interview monday with Fox News, Rosselló said he will not resign and is focused on fighting corruption and helping the island recover from Maria.” I’m making peace,” he said. “I’ve apologized for all the comments I made in the chat.” On Sunday night, Rosselló, a Democrat, tried to calm the riots by promising not to seek re-election in 2020 or continue as head of his New Progressive Party in favor of statehood. That only further infuriated his critics, who have mounted street demonstrations for more than a week.” People aren’t leaving,” said Johanna Soto, from the city of Carolina. “That’s what he expects, but we outnumbered him.” When asked who was advising Rosselló about his tenure in office, Rosselló’s public affairs secretary, Anthony Maceira, said the governor was talking to his family and “that carries a great weight.” Rosselló’s father, Pedro, was governor from 1993 to 2001.The largest newspaper on this territory of more than 3 million U.S. citizens, El Nuevo Día, joined the pressure with the headline on the cover: “Governor, it’s time to listen to people : you have to resign”.

Original source in Spanish