Thousands march against
Ricardo Rosselló after chats revealed sexist language and anti-gay remarks about singer
Ricky Martin
Thousands of protesters have marched in
Puerto Rico’s capital city for a third day to call for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló after sexist private chat messages were leaked.
The leak of at least 889 pages of the private chats has sunk Rosselló into the deepest crisis of his career, nearly two years after Hurricane María exposed Puerto Rico’s collapsing long-neglected infrastructure and leaving several thousand dead on Rosselló’s watch. Last week, two of his top former officials were arrested by the FBI on corruption charges.
Police in riot gear launched teargas and pepper spray into the crowds of protesters on Monday night, local media reported.
In the chats on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, Rosselló calls one New York female politician of Puerto Rican background a “whore”, describes another as a “daughter of a bitch” and makes fun of an obese man he posed with in a photo.
The chat also contains vulgar references to Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin’s homosexuality and a series of emojis of a raised middle finger directed at a federal control board overseeing the island’s finances.
For many Puerto Ricans still recovering from one of the United States’ worst-ever disasters, on the back of the island’s biggest public financial collapse, the scandal analysts and ordinary people are calling “Chatgate” or “Rickyleaks” has proven to be too much.
Despite widespread cynicism in Puerto Rico about politicians’ corruption and self-dealing, the chat shocked residents in a way that other scandals haven’t, particularly given Rosselló’s image as a gentle, even meek family man, said Mario Negrón Portillo, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico’s school of public administration.
“Everyone woke up one day and the governor was spouting vulgarities,” Negrón said. “There’s nothing worse for a politician than losing legitimacy. I think Ricardo Rosselló has lost legitimacy.”
The leaders of the US territory’s house and senate said they were not planning impeachment proceedings, but an influential association of mayors from Rosselló’s pro-statehood party said he had lost their support.
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”.
Even if Rosselló survives until election day next year, it seems clear to many observers that he has been profoundly weakened and less able to deal with crises ranging from the island’s bankruptcy proceedings to its continued efforts to receive federal funding to help recovery from María.
Late Monday, Rosselló released a statement saying he respected the protests and was taking their message into account.
“Unfortunately, despite responsible calls for peaceful demonstrations by many participants, a few others decided to damage public property and assault public officials who tried to preserve order and defend the security and rights of all,” he said.
Chatgate erupted a day after Rosselló’s former secretary of education and five other people were arrested on charges of steering federal money to unqualified, politically connected contractors. Starting on Thursday, an anonymous person or people with access to the chats leaked dozens of pages of them to two local outlets. On Saturday, Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism published 889 pages.
In the chat group were Luis Rivera Marín, Rosselló’s secretary of state; Christian Sobrino, who held a series of important economic posts; Carlos Bermúdez, a one-time communications aide; Edwin Miranda, a communications consultant; the interior secretary Ricardo Llerandi; the public affairs secretary, Anthony Maceira, and Elías Sánchez, one-time representative to the board overseeing Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy.
The group mentions then-New York City council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who had criticized the Democratic party head, Tom Pérez, for opposing Puerto Rican statehood, with Rosselló calling her the Spanish word for “whore”.
Referring to Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan who had announced her intent to run against Rosselló in 2020, the governor says, “she’s off her meds”.
“Either that, or she’s a tremendous HP,” he continues, using the Spanish initials for “son/daughter of a bitch”.
The president of the commonwealth’s house of representatives, Carlos Méndez Núñez, said Sunday night that legislators from Rosselló’s pro-statehood New Progressive Party, which has a majority in both houses, did not support starting impeachment proceedings against the governor.
Méndez Núñez said Rosselló had been given a one-week deadline to reflect, show contrition and prove he could continue to govern.
“This week he’ll meet with mayors, with legislators, and we have to give him this time,” Méndez Núñez said. “Impeachment isn’t on the table yet. But we reserve the right to evaluate if that’s merited.”