Anti-Gay Puerto Rico Gov. Rosselló Resigns Amid Multiple Scandals and Massive Protests
Puerto Rico's embattled governor, Ricardo Rosselló, has resigned amid multiple ongoing scandals and massive protests calling for him to leave office. He is the first governor of the U.S. commonwealth to resign.
That decision was apparently hastened by his own party turning against him, telling BuzzFeed News they had enough votes to impeach him.
Rosselló is seen through a window as he speaks with mayors from his party inside the Yolanda Guerrero Cultural center on July 21, 2019 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Earlier this month, the Center for Investigative Journalism leaked chats between Rosselló and his advisers. He used homophobic and misogynistic language, spoke brazenly about using public funds to attack his political enemies, and joked about the victims of Hurricane Maria.
That same week, Puerto Rico's former secretary of education, Julia Keleher, the former Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration head, Ángela Ávila-Marrero, and four others with government contracts were arrested and charged on multiple counts of money laundering, as well as fraud, for allegedly embezzling $15.5 million in federal funding over the past two years.
Protestors gather before a candlelight vigil outside City Hall, while demanding the resignation of Rosselló, on July 22, 2019 in Los Angeles.
Protesters demonstrate near a police barricade on a street leading to the Governor's Mansion.
For nearly two weeks the streets have been filled with demonstrators calling on Rosselló to go, and when news hit late Wednesday night that he was stepping down they went wild. Protesters were heard chanting "Puerto Rico! Puerto Rico!" and "Ricky, te botamos!" ("Ricky, we threw you out!"), according to NBC News.
The governor made the announcement with a Facebook video, and his resignation will be effective August 2. He talked up what he called his accomplishments and called for peace.
Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez, seen as a Rosselló loyalist, is next in line to replace him.
"Once the resignation is official, if necessary, I will assume the historic mandate that the Constitution of Puerto Rico commends," she said in a statement.
The hashtag #WandaRenuncia ("Wanda, resign") started trending on Twitter after Rosselló's address.