SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – After nearly two weeks of protests in Puerto Rico calling for his resignation, Governor Ricardo Rosselló announced that he will resign from his post.
In a Facebook Live video yesterday, the Governor said that the recent protests have “humbled him” and acknowledge that there were many citizens including influential celebrities and politicians that wanted him to resign. He will officially resign as Governor on August 2 at 5:00 pm after serving as Governor since 2017.
The major protests in Puerto Rico started on July 13 after the Center for Investigative Journalism released some 900 pages of text chats on the encrypted messaging app Telegram in which Rossello and 12 other male administration members joked about Ricky Martin’s sexuality, mocked women, politicians, journalists, disabled people and the victims of Hurricane Maria.
Just days before the text messaging scandal, two top government officials from Mr Rosselló’s administration were among a group arrested by US federal agents for conspiracy and fraud involving millions in federal funding.
Citizens living in San Juan lined the streets of the city to rejoice following the announcement of his resignation. Puerto Ricans have counted this as the first step to getting rid of corruption in their country.
There is no word yet as to who will replace him.
