After almost two weeks of non-stop protests and only two days since the largest demonstration in Puerto Rican history, Governor Ricardo Rosselló, has resigned. He announced his long-awaited decision at a midnight press conference held at La Fortaleza, the Governor’s Mansion, that took place hours after it had been originally scheduled, keeping the entire country and reporters from local and international news outlets waiting. As part of his announcement, he also shared that the local Secretary of Justice, Wanda Vázquez, will be his successor, serving as governor until 2020, when the new governor swears in.
Ever since the #RickyRenuncia protests started almost two weeks ago, after 889 pages of text messages were leaked, showing sexist and homophobic messages written by Rosselló himself, people were expecting that he would step down any day, but rumors that he would do it on Wednesday were stronger than ever. A press conference was scheduled for 5:00 pm, and Rosselló was expected to make “an important statement.” In addition, the House of Representatives had warned that if he didn’t resign on this day, they would begin an impeachment process. And on the streets of Old San Juan, the atmosphere was charged, with protesters chanting and marching right outside La Fortaleza, and law enforcement officials being transported to the mansion, ostensibly to guard the Governor.
Then, when the press conference didn’t happen at 5:00 pm, many started to worry that another day would go by before Rosselló resigned, but we didn’t have to wait much longer because around midnight, on a live stream watched by more than 60 thousand people on the island and abroad, the Governor made the announcement that he would step down, explaining that he had arrived at his decision after listening to the people, and adding that he hoped that his resignation would make room for reconciliation and growth for the island.
On one hand, Rosselló’s resignation is the joyful culmination of the biggest protest Puerto Rico has ever seen: the result of an entire country’s coming together, regardless of age, gender, class, or political affiliation, and taking to the streets to demand respect from their government. On the other hand, this moment has also been described as a rebirth for Puerto Ricans, who hadn’t really come together like this since Hurricane María, and also the beginning of a long journey toward recovery, restructuring, and, hopefully, autonomy.
For now, the people of Puerto Rico, on the island and in the diaspora, are rightfully celebrating. On Thursday, July 25th, which also happens to be a national holiday, celebrations are expected to be held all over the island for what promises to be a very long weekend of partying, and with good reason: they gave the whole world a lesson on how to stand up to bigots and kick out governors who don’t deserve to lead their people.
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