Showing posts with label Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Show all posts

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Governor Of Puerto Rico Resigns (Finally)

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is expected to resign Wednesday after more than a week of protests that rocked the island's capital city, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló

UPDATE 2: After delaying for hours (days really) and facing impeachment proceedings, Gov. Rosselló resigned late Wednesday night. He will officially leave office August 2.





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UPDATE 1: According to CBS News reporter David Begnaud, Gov. Rosselló had privately agreed to resign his office but reneged. So, now Puerto Rico's House of Representatives plans to begin impeachment proceedings.



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CNN reports:

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is expected to resign Wednesday after more than a week of protests that rocked the island's capital city, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

Thousands have jammed the streets of San Juan calling for the governor's resignation after Puerto Rico's Center for Investigative Journalism published a series of group messages between the governor and his inner circle that included homophobic and misogynistic language and jokes about Hurricane Maria victims.

The person expected to take Rosselló's place is Puerto Rico Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez.

The news comes a day after Rosselló's chief of staff submitted his resignation, effective July 31.



Just days ago, Rosselló announced he would remain in office, but would not seek reelection in 2020. He also agreed to resign from his position as president of the new Progressive Party.
Posted by Randy Slovacek at 6:29 AM 0 comments
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Monday, July 22, 2019

Hundreds Of Thousands Of Puerto Ricans Continue Protests Against Gov. Rosselló

The protests against Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo A. Rosselló have now last more than a week with an estimated 500,000 residents of the U.S. territory coming together to demand Rosselló's resignation.
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith interviews Gov. Ricardo Rosselló

The protests against Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo A. Rosselló have now lasted for more than a week with an estimated 500,000 residents of the U.S. territory coming together to demand Rosselló's resignation.

From the New York Times:

Hundreds of thousands of people swept through the capital of Puerto Rico on Monday, shutting down a major highway and paralyzing much of the city in the latest in a series of furious protests over the island’s embattled governor, Ricardo A. Rosselló.

The protest was one of the largest ever seen on the island, as Puerto Ricans streamed into the capital on buses — and some on planes from the mainland — in a spontaneous eruption of fury over the years of recession, mismanagement, natural disaster and corruption that have fueled a recent exodus.

Ignoring sporadic deluges, demonstrators launched impromptu line dances, paraded on horseback, banged pots and carried banners along several miles of highway, many shouting: “Ricky, renuncia, el pueblo te repudia!” — Ricky, resign, the people reject you.

Mr. Rosselló said on Sunday that he would step down from the leadership of his party and pledged not to run for re-election in 2020. But the governor, a 40-year-old former biomedical scientist and businessman, is growing increasingly isolated as a series of influential political leaders, some from his own party, have called on him to accede to public demands for an immediate resignation.

After years of mounting frustrations due to austerity measures and a slow moving recovery after Hurricane Maria, news of hundreds of mocking homophobic/sexist text messages between Rosselló and his advisors, appearing as a kind of 'bro' culture, appears to have been the tipping point.

International pop star Ricky Martin, who was a target of homophobic and sexist comments in the leaked text messages, has been helping to lead the protests for days now.



Fox News anchor Shepard Smith spoke with the governor today and asked him who in Puerto Rico still supports him. The governor was pretty much at a loss to come up with a name.

This is brutal.








Posted by Randy Slovacek at 5:26 PM 0 comments
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Monday, July 15, 2019

Governor Of Puerto Rico Under Fire For Homophobic/Sexist Slurs

Governor Ricardo Rosselló (image via Twitter)

Governor Ricardo Rosselló of Puerto Rico is currently embroiled in an ugly political scandal as hundreds of pages of a private group chat between the governor and 11 other officials were anonymously released last week.

Now dubbed #RickyLeaks, the private text messages (889 pages) included profane homophobic and sexist comments from the governor and others regarding politicians, officials and journalists.

El Nuevo Dia reports that on December 24, 2018, Rosselló posted a video featuring PDP senator Eduardo Bhatia which elicited jokes from two other participants about Bhatia’s sexuality. At one point in the exchange, Rosselló added, “Historic c*cksucker levels.”

Rosselló clearly likes that label as just a few days later, on December 31, the governor called journalist Torres Gotay an “unprecedented c*cksucker” in response to a report Gotay had written about ferry service issues.

International pop star Ricky Martin was the target of one exchange when former Chief Financial Officer Christian Sobrino wrote, “Nothing says patriarchal oppression like Ricky Martin.”, He later added, “Ricky Martin is such a male chauvinist that he f**ks men because women don’t measure up. Pure patriarchy.”

Martin responded via social media tweeting, in part, “We cannot allow our Puerto Rico to be in the hands of such ‘leaders.'”



Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz of San Juan has filed a police report in response to an exchange in the leaked messages that included what appeared to be a death threat.

The previously mentioned Sobrino wrote in a message that he was, “Salivating to shoot her.”

Rosselló responded saying, “You do me a favor.”

The 40-year-old governor also referred to former speaker of the New York City Council, Puerto Rico-born Melissa Mark-Viverito, as a “whore.”

When news of the leaked text messages broke, Rosselló returned home from a family vacation in Europe and issued an apology.

"I'm the governor of Puerto Rico, but I'm a human being who has his faults," Rosselló said in a press conference late Thursday. "I ask for forgiveness."

Saying that his comments were the result of working long 18-hour days, he added, "None of this justifies the words I've written. My apologies to all the people I have offended... This was a private chat."



He has refused calls to step down.

Rosselló has had a rough time since taking office. Puerto Rico was already in a years-long recession at the time, and a federal oversight board has controlled the island’s finances since 2016, when Rosselló became governor.

And, of course, the slow response to the devastating damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria in 2017 increased criticism of the governor.

Last week, two high level members of his administration were arrested by the FBI, further eroding any support he may have had.

According to the New York Times, many political insiders and pundits believe the governor’s days in office are numbered. But CBS reporter David Begnaud reports that members of Rosselló's party have decided to give him "time for reflection" and are not planning to ask him to resign "at this moment."



Protesters gathered outside La Fortaleza governor's residence on Sunday, demanding Rosselló resign chanting, “Ricky resign - the people don’t want you!”

At a church in San Juan, the governortold reportershe is looking to God to guide him through “figurative or real” hurricanes, and that he is committed to learning from “what was done.”

(source: NY Times,El Nuevo Dia)
Posted by Randy Slovacek at 10:55 AM 0 comments
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