Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló Announces Resignation

People celebrate, after Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced that he is resigning Aug. 2 after nearly two weeks of protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of crude and insulting chat messages between him and his top advisers in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 25, 2019.
People celebrate, after Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced that he is resigning Aug. 2 after nearly two weeks of protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of crude and insulting chat messages between him and his top advisers in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 25, 2019. Carlos Giusti / AP Photo
People celebrate, after Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced that he is resigning Aug. 2 after nearly two weeks of protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of crude and insulting chat messages between him and his top advisers in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 25, 2019.
People celebrate, after Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced that he is resigning Aug. 2 after nearly two weeks of protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of crude and insulting chat messages between him and his top advisers in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 25, 2019. Carlos Giusti / AP Photo

Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló Announces Resignation

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Following two weeks of mass protests in which tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the streets of San Juan and other cities, the island’s governor Ricardo Rosselló announced he will resign from his post on August 2. The demonstrations against Rosselló were sparked on July 13 after Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism released 889 pages of leaked private chats between Rosselló and other associates, containing misogynistic, homophobic and otherwise derogatory comments about fellow Puerto Rican and American politicians, celebrities such as singer Ricky Martin and ordinary Puerto Ricans. A few days prior, an FBI corruption probe resulted in the arrests of two of Rosselló’s senior officials on corruption charges.

Rosselló said he would be replaced by his justice secretary, Wanda Vázquez. Vázquez is next in line to succeed the current governor after secretary of state Luis Rivera Marín resigned earlier this month.

Joining us to discuss is activist and Executive Director of the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center in Chicago Omar Torres-Kortright.