Puerto Rican Citizens Force Resignation of Their Governor After Private Chats Leaked, 2019

In 2019 in Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island territory of the United States, tensions were rising between the citizens and their governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares. When news outlets leaked hundreds of pages of profane online chat messages between Rosselló and eleven of his close advisors, Puerto Rican citizens began protesting for his resignation by the hundreds of thousands. After two weeks of protests, Rosselló agreed to step down, and Secretary Wanda Vázquez assumed the role of Governor of Puerto Rico. 

Puerto Rico had been dealing with a recession over the previous 13 years, and its populace was still trying to recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria that both hit in 2017. Governor Rosselló was already associated with federal corruption charges against his administrators and his predecessor. When Pedro Rosselló, Ricardo Rosselló’s father, ended his term in 2000, United States federal officers had arrested 40 members of his administration on corruption charges. Within his own administration, over 45 public officials had resigned or been fired by Rosselló since he became governor in 2017. The 2018 “WhatsApp Gate” scandal prompted some of these dismissals and resignations, when the president of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), Héctor Ferrer Ríos, revealed a WhatsApp group chat that discussed a scheme for electoral fraud during the November 2016 electoral process. 

Puerto Ricans’ frustrations with Ricardo Rosselló escalated on 9 July 2019, as local media outlets began reporting on pages of leaked messages from multiple high-ranking island officials. One of these officials was Governor Rosselló, who was marked as an “administrator” of the chat, which used the messaging platform Telegram. Images of the chat messages between Rosselló and eleven of his closest advisors immediately began circulating on social media. Those in the Telegram chat included Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marín, Chairman of the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority Christian Sobrino, and former chief legal officer Alfonso Orona, among eight others.

The chats were filled with language that citizens considered homophobic, sexist, and racist, and they often targeted specific people in offensive ways. For example, Rosselló and his advisors mocked Melissa Mark-Viverito, a former New York City Council speaker, with Rosselló using the Spanish word for “whore” to describe her. Those in the group chat also taunted San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, who was a frequent critic of the governor. Rosselló sent one message that it would be doing him “a grand favor” if someone shot Mayor Yulín. In addition to these personal comments, members of the group chat also made jokes about the victims of Hurricane Maria and the number of people that died in its wake.

Adding to the tensions, on 10 July, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested six people in a high-level corruption investigation in Puerto Rico. The arrests included two former agency directors: former education secretary Julia Keleher, and former executive director of the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration Ángela Ávila Marrero. These two administrators were indicted on 32 counts of money laundering, fraud, and other related charges that amounted to $15.5 million of embezzled government contracts to politically affiliated consultants from 2017 to 2019. 

Over the next few days, local news sources gradually leaked more pages of the Telegram messages. By 11 July, they had published a full twenty pages of the chat. Rosselló had been on vacation with his family as the leaks were released, but he returned to Puerto Rico early on 11 July to address the arrests and leaks. When he arrived at the San Juan airport, protesters greeted him carrying signs calling Rosselló “corrupt” and demanding his resignation. As he traveled back to the governor’s mansion, La Fortaleza, protesters met him there as well, continuing to demand his resignation. Later that night, Rosselló held a press conference at La Fortaleza to address the arrests of two of his former department heads and the leaked chats. In the press conference, Rosselló asked for forgiveness from the Puerto Rican people for his harmful messaging in the chats, but also denied that he had “access” to the conversation, as the chat was deleted. The governor also refused to resign. He maintained that, because the chats were conducted on people’s personal time while they were working long days, they should not be held accountable for their language. He did mention that he would implement “anti-corruption measures,” but did not elaborate on what those entailed. 

After the governor made these comments, two other members of the chats apologized the next day. Public relations officer Carlos Bermúdez and the former legal advisor Alfonso Orona both apologized to anyone who was offended by their comments, and Bermúdez asked the Puerto Rican people for forgiveness.

The “People of Puerto Rico” launched a petition on 11 July, which gained signatures from Puerto Ricans around the world. Eventually, over 250,000 people signed the petition. Meanwhile, on 13 July 2019, the Puerto Rico Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI) released the full document of leaks containing 889 pages of messages from this group of officials on the Telegram app dating from late 2018 to 20 January 2019. CPI had received the leaked messages from someone who wanted to remain anonymous, but they matched the format of the messages to previous leaks to validate the information. 

Hours following CPI’s release of the full document, Luis G. Rivera Marín announced his resignation from his position as Puerto Rico’s Secretary of State, which would take effect at the end of day on 31 July. Marín said in a statement that he did not feel any responsibility for anything that he said in the chats, but did feel a “moral obligation” to resign. This was significant because, in Puerto Rico, if the governor is no longer able to serve in office, the secretary of state becomes the next governor. By resigning, Marín left no immediate back-up to the position of governor. 

The next day, on Sunday 14 July, Rosselló appeared at the El Calvario church in San Juan, and asked the congregation for forgiveness, but his pleas did not convince protesters, who shot fireworks through the night over the governor’s residence and called for his resignation. 

Even as protesters demonstrated, members of Rosselló’s New Progressive Party, including House Speaker Carlos "Johnny" Mendez stood by him. Rosselló gave a “non-confrontational” interview on the morning of 15 July to salsa music radio station Z93 FM, during which he reaffirmed that he had no plans to leave office. 

As Rosselló continued to defend himself, representative Dennis Márquez of the Puerto Rican Independence Party introduced House Resolution 1465 to begin an impeachment process against Rosselló. As Rosselló gave interviews and impeachment proceedings lingered, protests grew to the thousands on Monday 15 July. Although there was no single group leading the protests, some groups came to be seen as leaders. For example, worker’s unions mostly organized the 15 July demonstrations. The groups of Colectiva Feminista en Construcción, which focuses its activism on getting the Puerto Rican government to recognize violence against women, and a left-wing political coalition called Victoria Ciudadana both became prominent at the protests. With the first day of these larger-scale protests on 15 July, people also began taking smaller actions, such as removing portraits of Governor Rosselló from government offices. 

That night of 15 July, even after many protesters had retired for the night, still thousands protested for the removal or resignation of the governor outside of his residence in Old San Juan. The residence was barricaded by police, and later in the night of 15 July, police used tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets to disperse protesters. Videos of these confrontations show police hitting unarmed protestors with batons. As the demonstrators gathered closer around the governor’s residence, one protester lit a trash fire that provoked a clash between protesters and police. Authorities reported that they made five arrests, and protesters injured 21 officers.

On 16 July, Rosselló held another press conference during which journalists hammered him with questions from news outlets about the leaked chats and arrests of his former officials. In this press conference, Rosselló reaffirmed that he would not resign. He also said that he would continue to work on his agenda, and would dismiss other people in the chat if that was best for Puerto Rico. Rosselló added that he respected the right to protest, but he did not approve of property damage or the assault of officers, both of which some protesters had done the night before. These instances, however, were only when a smaller group of protesters were left at the end of the day, and were a response by only a few of those protesters to the tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets used by police.

After 16 July, there was little communication from Rosselló or his team. His team did release some Tweets and press releases, but they focused mostly on routine meetings of administration officials. His team also did not answer questions from reporters, and even Rosselló’s location stayed hidden from the public. 

As more and more protesters continued to join the demonstrations across the territory, more government officials began to rethink what should be done about Rosselló. From his own New Progressive Party, House Speaker Mendez said in an interview with the radio station WKAQ on 17 July that the party had begun to contact legal experts on whether an impeachment process for Rosselló was possible. Mendez also revealed in this interview that himself and other members of the New Progressive Party had asked Rosselló to step down as party president, and withdraw from running for governor in 2020. 

While party officials and politicians tried to work through the legal mechanisms of a possible impeachment, protesters continued to call for Rosselló to resign with daily large demonstrations. Prominent musical artists from Puerto Rico even began to get involved in the protests. Singer Ricky Martin, who was targeted with homophobic comments in some of the chat exchanges, along with Bad Bunny and Residente, led some of these protests on Wednesday 17 July, singing and rallying crowds of people. At the height of the protests that day, outlets estimated between 100,000 and 700,000 people in attendance in Old San Juan, all calling for Governor Rosselló to resign. Other Puerto Rican celebrities such as Lin Manuel Miranda, along with United States representatives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also called for the resignation of the governor over social media. In the middle of the protests on 17 July, Bad Bunny, Residente, and iLe released a single called “Afilando los Cuchillos,” which translates to “Sharpening the Knives.” In the song, the artists rap about Rosselló’s corruption, the unity among Puerto Ricans, and reference things Rosselló said in his messages from the chat leak. As they led these protests in the streets of Old San Juan, they waved black and white Puerto Rican flags, a symbol of mourning or discontent. 

In addition to the sheer numbers at these marches, protestors also used other forms of symbolic demonstrations. For example, on 18 July, demonstrators layed out pairs of shoes and put blue flowers on them to symbolize the victims of Hurricane Maria who were mocked in the leaked group chats. 

Protesters in Puerto Rico were also joined by those protesting in solidarity across the globe. Puerto Rican immigrants led some of these solidarity protests in the United States. Protesters held a rally outside of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration building in Washington DC on 16 July, and another march began at the George Washington monument on 21 July. Hundreds of Puerto Ricans also gathered in New York City’s Grand Central Station to call for Rosselló’s resignation. They chanted for his resignation while banging pots and pans. Allies organized further demonstrations around the world, including in locations such as London, Santiago de Chile, Seattle, and a number of European countries. 

Throughout the week, citizens staged cacerolazos in their neighborhoods every night at 8pm to demand the resignation of Governor Rosselló. Cacerolazos, when demonstrators stand on their balconies to shout and bang pots and pans, are a historically used Latin American form of protest that had never been used in Puerto Rico before. Protesters also read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights daily. Pleneros, groups of street corner musicians, performed at many of the protests. Despite the calmness of most protests, police shut down protests with tear gas and rubber bullets on both Monday 15 July and Wednesday 17 July nights. On Wednesday night, protesters also threw firecrackers, water bottles, beer and glow sticks at the officers.

The governor’s press secretary, Dennise Pérez, announced on 19 July that she would resign because she could not keep taking the insults and abuse directed at her over the previous week, even though she was unaffiliated with both the leaked chat messages and corruption arrests.

As the days went on, protesters began to get creative with their methods of action. On 21 July, over 100 protesters entered the water surrounding Governor Rosselló’s residence in kayaks, jet skis, and swimming. Sitting on the water, protesters then chanted and banged pots and pans. On the evening of Sunday 21 July, Rosselló agreed that he would not seek re-election in 2020, and also announced that he would step down as the president of the New Progressive Party. 

On the morning of Monday 22 July, the Governor sat for an interview with Fox News during which he restated that he would not resign, but rather, he would focus on handling the corruption in the territory’s government and helping the island recover from Hurricane Maria. The interview aired as El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s most prominent newspaper, released an editorial on the same morning with the headline “Governor, it’s time to listen to the people: You have to resign.” 

During the day on 22 July, protesters held a national strike and shut down the 11-lane Americas Expressway, the largest road on the island. People of all ages and professions carried Puerto Rican flags and signs calling for Rosselló’s renunciation as they marched. The largest mall on the island, Plaza de las Américas, shut down on the 22nd in preparation for the protest, as did many other businesses. At least four cruise ships even turned away from Puerto Rico to avoid landing while the unrest continued. Artists Bad Bunny and Residente made appearances again at the strike on 22 July. One social media influencer, King Arthur PR, estimated that over one million people attended the 22 July strike, all calling for Rosselló’s removal. The protesters continued to demonstrate late into the night, staying around La Fortaleza, until police shot tear gas into the crowds. 

Over these weeks of protesting, protesters often made the demonstrations very lively with a lot of music and chanting. Over the weeks after the release of the leaks, demonstrators rode horseback around Old San Juan while calling for Rosselló's resignation. One protest led by Rey Charlie, a prominent activist, brought in more than 3,000 motorcyclists. Hundreds of yogis practiced in front of Rosselló’s mansion. Activists did performance art pieces, queer activists held a “vogue party,” and dancers performing the  bomba dance demanded the resignation of the governor. Many people also directly called the governor’s office asking him to resign. Although many of the protests focused on San Juan, protesters demonstrated in almost all of the 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico.

On 23 July, one of Rosselló’s biggest donors, who owns the Plaza de las Américas, recommended to Rosselló that he step down. The protests halting so much business in San Juan was beginning to become a financial concern for the island government.

By 24 July, a New Progressive Party representative announced to the Associated Press that impeachment proceedings would commence if the Governor did not resign by 5pm on that day. House Speaker Mendez held to his word, and announced the beginning of the impeachment process at 5pm on 24 July. However, the proceedings did not have time to get far, as at 11:53 p.m. on 24 July Governor Rosselló announced that he would resign effective 5pm on 2 August. By the time the governor resigned, more than a dozen government officials had already resigned since the chat was leaked. Some of these officials included chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi, former Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marín, and former chief financial officer Christian Sobrino.

After Rosselló announced he would resign, he tried to fill the position of Secretary of State in order to secure his predecessor. Rosselló nominated Pedro Pierluisi to be his Secretary of State on 31 July 2019, the day Marín left office. On 2 August, the House of Representatives confirmed Pierluisi as Secretary of State. A judge swore him into office as governor of Puerto Rico as soon as Rosselló officially resigned at 5pm on 2 August. This process happened without approval from the senate, and was thus considered unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico quickly ruled Pierluisi's appointment unconstitutional with a unanimous vote in the case of Senate of Puerto Rico vs. Pedro R. Pierluisi. After the Supreme Court confirmed this unconstitutionality, Justice the Senate appointed Secretary Wanda Vázquez to the governorship, and she accepted her position on 7 August 2019.