Puerto Rico.- Thousands of Puerto Ricans have marched this Friday from Bahia Urbana to La Fortaleza to demand the resignation of the governor, Ricardo Roselló, for his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal.
“We assume our historic responsibility to demand the resignation of the governor for the plundering of public property,” said the vice president of the Federation of Teachers of Puerto Rico, Edwin Morales Laboy and has collected the local newspaper ‘El Nuevo Día’.
The Union of Electrical and Irrigation Industry Workers and other union groups have taken to the streets at 5:00 pm (local time) to demand the resignation of Roselló after the Center for Investigative Journalism leaked 889 pages of Telegram chats among officials of the Government, which contain sexist, offensive and homophobic expressions.
The messages – which would have been sent between the end of 2018 and last January 20 – also include communication strategies. The content has already led to the resignation of the Secretary of State, Luis G. Rivera, and the executive director of the Financial Advisory Authority and Fiscal Agency of Puerto Rico and government representative before the Board of Fiscal Supervision (JSF), Christian Sobrino, that mocked the sexual orientation of the singer Ricky Martin.
These mobilizations have occurred after the authorities of the country have arrested the former Secretary of the Department of Education Julia Keleher, the former Executive Director of the Health Insurance Administration (ASES) Ángela Ávila and the President of the accounting firm BDO Puerto Rico, Fernando Scherrer.
Roselló’s press secretary, Dennise Pérez, resigned on Friday explaining that she could no longer hold office after being called corrupt in front of her son, according to the newspaper ‘El Vocero’.
“This week, a citizen, without any consideration, called me corrupt and did it in front of my son, here I throw the towel, my son is my life, I pray to God that Puerto Rico will achieve reconciliation and I ask for his peace and that of his family “, argued Pérez who had been named press secretary of La Fortaleza in January of this year.
In addition, resident commissioner Jenniffer González Colón has also requested the resignation of Rosselló. “I am asking you, for the good of Puerto Rico, to abdicate your position and allow a peaceful transition of the Government, to bring peace and tranquility to our island that has been mired in a fiscal crisis, sharply worsened by the passage of hurricanes. Irma and María, “he has asserted.
However, Roselló has assured that he will not resign despite protests in the area for his alleged involvement in this corruption scandal. His administration has been accused of corruption and has suffered numerous criticisms for the management of hurricane ‘Maria’, which left thousands dead in 2017. During this week there have been clashes between the police and demonstrators. Europa Press
