SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced late Wednesday evening that he is resigning from office effective Aug. 2, buckling to the unrelenting pressure of a popular uprising of unprecedented scope that in less than two weeks has turned this long-suffering U.S. territory upside down.
Rossello was swept from office not three years into his term by 12 days of massive protests and political upheaval triggered by a leaked, profanely insolent phone-app chat and the arrest of six current and former administration officials on corruption charges. But the recent scandals were only the bitter capper to years of mounting frustration on the part of Puerto Ricans, faced with widespread and incessant corruption, a lagging government response to a cataclysmic hurricane, and a deep economic recession with no end in sight.
The news of his resignation, expected since local media reported late Tuesday that his departure from office was imminent, set off celebrations in the capital of San Juan on Wednesday.
Rossello's post will be filled for the remainder of his four-year term by Wanda Vazquez, his secretary of justice. Under the Puerto Rican constitution, the secretary of state is first in line to succeed a governor who can't complete a term. But the position has been vacant since the person who occupied it under Rossello, Luis Rivera Marin, one of a dozen participants in the private Telegram app chat, resigned.
Rossello's stubborn insistence on holding onto his office seemed only to inspire protesters' determination to oust him. On Sunday, after meeting with leaders and elected officials of his pro-statehood New Progressive Party, Rossello said he would not run for reelection in 2020 and quit as party head.
If he thought that would tamp down the protests, he soon found out otherwise.
The resignation came two days after hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans staged the largest demonstration in island history, marching down a major expressway to demand Rossello's resignation, producing stunning images that led the news across the United States.
Rumors had swirled for days that the governor would resign as Rossello hid from public view even as his administration released a series of business-as-usual photos of the chief executive conducting meetings and signing orders in his official residence of La Fortaleza in Old San Juan.
The embattled governor spent the last days of his administration accepting the resignation of members of his Cabinet and staff, including the secretary of state, the head of the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico, the director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, his chief of staff and his press secretary.
Legislators and mayors of his party on the island, members of the U.S. Congress, Puerto Rican celebrities and leaders in diaspora communities around the world _ including his former running mate in 2016 _ condemned the Rossello administration and demanded that he step down. Virtually no one spoke publicly in his support as Rossello, increasingly isolated and having lost all semblance of political clout, bowed to the inevitable.
The demonstrations were notable for the broad cross-section of Puerto Ricans who participated, given longstanding divisions between partisans of statehood, the U.S. commonwealth status quo, and independence. But those sectarian differences seemed to melt away during protests that melded the anger and wounded pride felt by many at Puerto Rico's diminished status with a festive atmosphere, including dancing and Afro-Caribbean drumming.
The resignation signals a perhaps unexpected and rapid triumph for a popular movement that did not exist two weeks ago. But it's unclear whether the movement will continue under an unelected leader from a deeply unpopular administration, or how the resignation could lead quickly to the radically improved governance many protesters were demanding.
Reports Tuesday suggested more federal indictments could be announced as investigations into Rossello's administration continue. The NPP party, which many hold responsible for a culture of public corruption stretching back years, remains in control of La Fortaleza and the island's legislature.
The island's Justice Department executed warrants Tuesday to search the phones of some of the participants of the controversial government group chat, as the legislature weighed initiating an impeachment process. A report written by a group of lawyers hired by the island's House of Representatives to explore the political proceedings concluded Rossello could be impeached over three alleged criminal and two ethical violations linked to the leaked chat, according to the newspaper El Nuevo Dia.
According to the search warrant, the members of the chat "relayed privileged and official information to private citizens, potentially violating the Law of Government Ethics of Puerto Rico." At least four of the chat participants were not working for the Puerto Rico government at the time, the document shows.
Rossello's political unraveling began July 10, when the FBI announced the indictment of six former government officials and contractors on corruption charges.
Protesters were also outraged over an 889-page private group message that was leaked two days later in which Rossello and 11 other close allies mocked and insulted women, LGBTQ people, political opponents, celebrities and journalists. The profane chat app sparked massive demonstrations.
In the chats, one of the participants also mocked the backlog of bodies that piled up at the island's medical examiner's office due to a lack of resources and staffing following the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Nearly 3,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the devastating storm that left the island without basic resources for months. The government's death toll remained at 64 for almost a year after Maria's landing, causing outrage and controversy among citizens. After numerous reports and studies pointed to thousands of deaths connected to the hurricane, Rossello's administration commissioned an independent study by George Washington University to assess the death toll.
The initial toll was revised to 2,975 in August 2018.
