Between July 8th 2019 and August 2nd 2019, Puerto Rico was plunged into a political crises few places could withstand. How they survived is a testament to Puertoricans and grace.
Over one-million people march peacefully into San Juan along Highway18 (an 11-lane expressway) in the summer of 2019 to demand the immediate resignation of Ricardo Rosselló. This scene was repeated daily for almost two-weeks.
Next week we will vote for our new governor; the one to replace the one we drove from office in disgrace. The one that arrogantly held onto power thinking he would "ride out the storm". The one who now writes op-eds for Florida newspapers. Wanda Vázquez Garced, our former Attorney General and our second accidental governor is not on the ballot. She lost a primary challenge by the former 72 hour first accidental governor, Pedro Pierluisi.
If all this sounds like a bad telenovela, please know it was deadly serious. Whether you call it
Telegramgate, Chatgate, or RickyLeaks, the three weeks between July 8th 2019 and August 2nd 2019 were beyond imagination for an island that had recently spent nearly a year with intermittent water, power and internet access. 1.2 million people actively protested a governor who cavalierly made jokes about such things as eliminating political rivals (as in "eliminating" political rivals) and cannibalizing the dead. Puertoricans were disgusted and appalled.
After a series of text messages and emails between the governor and his cabinet and staff were leaked to the press, mass protests arose all over the island, reaching up to 1,000,000 people at a single event in the metropolitan area on July 17th 2019. Five days later, on July 22nd, up to a million protesters shut down the Expreso Las Américas; an 11-lane expressway that leads into San Juan (Pictured above). If you look closely at the photo provided, you can see the skyline of Santurce (San Juan's largest borough) along the horizon. It will give you a pretty fair idea of how far the protestors had to march, since that skyline is a good six miles from the governor's mansion in Old San Juan.
The remarkable thing of course is that for day after day, millions of people marched into the heart of a 500 year-old city, and managed to do so without so much as damaging a leaf or a blade of grass. The overwhelming pride Puertoricans have in their homeland and its capital, precluded such desecration.
But it was more than that. Puertoricans also have an intense pride in democracy and their own self-respect. They had no interest in debasing themselves for the likes of Ricardo Rosselló.
As the mainland heads into Tuesday's election, and spirits run high (or low) as we select a president, I hope all Americans will take a lesson from their countrymen in the Caribbean, and allow grace and dignity to prevail. If Puerto Rico, who has withstood storms, earthquakes, power outages, water outages, and three governors in five-days can do it, I certainly hope that the mainland, with all its obvious advantages and benefits, can find a way to do so as well.
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