Colonial Uprising
The protests that brought down Puerto Rico’s governor are also about the island’s troubled relationship with the mainland.
By JONATHAN M. KATZ
The tidal waves of scandal and public outrage had grown too big to be put off any further. On Wednesday, facing a crowd of clamoring reporters at the Capitol, the speaker of the House made the executive’s options plain: resign or be impeached.
It could have happened in Washington, at nearly the same hour. But it didn’t. Instead, the moment of truth came at the periphery of empire in the territorial capital of San Juan. While the political press was focused on downplaying Robert Mueller’s recounting of his damning report before Congress, Puerto Ricans showed how a leader—dogged by mounting allegations of corruption, illegal campaign activity, and dereliction of office—gets held to account.
Just before midnight, a few hours after the speaker of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives made his threat, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced his intention to resign—the island’s first chief executive to do so since the United States began allowing it to elect its own governors in 1947. Toppling him took the diligent work of defiant journalists and public officials willing to do their duty. But above all, it took the tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans massing in the streets and grinding business to a halt to force the hand of those in power.
When he announced his departure, the crowds, who had waited all day to hear his decision, burst into celebration.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/puerto-rico-ricardo-rossello-trump.html
