Thousands of Puerto Ricans assembled on Wednesday in the commonwealth capital of San Juan to request the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rossello, the second mass demonstration against the embattled leader this week, Fox News informed.
The crowd waved Puerto Rican flags, some of which were black and white to show the discontent with the government. They were chanting demands that Rossello must resign, saying they were fed up with the corruption of elected officials as well as crippling austerity measures that have scaled back necessary services in recent years.
Famous people such as Ricky Martin and Benito Martinez Ocasio (Bad Bunny) and Residente also attended the gathering.
“Puerto Rico has suffered so much and we can’t deal with the cynicism of these leaders anymore,” Martin said in a video message posted online. “Enough already. Enough already.”
Residente released a song online Wednesday calling for people to get out on the streets in the midst of the island territory’s political crisis.
“This is coming out early so you can eat it for breakfast,” he raps on the song, “Sharpening the knives. Fury is the only political party that unites us.”
The hashtag #RickyRenuncia, Spanish for Ricky Resign, was trending on Twitter during a Monday protest that drew hundreds to the same cobblestone streets in Old San Juan. Several police officers were injured and few people were arrested.
Dissatisfaction with the government came to a head this week after 889 pages of messages from a private chat between Rosselló and several other members of his administration were leaked. The messages contained profane, sexist and homophobic comments directed at other elected officials and Martin.
Some included jokes about the deaths suffered after Hurricane Maria.
Two officials have resigned in the wake of the scandal.
Days before the messages leaked, several former officials — including the former education secretary — and contractors were arrested as part of an FBI corruption probe.
Karla Villalon said her kids were forced to change schools when one was closed because of budget cuts. She was upset when Rosselló’s former education secretary was arrested and accused of steering federal contracts to politically connected contractors.
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