Puerto Rico’s embattled governor Ricardo Rosselló refuses to resign despite tens of thousands of demonstrations taking to the streets of San Juan following the release of a cache of leaked chats that made light of hurricane victims and included misogynistic and homophobic comments.
In one exchange, the group mocked senator Eduardo Bhatia, to which Rosselló replied: “Historic cocksucker levels.”
On another occasion, the governor referred to journalist Benjamín Torres Gotay as an “unprecedented cocksucker.”
The governor’s officials also mocked a photo of a feminist activist wearing a T-shirt reading “Antipatriarchy, Feminist, Lesbian, Trans, Caribbean, Latin American,” to which Rosselló responded, “That must be some type of record, isn’t it?”
Rosselló’s officials also made homophobic references to Ricky Martin in the leaked chats.
“To every Puerto Rican man and woman, I have heard you and I hear you today,” Rosselló said in Spanish during a lengthy Facebook Live video addressing the growing calls for his resignation.
Rosselló said he was ditching his reelection plans to “focus on the job at hand.”
Protesters on the island have taken to the streets every day for the last 10 days to demand his resignation.
The governor’s second-in-command Luis Rivera Marin has already resigned over the messages, alongside Sobrino.
“I recognize that apologizing is not sufficient,” Rosselló said in his social media video. “Only my work will help restore the trust of these sectors and embark on a real reconciliation.”
