By Ángel Carrión

The governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, has resigned after two weeks of massive protests and intergenerational civil unrest. In the absence of a secretary of state, Secretary of Justice Wanda Vázquez will become governor. Rosselló’s resignation is effective as of 5:00 p.m. on August 2.

This self-convened and growing national movement erupted as a result of an intricate corruption scheme and a leaked Telegram chat containing sexist, misogynistic, homophobic and body-shaming language, along with the discussion of public policy among members and non-members of Rosselló’s cabinet.

The leaked Telegram chat was preceded by the federal arrests of high-ranking members of Rosselló’s administration, including the former Secretary of Education, Julia Keleher, on charges which include money laundering, wire fraud and theft, among others.

The 14 consecutive days of demonstrations included daily protests at the governor’s mansion. The protests soon spread to many other municipalities of Puerto Rico. The largest was held on July 22, estimated to have attracted as many as 600,000 people in San Juan alone.

#FunFact of this march in #PuertoRico. It wasn’t scheduled by any organization. It happened organically in social media by #PuertoRicans who wanted to protest against #Rosselló, demanding his resignation. #ParoNacional #News #ParoNacionalPR #RickyRenuncia