One hundred thousand people flooded the streets of Viejo San Juan Puerto Rico on July 17th. They came out to protest the current Governor not resigning from his position, all screaming “Ricky Renuncia” into the morning hours...

In this episode we will hear  from various people on and off the island about why this moment is significant and why this calls unwanted attention on the relationship between the US and Puerto Rico. More than anything Puerto Ricans want to take back their dignity and identity. Many people who don’t understand the history do not realize that the current situation really speaks more to lack of freedoms. It speaks to something that doesn’t involve party or status of Puerto Rico, but more the psychological impact of years as a modern day colony.

For those who have not been keeping up, after the FBI arrests last week, leaked chats between the governor and his inner circle have led to nonstop protests that people all over are calling historical(see links below). The arrests began on July 10 and the chats came out shortly after, revealing crass, cruel and what some are calling criminal behavior on the part of the governor and his circle. Since then those in the chat have stepped down but not the Governor. David Begnaud with CBS called out the refusal to step down as “tone deaf” during the Press Conference the Governor held, and many also took issue with the Governors claim that independent analysis was done to determine the leaked chats did not reveal any illegal activity - but he refused to name who did the investigation.

As you can  imagine, Puerto Ricans on the island and across the world are furious and feeling a lot of pain as they are reminded yet again of the deaths resulting from the corruption and the negligence by this Governor and the US as well. 

It was important to me, to capture the voices of the people in this moment, because there are few spaces or news outlets that really capture what the average Puerto Rican is feeling, let alone any interviews done by women of color in the very white male and uninformed media space. I can’t tell you how often I end up rolling my eyes when we hear coverage about what Puerto Ricans have been experiencing for over a century… and it’s clear from the thousands of people that came out, that they are also tired of hearing a narrative that doesn’t represent their struggle.

The protests will likely continue until the Governor resigns but there are also questions about what happens if Trump steps in or whether the people will be able to choose someone that does represent them, rather than a new Ricky. What is certain is that if the US intervenes and replaces the Governor, rather than allowing the people to choose for themselves, the colonial nature of the Island will be laid bare in ways it hasn’t in over 50 years.

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My first interview with Carla Cavina is in spanish so I am providing a short description below: 

Carla states: The people are tired of the way the governor handled not just the Hurricane but the way he has worked to dismantle the Public university, labor rights, the Health system, and Public Schools.

Rossello even put his full support behind former Secretary of Education Julia Keleher who was arrested by the FBI last week. Carla says that people on the island described Keleher as always disrespecting the people in every interview or public forum while she was committing fraud right under their noses with money meant for the children of Puerto Rico.

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