The voice of the people is the voice of God… in a democracy

And Puerto Rico is the latest country teaching us show it is done: incessantly, peacefully, and very well organized.

   Puerto Ricans showed their discontent towards their Governor over the past couple of weeks, and hundreds of thousands went out to the streets. The result: Governor Ricardo Rosselló announced he would resign this coming August 2nd. The mass protests began after more than 900 pages of private chat messages of a Telegram group were leaked to the media. The group included some key government officials and the Gov Roselló, who expressed comments that were considered highly inappropriate going from racism, homophobia, misogyny, to disrespect towards the Hurricane Maria victims. Nevertheless, this was but the straw that broke the camel´s back. The people of Puerto Rico have had difficult times over the last years with problems that include corruption, Hurricane Maria´s related aftermath, high unemployment, and economic problems. And they are not happy about the performance of their government.

   The publishing of the leaked messages led the people to protest in the island, and thousands also protested in several cities in the United States such as Washington, Connecticut and New York City, demanding Rosselló´s resignation. In spite of the mass demonstrations, Rosselló announced that he would not resign but that he would not be seeking reelection in 2020 either. Far from appeasing the people, this announcement caused more outrage on the population, increasing the protests to the point of paralyzing San Juan. Several artists also joined the people´s cry for Rosselló´s resignation: Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, Residente, Kany García, Olga Tañón, Ednita Nazario, and Lenny Tavarez were amongst the names.

   One important thing that should be mentioned is that the people were protesting peacefully, and the above artists also mediated for the demonstrations not to be violent. The violence, however, came from the police when trying to repress the people, creating a variety of incidents as a result. Another important point that should be highlighted is the role of social media. It is true that the information regarding the text messages was leaked to the media, but social media helped not only to expand this message at a faster and cheaper rate, but it also helped as a way to organize. Information about the places and times of the gathering for the mass protests were spread through social media. This points to the great importance that social media can have for the identification of political opportunities that can be the starting point of a social movement, as well as for their cycles of protest, framing processes, and mobilizing structures. Many people who are leaving in the mainland were summoned to protest through social media by their relatives or friends and travelled to protest alongside the citizens. Finally, the pressure yielded the much desired result: Rosselló´s resignation.

   For many of the Puerto Ricans who went to the streets to protest, getting Rosselló to resign was the first win towards getting their country back from those who have badly ruled it over the past few years. The second win that still need to be defined is the resignation of “La Junta”. La Junta is a Fiscal Oversight Management Board that is composed by eight members who were appointed by President Obama in 2016 with the purpose of restructuring the island´s $70 billion debt and help them get out of bankruptcy. However, the Board proceeded to make budget cuts on public education and health causing even more trouble in the country. The people also want them to resign and will continue to protest until that happens.

   Puerto Ricans were heard with respect to Rosselló, but will they be heard with respect to the Board´s resignation? And if the Board does resign, what´s next? The Board´s current term is set to be over in September, and before that, Congress is the only institution that has the power to dissolve it. Some say that the voice of the people is the voice of God. It seems like this voice is more likely to be heard in the presence of democracy. We already know that this voice is not respected in countries where dictatorship rules, such as Honduras, Nicaragua or Venezuela. Over there, this voice is repressed and killed.

Dr. Ana Figueroa