SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A bizarre standoff unfolded in colonial Old San Juan on Wednesday night as Gov. Ricardo Rossello pledged to deliver a message to the people of Puerto Rico, then passed hour after hour in unexplained silence as thousands of protesters chanted demands for his resignation.
Frustration and anger built among demonstrators who filled the streets outside Rossello’s official residence awaiting the promised address.
An announcement was first expected at 5 p.m., filling protesters with hope that Rossello was about to resign over widespread anger in reaction to the leak of obscenity-laced online chats between the governor and a group of close advisers.
At 6:30 p.m., Public Affairs Secretary Anthony Maceira emerged from the executive offices to say that a message from the governor was coming. Local television stations went live, and thousands filled the cobblestoned streets around La Fortaleza, the 16th century fortress that serves as the governor’s mansion.
As midnight edged ever closer, there was still nothing.
“Enough already,” Puerto Rico Rep. Gabriel Rodriguez told The Associated Press. “The people of Puerto Rico on a social level, on an economic level, on an emotional level cannot take it anymore.”
Rodriguez, a member of Rossello’s pro-statehood party, said legislators had initially agreed to set aside the impeachment process and give the governor until 5 p.m. Wednesday to announce that he was going to resign.
“We waited at 5 p.m., 6, then 7, then 8 at night, and it hasn’t happened,” Rodriguez said. “He has to put a stop to this. The only one who can bring peace to Puerto Rico is the governor, today, tonight.”
The president of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives issued the embattled governor an ultimatum: Either take the best decision for a U.S. territory demanding his resignation or face an impeachment process.
“This process will only be detained if the governor takes a decision for the well-being of Puerto Rico,” Rep. Carlos Mendez said. “We will address this issue with the seriousness it requires.”
Rodriguez said legislators would meet in a special session Thursday afternoon to start impeachment.
At one point, dozens of officers in full riot gear marched out of the governor’s mansion toward protesters. Demonstrators led by musicians including Bad Bunny and Residente banged on pots, waved Puerto Rican flags and blew whistles.
“We want peace, and they want war!” the crowd yelled as many became increasingly frustrated that the governor had not spoken by late Wednesday.
Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans have been outraged by the online chats between Rossello and his advisers, and have protested for nearly two weeks demanding his resignation.
“I hope things will change soon,” said 27-year-old Tanyanette Ortiz from the eastern town of Juncos. “The people have already realized that great things happen if we truly unite.”
The chat participants discussed the awarding of government contracts in ways that some observers called potentially illegal. They also insulted women and mocked constituents, including victims of Hurricane Maria. Rossello called a female politician a “whore,” referred to another as a “daughter of a bitch,” and made fun of an obese man with whom he posed in a photo.
On Tuesday, officials announced that a Puerto Rico judge had issued search warrants for the cellphones of government officials involved in the chat as part of an investigation. One of the search warrants said officials used the chat to transmit official and confidential information to private citizens in potential violation of ethics laws.
More than a dozen government officials have resigned since the chat was leaked earlier this month, including Rossello confidant and chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi, former Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marin and former chief financial officer Christian Sobrino, who also held five other positions.
A report issued Wednesday by a special committee given the task of investigating whether legislators could proceed with an impeachment process against Rossello recommended that Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives do so. It is unclear if there are enough votes to do so.
Tanyanette Ortiz’s sister, 17-year-old Kerianette, said she was proud of the situation that Puerto Rico was going through.
“Political parties don’t matter, there are no colours,” she said. “This was a people coming together, and that’s how it should be to have the future we all deserve.”
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Associated Press writers Mariela Santos in San Juan and Michael Weissenstein in Havana contributed to this report.