Embattled Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo
Rosselló announced late
Wednesday that he will resign effective Friday, August 2 at 5 P.M.
Rosselló
made his announcement in a video posted on Facebook from La
Fortaleza, his official residence.
“I know that I have finished my
work,” he
said.
Rosselló
faced 13 consecutive days of protests over a series of leaked
homophobic and misogynistic chat comments. The messages include
Rosselló using a gay slur to attack a journalist and a former
senator. He also described a former New York City lawmaker who was
born in Puerto Rico as a “whore.” The messages, written on the
Telegram app, involved nearly a dozen close aides to Rosselló.
According to The Washington Post,
more than a dozen members of Rosselló's
administration have resigned in recent days.
Rosselló
had defied calls to step down. On Sunday, he agreed not to seek
re-election. The final push might have come Wednesday when lawmakers
began talking seriously about an impeachment inquiry.
Demonstrators in the streets cheered
upon hearing of Rosselló's
resignation.
“This is history,” said
Christopher De Jesus, who attended the protests in San Juan. “We
made history, and it's going to be in the books that we as a people
said 'no' to corruption.”