Thousands marched in Puerto Rico for a fifth day on Wednesday demanding the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rossello, following corruption accusations and the leak of text chats in which he made sexist and homophobic remarks.
To the chant of "Ricky, renuncia!" ("Ricky, resign!") large crowds gathered in the capital San Juan clamoring for Rossello to leave office - which he is refusing to do.
Local celebrity performers such as rapper Benito Martinez ("Bad Bunny"), pop icon Ricky Martin and Rene Perez ("Residente") had urged their fellow Puerto Ricans to demonstrate.
"Not just me, but many Puerto Ricans will hit the streets to demonstrate for what is correct," Martinez told the Spanish-language Telemundo network before heading to the march.
"We want him to leave and we will be here every day until he resigns or is removed," Joan Lopez, a 48-year-old teacher, told AFP at the demonstration.
Police fired tear gas at the crowd on Monday after a fire broke out near the government headquarters. Five protesters were arrested.
The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is a US territory and residents are American citizens, but it does not have the same congressional representation accorded to states.
Rossello is under pressure after US federal agents arrested contractors and government officials - including former education secretary Julia Keleher - on corruption charges.
Comments
Comments are closed.