SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Anger turned to jubilation in the streets in a flash as Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced his resignation overnight, ceding power after nearly two weeks of protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of chat messages.
A crowd of thousands outside the Governor's Mansion in Old San Juan broke out in cheers and song over his announcement on Facebook, made just before midnight Wednesday.
"Despite expecting to serve the term that the people democratically elected me to, today I feel that continuing in this position represents a threat to the success we have achieved," Rossello said in an address in which he listed his accomplishments before announcing that he will step down Aug. 2.
The 40-year-old Democrat and son of a governor, Rossello became the first governor to resign in the modern history of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of more than 3 million American citizens. He is more than halfway through his four-year term.
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He said Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez will take over, becoming Puerto Rico's second female governor.
"It's historic, but we have to be cautious. What will happen beyond this? There are concerns, but there is also hope," designer Jalil Serrano said. Gesturing to the young crowd outside the mansion, he said, "This belongs to them."
Daniel Lopez, a businessman also in the protest, wiped tears from his eyes as people cried, "We did it!"
"This is for the future of my family," Lopez said. "It's big, what's happened."
Rossello's announcement -- made after threats of impeachment from lawmakers -- came after a standoff unfolded in Old San Juan. The governor pledged to deliver a message to the people of Puerto Rico, but hour after hour passed in unexplained silence while thousands of protesters chanted demands for his resignation. An announcement was first expected at 5 p.m., then finally came less than a half-hour before midnight.
Puerto Rico Rep. Gabriel Rodriguez, a member of Rossello's pro-statehood party, said legislators had agreed to set aside the impeachment process and give the governor until 5 p.m. to announce that he was going to resign.
At one point, dozens of officers in full riot gear marched out of the Governor's Mansion toward protesters.
"We want peace, and they want war!" the crowd yelled.
The obscenity-laced online messages involving the governor and 11 other men angered Puerto Ricans already frustrated with corruption, mismanagement, economic crisis and the sluggish recovery from Hurricane Maria nearly two years ago.
In reaction, tens of thousands took to the streets to demand Rossello's resignation in Puerto Rico's biggest demonstrations since the protests that put an end to U.S. Navy training on the island of Vieques more than 15 years ago.
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 b***h," and made fun of an obese man with whom he posed in a photo.
The upheaval comes as the island tries to restructure part of $70 billion in debt and cope with a 13-year recession that has led to an exodus of nearly half a million people to the U.S. mainland in the past decade.
Information for this article was contributed by Mariela Santos and Michael Weissenstein of The Associated Press.
A Section on 07/26/2019