Defying Protests, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló of Puerto Rico Refuses to Resign

“I am aware of the dissatisfaction and discomfort you have,” Rosselló said in a brief address on Facebook Live. “I have heard you, and I hear you today. I have made mistakes, and I have apologized.”

“All of my time must be dedicated to the responsibilities that I took on as governor,” he added.

Far from quelling the furor that has led to more than a week of mass protests in San Juan, the governor’s announcement seemed to have the opposite effect: People quickly gathered on the street outside the governor’s official residence and said they were even more determined to oust him.

His administration, bogged down by a debt crisis and the slow recovery from Hurricane Maria, has recently been plagued by a corruption scandal and by revelations of crude and offensive messages shared in a private group chat by the governor and his inner circle. Publication of those leaked messages last weekend touched off the protests.

Rosselló said he was prepared to face possible impeachment. Some lawmakers in Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives have already taken steps to begin impeachment proceedings. But leaders of the governing party, the New Progressive Party, have been slower to embrace the idea, perhaps waiting for Rosselló to leave on his own.

Sunday’s announcement may mollify some New Progressives. Thomas Rivera Schatz, the president of the island’s Senate, wrote on Facebook shortly after the governor’s address that Rosselló’s moves “put an end to part of the controversies and trauma that shook our people.”

“Other issues still pending will also be attended to,” he added.

But other high-profile members of Rosselló’s party, including Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón, the island’s nonvoting resident commissioner in Congress, have already called for the governor to resign. In an open letter Friday, González-Colón argued that a governor who has lost credibility cannot remain in office while so much federal money for Medicaid and for the recovery from Hurricane Maria is at stake in Washington.

“The events of the past two weeks have worsened, even more so over the last six days, paralyzing economic activity and government activity, portraying an anarchic Puerto Rico to the rest of the world,” González-Colón wrote. “This is not sustainable.”

Puerto Rico’s political parties, which are divided over whether the island should remain a commonwealth, become a state or seek independence, do not match up neatly with those on the mainland. Though they are both New Progressives and support Puerto Rican statehood, González-Colón is a Republican in national politics, while Rosselló is a Democrat.

The resignation chorus outside of Puerto Rico has grown to include two New York Democrats: Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, who is the longest-serving Puerto Rican in Congress, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is of Puerto Rican descent and has become an icon for young progressives. Several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have also said Rosselló must go.

On Friday, the Puerto Rican Bar Association released a report outlining the legal grounds for lawmakers to pursue impeachment. El Nuevo Día, Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper, published an editorial accusing legislative leaders of slow-walking impeachment and letting the political crisis continue. The governor’s press secretary, Dennise Pérez, resigned Friday, saying she drew the line after someone called her “corrupt” in front of her son.

More protests have been planned, including an islandwide strike Monday that is expected to block off a major highway. Plaza Las Américas, a shopping mall in San Juan, will be closed all day as a result. Cruise ships will again be diverted from calling at the port, keeping thousands of tourists away from small businesses in Old San Juan that depend on them.

In his address, Rosselló said demonstrators’ right to free expression will be protected, and he promised to work to regain their trust.

“I recognize that apologizing is not enough,” he said. “Only my work will help restore the confidence of those sectors and get us on the path to true reconciliation.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.