Thousands of Puerto Ricans, led by protesters on horseback with some banging drums and singing, marched on the governor's residence on Friday demanding that he resign over hundreds of vulgar and offensive leaked chat messages. The march on Governor Ricardo Rossello's official San Juan residence was the latest in a week of sometimes violent protests over the messages attacking political adversaries, some of which were misogynistic and homophobic. The chats on a Telegram message group were published on Saturday, adding to Rossello's woes the same week that two of his former officials were arrested by the FBI as part of a federal corruption probe in the bankrupt U.S. territory. The protests are the latest troubles to rock Puerto Rico, which has been pummeled by bankruptcy and whipped by a devastating hurricane in 2017 that took a toll on the Caribbean island's already fragile economy. Hundreds of protesters on Friday gathered in streets near the governor's residence chanting, waving flags and banging pots and pans. Some carried placards reading "They Rob Us," according to videos posted on Twitter. On Friday night, Rossello's press secretary, Dennise Pérez, resigned, saying in statement that she could no longer hold the position after she was called corrupt in front of her son. "It's your turn, Ricky," protesters chanted on the street after word spread that Pérez had resigned, according to reports on Twitter. A protest on Wednesday in which singer and actor Ricky Martin and reggaeton artist Bad Bunny took part ended in demonstrators' overturning barricades and police firing tear gas. Puerto Rico's nonvoting representative in the U.S. Congress, Jenniffer Gonzalez, called for the resignation of Rossello, who is head of Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party and affiliated with the U.S Democratic Party. With a string of U.S. Democratic presidential candidates and lawmakers also calling on Rossello to quit, the governor convened an emergency meeting with party leaders. No time or date was set for the gathering. -Reuters
