On July 10, 2019, Puerto Ricans had proof that their government was as corrupt as they suspected. The Center of Investigative Journalism leaked a chat from the Telegram app between the governor, Ricardo Rossello, and some of his past and current members of staff. With hundreds of pages as evidence, the people of Puerto Rico found the group making vulgar, racist and homophobic comments towards several people. Although some say the corruption has been years in the making, it was the leaked 889 pages of content that took down the Rossello administration. Most of all, the corruption scheme that led to millions of dollars of the public’s funds going to the administration’s personal bank accounts became known, showing the corruption in the Puerto Rican government.

The Situation

The conversations between Elias Sanchez, Edwin Miranda and Carlos Bermudez in the chat reveal that a multimillionaire network of corruption had taken place. On paper, they operated as private citizens and contractors, but in reality, they hold more power than any of the secretaries in the constitutional government, according to the Center of Investigative Journalism.

Along with different companies and institutions, they managed to keep the country in poverty. One example is Unidos Por Puerto Rico, an organization that Rossello’s administration created. It seeks to find hurricane relief aid after the past natural disasters. The organization obtained $14 million in aid but no one really knows how the organization spent that money. Whenever someone made a donation, they would get a receipt from a company that Edwin Miranda, one of the men behind the corruption, owns.

After two hurricanes, there was a recession economically. A lot of companies, local businesses and schools closed down due to lack of funds and supplies. Puerto Ricans had to turn their attention to their own survival. Despite the people’s endurance, several compartments full of supplies sat untouched and covered in rat excrement, according to Radio Isla. Among the reported expired supplies were water, medicines, baby food and others. Although Rossello’s administration did not confirm it, locals believe that La Fortaleza, the governor’s mansion, held compartments for themselves. One of the main causes for the sudden death toll was because of the lack of supplies and aid the people of Puerto Rico received.

The Aftermath of Hurricane Maria

In early December 2017, a few months after Hurricane Maria, the government’s official death count was 64 people. The chat leak revealed that they were manipulating the media with a very low death count, another fact that shows the corruption in the Puerto Rican government. However, eventually, independent researchers started to question the official death count. The New England Journal of Medicine estimated 4,645 excess deaths following the natural disaster, but it could not confirm this because of the lack of forensic scientists. To this day, there are cadavers still in forensics because the government has not been able to get the resources to properly examine them.

The Puerto Rican Protests

Through the reveal of all the injustice, the people of Puerto Rico have protested, and after almost four weeks, their efforts produced results. On August 2, 2019, Ricardo Rossello resigned his post as governor and the other members of the chat have either resigned their post in government or taken some time off. The Secretary of Justice, Wanda Vazquez, has since become the governor. The people of Puerto Rico cheered to their victory with a new hope of ending the corruption in the Puerto Rican government and to reduce the poverty.

– Andrea Viera
Photo: Flickr