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What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Puerto Ricans Are Fed Up

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Daily News

4.32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2019

⏱️ 20 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The protests in Puerto Rico are about so much more than nasty messages endorsed by the governor. The island’s political grievances were decades in the making -- and even if protesters get the governor to resign, there are more complicated power struggles ahead.

Guest: Natalia Rodríguez Medina, who has been covering Puerto Rico’s protests for Latino Rebels.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Monday, San Juan Puerto Rico.

0:09.0

Thousands of residents flooded into the streets, demanding that their governor resign.

0:15.0

Pop star Ricky Martin was right up front, standing on top of a truck, waving a huge rainbow flag.

0:25.1

What does it feel like to be in the middle of a protest like that? Something so massive.

0:30.2

I don't know. I have to be honest, I grew up going to protest as a child. I come from a very

0:37.4

protest family. Like, I grew up going to protest as a child. My parents, I come from a very protest family.

0:39.6

Like, I grew up going to...

0:40.4

Natalia Rodriguez-Medina was born and raised in Puerto Rico.

0:43.4

When I was in college, I would go protest.

0:46.7

Funding, cuts to the funding of university.

0:50.2

I would protest the fiscal control board when I was in college.

0:54.9

Now she reports for Latino rebels, says what was remarkable about this week's protest wasn't just the size,

1:01.3

but how it attracted people who don't usually show up to these things.

1:05.5

Older folks, people with disabilities.

1:08.3

The people who protests are labeled usually as like, it's very

1:12.5

similar to the U.S. It's like, oh, these socialists, oh, these like people who just want to like

1:18.0

control the government, they're like lazy students. They don't want to do anything. And that's

1:22.5

nothing of what we saw yesterday. Yesterday it was literally just the whole population.

1:30.1

These protests have been building for weeks,

1:33.0

spurred on by the revelation that Governor Ricardo Rosseo sent offensive group chats.

1:38.9

He made fun of regular citizens.

1:40.8

He made fun of other politicians.

...

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