Thousands of Puerto Ricans gathered Wednesday in the commonwealth capital of San Juan to demand the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, the second mass demonstration against the embattled leader this week.
Waving Puerto Rican flags -- some in black and gray to signal their discontent with the government -- and chanting demands that Rosselló step down, demonstrators of every age group said they were fed up with the corruption of elected officials as well as crippling austerity measures that have scaled back necessary services in recent years.
The crowd included pop star Ricky Martin and reggaeton artists Benito Martinez Ocasio -- known as Bad Bunny -- and Residente.
"Puerto Rico has suffered so much and we can't deal with the cynicism of these leaders anymore," Martin said in a video message posted online. "Enough already. Enough already."
Residente released a song online Wednesday calling for people to take to the streets in the midst of the island territory's political crisis.
"This is coming out early so you can eat it for breakfast," he raps on the song, "Sharpening the knives. Fury is the only political party that unites us."
The hashtag #RickyRenuncia, Spanish for Ricky Resign, was trending on Twitter during a Monday protest that drew hundreds to the same cobblestone streets in Old San Juan. Some police officers were injured and several people were arrested. Dissatisfaction with the government came to a head this week after 889 pages of messages from a private chat between Rosselló and several other members of his administration were leaked. The messages contained profane, sexist and homophobic comments directed at other elected officials and Martin.
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