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Ricardo Rosselló
Former governor of Puerto Rico / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (Latin American Spanish: [roseˈʝo neˈβaɾes]; born March 7, 1979) is a former governor of Puerto Rico who served from 2017 until his resignation in 2019 after overwhelming protests related to the Telegramgate scandal. He is the son of former governor of Puerto Rico and pediatric surgeon Pedro Rosselló.
![]() | This article needs to be updated. (April 2022) |
Ricardo Rosselló | |
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Shadow Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Puerto Rico | |
Assumed office July 7, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Charlie Rodríguez |
Governor of Puerto Rico | |
In office January 2, 2017 – August 2, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Alejandro García Padilla |
Succeeded by | Pedro Pierluisi (judicially annulled) Wanda Vázquez Garced (constitutionally appointed) |
President of the New Progressive Party | |
In office June 5, 2016 – July 22, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Pedro Pierluisi |
Succeeded by | Thomas Rivera Schatz (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (1979-03-07) March 7, 1979 (age 45) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Political party | New Progressive |
Other political affiliations | Democratic[1] |
Spouses | |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Pedro Rosselló Maga Nevares |
Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) University of Michigan (MS, PhD) |
In 2010, Rosselló founded the political advocacy group Boricua ¡Ahora Es! to advocate for changing the current political status of Puerto Rico. Rosselló supports Puerto Rican statehood. Following several years of political advocacy, Rosselló announced that he would seek the nomination of the New Progressive Party (PNP in Spanish) for Governor of Puerto Rico in 2016.[3] After winning the New Progressive Party primary, Rosselló was elected governor in the 2016 general election, defeating five other candidates.
In July 2019, Rosselló faced widespread controversy after a group chat on the Telegram app between Rosselló and his staff was made public. The chat included vulgar, sexist, homophobic and misogynistic language,[4][5] a discussion of the operation of Internet troll networks on social media, elitist comments,[6] and mockery of the troubles of Puerto Ricans as they continue to recover from 2017's Hurricane Maria that caused approximately 3,000 deaths. In one message, Rosselló's chief financial officer joked about the people who died in Hurricane Maria,[7] and an apparent death threat made by Rosselló against Mayor of San Juan Carmen Yulín Cruz.[8] As a result of the leak, protests were held for several consecutive days throughout Puerto Rico demanding Rosselló's resignation. An estimated 500,000 people took to Old San Juan on July 17, 2019, as part of the protests. After first stating that he intended to complete his term as governor, Rosselló later promised to resign on August 2,[9][10][11] which he did.[12]