VOA慢速英语--波多黎各州长因抗议辞职

Puerto Rico’s Governor Resigns in Face of Protests

The governor in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico says he will resign from office on August 2.

Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation announcement comes after nearly two weeks of massive protests on the island. They began after the publication of private online messages between Rosselló and his top advisers¹.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans have been demonstrating outside the governor’s official home in Old San Juan. They shouted and cheered after his announcement appeared on Facebook Wednesday night.

Businessman Daniel López took part in the protests. He pushed back tears from his eyes as people jumped into the air, beat drums and waved flags. He cried, “We did it!”

“This is for the future of my family,” López said. “It’s big, what’s happened.”

Rosselló is in the third year of a four-year-term as governor. He is the first chief executive to resign in the modern history of Puerto Rico. The Caribbean island is home to over 3 million U.S. citizens.

Early in his term, two powerful storms struck the island in 2017. An estimated 3,000 people died because of the back-to-back hurricanes. The storms left widespread destruction, just months after the territory declared it was unable to make debt payments.

Many Puerto Ricans were already angry about Rosselló’s actions following the hurricanes. They were also unhappy about reports of corruption² in his administration and with the bankruptcy³ process.

But the recent publication of sexist and homophobic messages between Rosselló and his aides pushed Puerto Ricans’ patience to the limit. Some of the messages are said to have joked about hurricane victims.

This week, a judge approved search warrants for the phones of Puerto Rican officials involved in the messages with the governor. One of the warrants said the officials may have illegally discussed secret government information.

Several top officials have resigned since the messages were leaked.

Under the Puerto Rican constitution, the territory’s secretary of state would normally take office as governor. Because that position is empty, Justice Secretary Wanda Vasquez will serve the rest of Rosselló’s term.

Vasquez is a former government lawyer and has limited experience in leading government agencies.

After Rosello announced his resignation, she released a statement. It said, “I understand he made the right decision, for the good of both his family and for Puerto Rico. We will be working together to have a responsible and transparent⁴ transition process.”

Early this week, Rosselló announced he would not seek re-election as governor or continue as head of his political party. His continued refusal to resign, however, angered many Puerto Ricans.

The political disputes come as the island tries to restructure part of its $70-billion debt. The local economy has been in recession for 13 years. The recession has caused almost 500,000 Puerto Ricans to seek jobs on the U.S. mainland.

The economic crisis is, in part, a result of earlier administrations. Excessive spending and borrowing put the island deeply into debt.

Hurricane Maria caused more than $100 billion in damage across the island. Rosselló, a 40-year-old Democrat⁵, spent much of his time as governor fighting austerity measures and seeking federal money for rebuilding efforts.

Nearly two years later, 30,000 homes have yet to be fully⁶ repaired. They still have temporary covers to keep out rain. Power outages remain common in Puerto Rico. And the territory has received less than one-third of the estimated $40 billion in aid promised by the U.S. government.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

online - adj. involving or connected to a computer system or the internet

bankruptcy - n. a condition of financial failure caused by not having the money that you need to pay your debts

homophobic - adj. a person who hates or is afraid of homosexuals or treats them badly

search warrant - n. a legal document that gives the police permission to search a place for evidence

transparent - adj. honest and open : not secretive

transition - n. a change from one state or condition to another

1 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

4 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。