Photo Essay: The Power of Popular Protest: El Verano Boricua

• Published date: 01 May 2020
• Author: Vanessa Díaz,Federico Cintrón-Moscoso
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X20916217
• Date: 01 May 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X20916217

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 232, Vol. 47 No. 3, May 2020, 13–17

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X20916217

© 2020 Latin American Perspectives

13

Photo Essay

The Power of Popular Protest

El Verano Boricua

by

Federico Cintrón-Moscoso and Vanessa Díaz

Text by

Jean Hostetler-Díaz

In July and August 2019, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans participated

in a series of mass mobilizations in San Juan and municipalities across the island,

demanding that officials be held accountable for their betrayal of the public trust

and calling for the immediate resignation of Governor Ricardo “Ricky” Rosselló.

These protests were triggered by the revelation of digital chats between the gov-

ernor and his closest collaborators that included mocking those who died in

Hurricane Maria, misogynistic comments, homophobic slurs, and remarks

reflecting class bias.

Federico Cintrón-Moscoso teaches anthropology at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras

Campus, and is the director of El Puente: Enlace Latino de Acción Climática. Vanessa Diaz is an

interdisciplinary ethnographer, filmmaker, and journalist and an assistant professor of Chicana/o

and Latina/o studies at Loyola Marymount University. Jean Hostetler-Díaz teaches at Riverside

City College and is a coordinating editor of Latin American Perspectives.

916217LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X20916217LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVESCintrón-Moscoso, Díaz, and Hostetler-Díaz / PHOTO ESSAY

research-article2020

Protesters near the governor’s mansion in Old San Juan celebrating his resignation. The drag

queen and comedian Kriss Du Cecile holds the megaphone. The sign says “Ricky didn’t resign, the

people threw him out for being corrupt, homophobic, misogynist, male chauvinist.” Photo ©

Vanessa Díaz