There is no doubt that 2019 was a historic year for protests movements in Latin America and all over the world. This past year, Latino Rebels has covered several of those movements, from Chile to Haiti, but it was the one from this past summer in Puerto Rico that will forever be etched in the minds of the LR community.
After taking nominations from LR followers, four choices were announced for the 2019 Rebelde of the Year, and the movement that led to the dramatic resignation of an elected leader took almost half the vote. With voting wrapping up on Monday, #RickyRenuncia’s 48% tally easily took the top slot, with Puerto Rico’s Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, whose reporting was a big factor in the events that led to Ricardo Rosselló stepping down, garnered 19% of the votes. #UnVioladorEnTuCamino got close to 18% of the vote with the overall protest wave in Latin America getting close to 15% of suppport.
In retrospect, what happened in Puerto Rico this past summer shook the island-colony’s political elite, although attempts to drown it out and discredit it have been happening ever since Rosselló left office. It’s stlll hard to tell or predict where Puerto Rico will go next, but at the same time, what we all witnessed and experienced in those times felt different, organic and powerful.
