Thousands of people marched toward the governor's residence in San Juan on Wednesday, carrying Puerto Rican flags and chanting demands for Governor Ricardo Rossell to resign.
The crowd ranged from teenagers to retirees, with some waving the island's flag printed in black and gray rather than red, white and blue to symbolise their discontent with a government they say is rife with corruption and scrimping on necessary public services.
Police erected concrete barricades and shop owners covered store windows with metal sheeting or plywood as if a hurricane were coming. The multi-coloured umbrellas that form a photogenic awning over the street in front of the governor's mansion were taken down.
Karla Villaln has three elementary-age children and an 81-year-old grandmother. Her kids have been uprooted twice in two years when first one school, then another, was closed by budget cuts under Rossell. Her grandmother, a retired teacher, is anguished over the possibility of losing her pension in future rounds of cutbacks.
Villaln was outraged when Rossell's former education secretary was arrested and accused of steering millions in improper contracts to politically connected contractors. Then hundreds of pages of online chats between Rossell and members of his administration leaked, revealing the men mocking women, the handicapped and victims of Hurricane Maria.
Villaln has had enough. "It's the final straw," the homemaker said before the march to the 16th century fortress on San Juan harbour where the governor resides. "My kids' classrooms have mold in them. ... There's just so much outrage that's been building over time."
Freelance music producer Ise Sonja, 28, said he took to the streets Wednesday because he is fed up with corruption and government ineptitude. "(Hurricane) Maria woke the people up it outraged us as a people."
The group waved Puerto Rican flags amid drumbeats, chanting in Spanish: "Long live free Puerto Rico."
But the alleged corruption surrounding the governor of the US territory "is the last straw and Puerto Ricans are standing up against it."
Singer Ricky Martin said in a video message posted online: "Puerto Rico has suffered so much and we can't deal with the cynicism of these leaders anymore. Enough already. Enough already."
"This is coming out early so you can eat it for breakfast," Residente raps on the song, "Sharpening the knives." ''Fury is the only political party that unites us."
In comments to The Associated Press shortly before the protest was to start, he said, "The anger is so great that for the first time I'm seeing Puerto Rico rise up and take to the streets."
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