Monday, 27 May 2024

Puerto Rico Protesters Get Creative: Dancing, Singing, Diving…

The protests in Puerto Rico that have besieged the island’s embattled governor, Ricardo A. Rosselló, are unlike any San Juan has seen before. Hundreds of thousands of people from all corners of the island have jammed highways and surrounded the governor’s mansion.

But they have not just marched and shouted slogans. They’ve also been applying pressure in a host of other ways, from singing and dancing to yoga and horseback riding. And activists and celebrities have used social media extensively, popularizing hashtags like #RickyRenuncia, #RickyTeBote, #TelegramGate, #RickyLeaks and #PuertoRicoMarcha to amplify their message and inspire more protests.

Here are some especially creative ways Puerto Ricans have made their feelings known.

They went scuba diving

For this group of divers, marching on dry land wasn’t enough of a statement, so they decided to take their message underwater, where they were documented in a video posted on Twitter.

They performed acrobatics

On July 22, these two protesters dangled from street signs above the Expreso Las Américas, one of San Juan’s main highways, and performed in silks as a large crowd marched below.

They danced the Electric Slide

The four-wall line dance was puzzling and fascinating to some non-islanders on Twitter, but it is fairly common at parties, weddings and quinceañero celebrations. Here protesters were dancing to the beat of protest chants.

The Electric Slide also spread to protests in New York and Washington in support of those on the island.

They drove bicycles, motorcycles and ATVs

On Tuesday night, hundreds of cyclists rode through the streets of Old San Juan to join protesters in front of La Fortaleza, the governor’s official residence.

Misael González Trinidad, an activist known in Puerto Rico as “Rey Charlie,” organized motorcycle protests from the Cantera sector in San Juan through several housing projects and neighborhoods, gathering supporters along the way, before arriving in Old San Juan.

They boarded kayaks and water scooters

On July 21, a group organized by Ángel Jiménez set out from the Condado lagoon in kayaks and small boats and on water scooters, paddleboards and surfboards, and made their way to the stretch of San Juan Bay that the governor’s mansion overlooks.

They expressed themselves through music

Well-known musicians like Ricky Martin, Residente and Bad Bunny combined their efforts to energize the protest movement. Ordinary Puerto Ricans also expressed themselves in ways as diverse as the island’s culture, with songs played on traditional instruments with rhythms like plena and bomba, as well as more contemporary musical genres like urbano and trap. Protesters have vogued in a square in Old San Juan, and there were calls for a big gathering in front of the governor’s mansion for perreo, a reggaeton dance style.

Crowds have broken out in spontaneous renditions of Puerto Rican standards from the 1940s and 1950s, like “En Mi Viejo San Juan” and “Preciosa,” considered unofficial anthems in the island.

They took to the saddle

A cabalgata, or cavalcade, is a mass procession on horseback — often staged to mark a ceremonial occasion, but sometimes as a form of protest. A group of mounted demonstrators rode from the Puerto Rico Convention Center to the Capitol of Puerto Rico, just outside of Old San Juan.

They banged pots and pans

Many Puerto Ricans have taken to emulating the cacerolazo, a popular South American form of protest that originated in the 1970s in Chile. People could participate wherever they were, even at home, by banging cookware and kitchen utensils at a set time, with the noise calling attention to their grievances. In Puerto Rico, people have been banging pots and pans for one minute every day at 8 p.m.

They practiced yoga

The protests in Puerto Rico have ranged in noise level from the clamor of the cacerolazo to the serenity of yoga. On the morning of July 21, a group led by Nicole Bernier, Paola Romo and Manuel Oria, did downward dogs and other yoga positions near the governor’s mansion and raised donations for a local legal defense fund and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

They prayed

Members of some religious communities held gatherings across the island to pray as a form of peaceful protest.

A couple protested on their wedding day

As they exited the cathedral in Old San Juan after their wedding ceremony, a newlywed couple carried a protest sign with a message for the governor, whose official residence is nearby: “Because of you I almost didn’t get married. Resign already!”

They accessorized

Another popular avenue of expression at the protests has run through the clothing, accessories and makeup worn by the demonstrators. Some people have worn body paint, slogan-emblazoned shirts and even earrings depicting and mocking Mr. Rosselló.

They put their cause where their mouths are

Food and beverages have also become the stuff of protest. Businesses have advertised special dishes and drinks with names alluding to the political situation. One example came from Luis A. Miranda Jr., the father of the Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda. The elder Mr. Miranda posted an image on Twitter from La Placita de Güisin, the family’s coffee shop in Vega Alta, P.R., where the barista had written the hashtag #RickyRenuncia in the foam on a customer’s drink.




Charo Henríquez is a senior editor at The New York Times. She previously worked at People en Español, as well as in El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora in her native Puerto Rico. @charohenriquez

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