Puerto Rico 2017: The Year Governor García Padilla Faced Crisis

It was supposed to be just another year in the governor’s mansion. Instead, it became a crucible. When Jenniffer González wasn't at the helm—though she’s the one people often confuse with the 2017 leadership—Ricardo Rosselló Neises held power. But wait, let’s step back. The question asks about Puerto Rico’s governor in 2017. That was Ricardo Rosselló. And 2017? It wasn’t just turbulent; it was catastrophic in more ways than one.

To understand why 2017 defines Rosselló’s presidency so sharply, you have to look at the convergence of natural disaster and political scandal. It wasn’t a slow burn. It was a hurricane hitting a house already on fire. For many residents of the island, that year marked a painful turning point in their relationship with their government and the federal United States.

Maria: The Storm That Changed Everything

Hurricane Maria arrived on September 20, 2017. It wasn’t just a storm; it was a Category 5 monstrosity that ripped through the Caribbean. When it hit Puerto Rico, it didn’t just blow out windows. It shattered the infrastructure that held the island together. The power grid went dark. Water supplies failed. Communications vanished.

The death toll remains a subject of intense debate. The Puerto Rican Institute of Statistics initially reported 64 deaths. Later, an actuarial study from Yale University suggested 2,975 excess deaths. Regardless of the final number, the human cost was staggering. Hospitals ran out of insulin. Generators failed. People died because medical equipment couldn’t run. This wasn’t just bad luck; it exposed deep systemic vulnerabilities that had been compounded by years of financial mismanagement.

The Fiscal Cliff and PROMESA

While Maria raged, another crisis was unfolding in the legislative capitol. Puerto Rico was drowning in debt. By 2017, the Commonwealth owed more than $70 billion. It wasn’t just public pension debt; it was infrastructure bonds, hospital bills, and the interest on forgotten promises made in previous decades. The government couldn’t pay its electricity bill. Literally. PREPA, the power company, was bankrupt.

The solution came from Washington. In June 2016, Congress had passed PROMESA (Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act). But by 2017, the oversight board was fully in motion. A board appointed by the President of the United States now had say in Puerto Rico’s budget. For a territory that prides itself on its autonomy, this felt like occupation. Critics called it undemocratic. Supporters called it necessary surgery. But the surgery was painful.

Ghost Workers and Corruption

Amidst the storm and the debt, there was the scandal of "ghost workers." Audits revealed that thousands of employees were on the payroll but didn’t actually work. Some didn’t even exist. It was a massive embezzlement scheme that spanned multiple administrations. Rosselló’s administration tried to tackle this, firing thousands of state employees. But it looked messy. It looked like panic.

The public was angry. People were losing jobs to pay off debts they didn’t create. Meanwhile, officials seemed insulated. There was a perception that while poor families struggled for clean water, politicians were focused on saving face. This disconnect festered. It wasn’t just about money; it was about trust. And trust was evaporating.

The Leak and the Resignation

If Maria broke the island physically, the "Chatgate" scandal broke the government politically. In early 2019, a leaked WhatsApp chat from Rosselló’s private group surfaced. The messages were vulgar, anti-LGBTQ+, and deeply offensive. He referred to trans people and women in derogatory terms. He joked about a suicide attempt by a former spokesperson.

Wait—did I say 2019? Yes. But the rot started in 2017. The anger that boiled over in 2019 was built on the ashes of 2017. People had endured Maria. They had endured fiscal oversight. They had endured ghost worker purges. But they wouldn’t endure disrespect. The "Venga Ya" protests began in 2019, but the sentiment was born in the hardship of the previous two years. Rosselló resigned on July 2, 2019. But looking back, 2017 was the year the blame was firmly pinned on his administration.

Why 2017 Still Haunts the Island

It’s hard to overstate the impact of that year. Electricity prices soared. People moved away in droves. The "brain drain" accelerated. Young professionals, those with the skills to rebuild, left for Florida, Texas, and beyond. The island’s economy stagnated. Poverty rates hit record highs. It was a perfect storm of natural and man-made disasters.

For Rosselló, 2017 was the year he tried to manage an unmanageable situation. He was known for being abrasive, often clashing with lawmakers and the public. He wanted to be seen as a reformer. Instead, he became the symbol of failure. When Maria hit, his response was criticized as slow and incompetent. The National Response Coordination Center wasn’t set up quickly enough. The perception was that he didn’t care, or worse, that his government didn’t have the capacity to care.

What Changed After?

Since 2017, things have shifted. Pedro Pierluisi took over after Rosselló. Then Jenniffer González. The debt restructuring is largely complete, though the social scars remain. The power grid is private now, LUMA Energy. Whether that’s an improvement is still debated. But the resilience of Puerto Ricans is undeniable. They rebuilt homes. They reconnected. They protested. They survived.

2017 teaches us that natural disasters don’t happen in a vacuum. They hit where they hit hardest. They exploit weaknesses. In Puerto Rico, those weaknesses were economic, political, and social. The governor that year, Ricardo Rosselló, inherited a sinking ship and tried to steer it. He failed. Not because he was the only one to blame—the systemic issues were deeper than any one person—but because his leadership during the worst moments was severely lacking.

When we look at Puerto Rico today, we still see the shadows of 2017. The power outages when storms hit. The high cost of living. The political polarization. It was a year that defined a generation. It was a year of turmoil, yes. But it was also a year that laid bare the ugly truths of colonial territory status. And those truths are still being debated today.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who was the governor of Puerto Rico in 2017?

  Ricardo Rosselló Neises was the governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 until his resignation in 2019.

• Did Hurricane Maria cause Puerto Rico's debt crisis?

  No. The debt crisis was caused by years of fiscal mismanagement, corruption, and declining economic activity. However, Hurricane Maria in 2017 exacerbated the financial strain, making recovery much more difficult and expensive.

• What was PROMESA?

  PROMESA was a federal law enacted in 2016 that established a financial oversight board for Puerto Rico. It was designed to help the territory restructure its debt and balance its budget, giving the board significant control over Puerto Rico’s finances.

• Why did Ricardo Rosselló resign?

  Rosselló resigned in July 2019 following massive public protests sparked by the leak of a private WhatsApp chat containing vulgar, sexist, and anti-LGBTQ+ remarks. The unrest was fueled by years of accumulated anger over the government’s handling of Hurricane Maria and the debt crisis.