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July 22, 2019, was a watershed moment in Puerto Rico's history. On that day Puerto Ricans by the hundreds of thousands marched and demanded the resignation of Ricardo Rossello Nevares, the colony's inept and ethically bankrupt governor. On August 2, the pro-statehood governor became the first elected governor of Puerto Rico to resign his office. In the summer of 2019, Puerto Ricans repudiated the entrenched and self-perpetuating political class for its unfathomable venality, incompetence, and hubris.

Puerto Rico is undergoing serious political and socioeconomic crises. Before the recent political turmoil forcing the resignation of (now former) Governor Ricardo Rossello, massive government debt had already led to unrest because of unpopular austerity measures (e.g., pension cuts, shrinking public education, and hospital closures). Additionally, a decades-long financial crisis had already triggered large-scale emigration from Puerto Rico (a colony of the United States) to the continental United States, a phenomenon that was significantly augmented by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Puerto Rico's vulnerability to natural disasters is compounded with its adverse political and socioeconomic conditions to create an exceptionally unstable public health environment.

In July and August 2019, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans participated in a series of mass mobilizations in San Juan and muncipalities across the island, demanding officials be held accountable for their betrayal of the public trust and calling for the immediate resignation of Governor Ricardo \"Ricky\" Rosello.

The Boricua summer of 2019 (as the series of popular demonstrations against the administration of then-governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello Nevares, has been termed) was a complex social event with significant potential. It has been suggested that, because of its diversity and creativity, the movement that succeeded serves as a model for citizen action.

Tensions mounted in Puerto Rico mid-July, as protesters called for embattled Gov. Ricardo Rosselló (D) to resign.