Luis Dávila Colón, a controversial Puerto Rican radio broadcaster and newspaper columnist, has been suspended from his program after referring to the mayor of San Juan as a “dog” during a broadcast Monday evening.

During Monday’s show, Colón targeted Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, saying she was “a dog” and one of the “most corrupted” and “most immoral” politicians in Puerto Rico. He made the comment as Puerto Rico reels from a massive series of earthquakes that leveled building and injured scores of people.

Colón’s comments drew widespread condemnation from politicians throughout the island territory who said his quips were intended to denigrate women in position. Many interpreted Colón’s characteristic of Cruz to suggest he was calling her a “bitch.”

“How long will Univision tolerate these insults?” Former Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá wrote on Instagram. “How long will those who advertise on that program continue to sponsor this behavior? Silence is not an option. Silence is complicity.”

Colón attempted to backtrack late Monday, saying there was a translation difference between English and Spanish.

“In Spanish, to call a politician a ‘dog’ is to refer to their character as bad…not their gender” he wrote on Twitter.

In a separate statement, a Univision spokesperson said Colón’s comments did not reflect those of the company he worked for, adding that the radio broadcaster’s program had been suspended.

Colón’s program typically airs Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. local time on Univision Radio station WKAQ (580 AM).

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Some quotations appearing in this post were originally said or written in Spanish and have been translated into English for this story.