Official set to become the next governor of Puerto Rico says she doesn't want the job

A protester in Puerto Rico.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

At the rate things are going, Puerto Rico's next governor may be way, way down the line of succession.

Last week, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced he is resigning, effective Aug. 2. Rosselló is stepping down following a scandal involving leaked group chats between the governor and several of his top aides and advisers; the messages included sexist and homophobic remarks and jokes about Hurricane Maria victims. Puerto Rico's Constitution has the secretary of state next in line to take over for the governor, but the last person in that role, Luis Rivera Marín, resigned after the group chats were released, and Rosselló has not appointed anyone to the office.

That leaves the Justice Secretary Wanda Vásquez Garced next on the list, but she tweeted Sunday that she has "no interest in occupying the position of governor," and she has told Rosselló that he should hurry up and pick someone to become secretary of state prior to Aug. 2.

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Rosselló was pressured by protesters to resign from office, and many of those same demonstrators don't like Vázquez Garced either, saying she has mishandled prosecutions. "We're going to keep protesting," one objector, Aimara Pérez, told The Associated Press. "It's not going to stop. If there is evidence of corruption, the people are going to push ahead without fear, and we're going to get rid of them all."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.