Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez, who had said that she was reluctant to take power after her predecessor resigned in disgrace this past summer, yesterday declared her candidacy for the same office in next year’s elections, Reuters reported. Vazquez was sworn in as governor in August when widespread protests led to the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, who was caught up in a scandal over profane chat messages and federal corruption charges against two officials of his administration. Vazquez, who served as justice secretary and was in line to succeed Rosselló, was also targeted by protesters for alleged corruption and being too close to Rosselló. Vazquez will run under the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. She will face Pedro Pierluisi, a former representative of the commonwealth in the U.S. Congress. Rossello tapped Pierluisi in late July to become his successor. But Pierluisi was forced out of office a few days later by the territory’s Supreme Court, which ruled the selection was unconstitutional. Puerto Rico is still trying to recover from devastating hurricanes that hit the Caribbean island in 2017. It is also working its way through a bankruptcy process to restructure about $120 billion of debt and pension obligations.
