Puerto Rico governor job: Why it's so hard to fill
With ongoing economic issues, hurricane recovery and a struggle with corruption, the next governor of Puerto Rico will be tasked with solving a lot of serious problems.
But, the official who is next in line for the job doesn’t want it.
Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez tweeted Sunday that she has no interest in being the territory’s governor.
Normally, Puerto Rico’s secretary of state would be next in line for the governor’s office, but former Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marín was one of the officials who recently resigned as protests spread over leaked chats with Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.
Vázquez said she hopes that Rosselló, who announced his own resignation last week, will instead submit a candidate for secretary of state before Aug. 2.
But any candidate picked by Rosselló would still have to be approved by the territory’s House and Senate, the Associated Press reported. If lawmakers reject the nominee and Vázquez turns down the job, that would normally put the Treasury secretary up as the next governor. However, 31-year-old Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés is too young under the island’s constitution.
The next person in line for governor would then be interim Education Secretary Eligio Hernández, according to the report. His predecessor resigned in April before being arrested in July on federal corruption charges.
Puerto Rico’s political unrest has begun affecting its tourism industry. Some cruise ships canceled planned stops in San Juan ahead of Rosselló’s resignation as protesters called for a general strike.
HotelPlanner.com CEO Tim Hentschel said last week that occupancies were down by double digits in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. That’s just the tip of Puerto Rico’s economic woes. The island has been in a recession for 13 years that has sent many residents packing for the U.S. mainland.
Puerto Rico is also still recovering from Hurricane Maria, which battered the territory in 2017. Allegations of corruption and mismanagement with recovery funds even prompted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to announce last week that it would restrict relief funds for Puerto Rico.
“Given the ongoing leadership changes within the Puerto Rican government, combined with continued concern over Puerto Rico’s history of fiscal irregularities and mismanagement, FEMA decided it is prudent to take additional steps to protect its share of the federal investment by reinstating the manual drawdown process,” FEMA stated.
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Vázquez defended her department in another tweet, calling the allegations libelous and defamatory.
Officials have said the next incoming governor will be vetted to ensure they haven’t committed any ethical violations related to the relief efforts.
FOX Business’ Ann Schmidt, Henry Fernandez and Rachel Tesler contributed to this report.