The former governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez, was arrested in the US territory on Thursday on charges of corruption, an official source told Associated Press. It is the first time that a former president of the island must answer in a federal trial.
Two other people were arrested with her, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Other details were unknown at first.
Juan Rosado-Reynés, a spokesman for Vázquez, told the AP that he would not comment immediately.
In mid-May, Vázquez’s attorney told reporters that he and his client were preparing to face possible charges. The former governor said that “I can tell the people of Puerto Rico that I have not committed any crime, that I have not engaged in any illegal, incorrect conduct, as I have always told them.”
Vázquez was the second woman on the charge and the first to be charged in federal court. Former Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá was charged while in office with violating campaign finance laws and found not guilty in 2009. He was the first governor in recent Puerto Rican history to be charged with a crime.
Vázquez assumed the governorship in August 2019 by ruling of the local Supreme Court after then-governor Ricardo Rosselló resigned amid massive protests. He held office until 2021, when he lost in the primaries of his New Progressive Party to now Governor Pedro Pierluisi.
Pierluisi said in a statement that his government will collaborate with federal authorities in the fight against corruption.
“Today we see once again that no one is above the law in Puerto Rico,” he said. “Faced with this news that certainly affects and damages the trust of our people, I reiterate that in my administration we will continue to have a common front with the federal authorities against anyone who commits an improper act, wherever it comes from and implicates whoever it is.”
Vázquez had been the territory’s secretary of justice and prosecutor for more than 30 years.
The territory’s Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the swearing-in of then Secretary of State Pierluisi as governor was unconstitutional. At the time, Vázquez told the AP that he was not interested in running for office and would limit himself to holding office for the two years remaining to Rosselló.
Rosselló had resigned when tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the streets, furious over corruption, embezzlement of public funds and an obscenity-filled chat where he and 11 other public officials mocked women, gays and victims of Hurricane Maria. .
Shortly after being sworn in, Vázquez told the AP that his priorities were to fight corruption, obtain federal funds for recovery after the hurricane and get Puerto Rico out of the economic crisis, with a bankrupt government.
During the AP interview, she said she had always wanted to work in public service: As a child, she would go out on the balcony and hold imaginary trials in which the accused invariably turned out guilty.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and turn on notifications, or follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Add Comment