DEVELOPING: Ricardo Rosselló, Puerto Rico’s Governor, Resigns After Protests.
Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico announced his resignation on Wednesday, conceding that he could no longer credibly remain in power after an extraordinary popular uprising and looming impeachment proceedings had derailed his administration.
In a statement posted online late Wednesday, Mr. Rosselló, 40, said he would step down on Aug. 2.
He said his successor for the moment would be the secretary of justice, Wanda Vázquez, a former district attorney who once headed the island’s office of women’s affairs. Ms. Vázquez was next in line under the territory’s Constitution after the secretary of state, who would have succeeded as governor, resigned last week when he also was caught up in a chat scandal that enveloped Mr. Rosselló’s administration.
But he appeared to leave open the possibility that a different successor could be in place by the time he steps down.
“If only Ricardo Rosselló appeared in blackface for his college yearbook, he would’ve remained in power,” Siraj Hashmi of the Washington Examiner tweets.