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Wanda Emilia Vázquez Garced (born July 9, 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician and attorney who served as
Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty to enforce local laws, to conv ...
from 2019 to 2021. Prior to her tenure as governor, she served as the 19th secretary of Justice, from 2017 to 2019. A member of the New Progressive Party and Republican Party of Puerto Rico, Vázquez is the second female governor in Puerto Rican history, after
Sila María Calderón Sila María Calderón Serra (born September 23, 1942) is a Puerto Rican politician, businesswoman, and philanthropist who was the governor of Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2005. She is the first woman elected to that office. Prior to her term as gove ...
. She assumed the office following the resignation of Ricardo Roselló, and the judicial annulation of
Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting Secretary of State, i ...
's short-lived government, in the aftermath of the Telegramgate Scandal. On August 16, 2020, she failed to secure the New Progressive Party nomination for Governor of Puerto Rico in the 2020 elections, losing to
Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting Secretary of State, i ...
. Vázquez Garced's ascension to the governorship was at the epicenter of a landmark decision by the
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ( es, Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico) is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme cou ...
, in the case of Senado de Puerto Rico v. Hon. Pedro R. Pierluisi; Puerto Rico's highest court derogated a clause added by Puerto Rico Law #7 of 2005 (Law No. 7-2005) to the
Constitution of Puerto Rico The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, Constitución del Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico) is the controlling government document of Puerto Rico. It is composed of nine articles detailing the structure of the government a ...
. This annulled Pedro Pierluisi's government, and reinforced the 1952 Constitution's provisions for succession of government. On August 4, 2022, Vázquez was arrested by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
, on charges of corruption, over a bribery case connected to her 2020 gubernatorial campaign; she had demanded the Commissioner of Financial Institutions to resign.


Early life and education

Vázquez was born in Santurce, San Juan and raised in Guaynabo. Her parents worked in a factory, her father as a security guard. Her mother died at the age of 53. Her father has been remarried for twenty years. She has a younger brother and an older sister. She began her primary studies at the Ramón Marín and Margarita Janer schools in
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico Guaynabo (, ) is a city, suburb of San Juan and municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas, south of Cataño, east of Bayamón, and west of San Juan. Guaynabo is spre ...
. Vázquez became interested in law at an early age. She said in an interview that she used to watch TV shows like ''
Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...
'' with her father, which led her to realize she wanted to follow a career along that line. Vázquez studied at the
University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...
, where she completed her bachelor's degree. After that, she completed her
Juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
(J.D.) at the
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Law ( es, links=no, Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico) is the school of law of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, a private co-educational corpo ...
.


Career

During the 1980s, Vázquez worked for the Puerto Rico Department of Housing. She then worked as a
district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...
for the Puerto Rico Department of Justice for 20 years. Vázquez specialized in cases of domestic and gender violence. She also worked in the Criminal Division for the Bayamón Prosecutor's office. In 2010, Vázquez was appointed to replace Ivonne Feliciano as the head of the Office for Women's Rights of the island. On November 30, 2016, Governor-elect
Ricardo Rosselló Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (; born March 7, 1979) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 to 2019. He resigned on August 2, 2019, after protests related to the Telegramgate scandal. He is the s ...
nominated her for the position of
Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico The secretary of justice of Puerto Rico ( es, Secretario de Justicia de Puerto Rico) (known as the attorney general of Puerto Rico prior to the Constitution of Puerto Rico in 1952) is the chief legal officer and the attorney general of the gov ...
. She was confirmed and sworn in January 18, 2017.


Governor of Puerto Rico

Vázquez was initially expected to become
Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty to enforce local laws, to conv ...
after the resignation of Ricardo Rosselló on August 2, 2019. She was met with opposition, with critics calling for her resignation due to allegations of corruption and inability to deal with
domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...
on the island. Protests against her proposed succession as governor took place, the most notable of these being the ''Somos Más'' march (Spanish for "We Are More") a title alluding to a popular chant during the protests calling for Rosselló's resignation. The hashtag #WandaRenuncia (Spanish for "Wanda Resign") began trending on Twitter soon after Rosselló announced his intention to resign. Vázquez said on Twitter that she had no interest in becoming governor, and that she would take the position only if she were constitutionally required to. On July 31, Rosselló announced that he was appointing former Resident Commissioner
Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting Secretary of State, i ...
to the vacant position of the Secretary of State, as the secretary of state superseded the secretary of justice in the order of succession. On August 1, however, the Puerto Rican Senate blocked Pierluisi from being confirmed as secretary of state in time for Rosselló's resignation on August 2, meaning that he only served in the office on acting basis. Upon Rosselló's resignation, Pierluisi succeeded to the governorship in a ''
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' manner instead of Vázquez. However, as he had not been confirmed by the Senate, the validity of his governorship was called into question. On August 7, 2019, the
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ( es, Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico) is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme cou ...
ruled that Pierluisi was sworn in on unconstitutional grounds and removed him from office, effective at 5 p.m. AST. At that time, Vázquez became the second female governor of Puerto Rico. Vázquez stated she wanted to recover
Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect t ...
relief funds, and review all government contracts to ensure they are managed correctly, free of corruption. She said she wanted to work with President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
to help the island of Puerto Rico and its 3.2 million American citizens. She stated all contracts signed by Ricardo Rosselló would be reviewed. At the same time, HUD (Housing and Urban Development) stated that hurricane funds would be delayed to Puerto Rico due to corruption, and incapacity to absorb funds for projects, respectively. In the aftermath of
2019–20 Puerto Rico earthquakes Starting on December 28, 2019, and progressing into 2022, the southwestern part of the island of Puerto Rico was struck by an earthquake swarm,
residents discovered unused aid from Hurricane Maria in a warehouse in Ponce and as a result Vázquez fired her emergency management director. On July 21, 2020, the Puerto Rico Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor's Panel opened a case against Vázquez for alleged violation of the Commonwealth's ethics law, as well as federal regulations, related to her handling of aid to the earthquake victims. She responded by accusing the judge in charge of the investigation of being a supporter of her primary elections challenger Pedro Pierluisi. Vázquez was ordered by the panel to present evidence in the form of photos which she claimed demonstrated that political motives were behind the investigation, but she failed to provide said evidence. On March 12, 2020, Vázquez declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico and activated the Puerto Rican National Guard as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico The COVID-19 pandemic in Puerto Rico is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pand ...
. On October 6, 2020, Vásquez endorsed
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
for the
2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...
.


2020 primaries

On August 16, 2020, Vázquez lost the gubernatorial primary race to
Pedro Pierluisi Pedro Rafael Pierluisi Urrutia (born April 26, 1959) is a Puerto Rican politician and lawyer currently serving as governor of Puerto Rico. He has previously served as Secretary of Justice, Resident Commissioner, acting Secretary of State, i ...
. With 75.6% of voting stations reporting, Pierluisi had won about 57.9% of the votes to Vazquez’s 42.1%, clinching the nomination for New Progressive Party. Pierluisi claimed victory after Vázquez recognized his lead and said she respected the will of voters.


Personal life

Vázquez is married to Jorge Díaz Reverón, a judge in
Caguas, Puerto Rico Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founde ...
. She has two daughters, Stephanie and Beatriz Díaz Vázquez.


See also

*
List of female governors in the United States As of November 2022, 45 women have served or are serving as the governor of a U.S. state (two acting governors due to vacancies) and three women have served or are serving as the governor of an unincorporated U.S. territory. Two women have se ...
*
List of party switchers in the United States Switches by Democrats Democratic to Republican 1800–1899 * 1855 – Reuben Fenton, while U.S. Representative from New York (1853–1855 and 1857–1864), later Governor of New York (1865–1868) & U.S. Senator from New York (1869–1875). * ...
*
Telegramgate Telegramgate, also known as Chatgate or RickyLeaks, was a political scandal involving Ricardo Rosselló, then Governor of Puerto Rico, which began on July 8, 2019, with the leak of hundreds of pages of a group chat on the messaging application ...


References


External links


Gobernador de Puerto Rico Official Site - La Fortaleza
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vazquez Garced, Wanda 1960 births 20th-century Puerto Rican lawyers 21st-century Puerto Rican lawyers Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Governors of Puerto Rico Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Living people Members of the 17th Cabinet of Puerto Rico New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Attorneys General Puerto Rican women lawyers Republican Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Republican Party governors of Puerto Rico Secretaries of Justice of Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni Women governors of Puerto Rico 21st-century Puerto Rican politicians