Puerto Rico yesterday braced for potential political upheaval after the US territory’s governor denied allegations of obstruction of justice, while the main opposition party demanded she be investigated and hinted at a possible impeachment process.
In a brief statement issued late on Monday, Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez for the first time acknowledged an alleged investigation that the island’s Department of Justice is supposedly conducting against her, saying that she was never told about any investigation.
Vazquez also denied recently firing former justice secretary Dennise Longo on Friday in alleged retribution.
Photo: AFP
The details of the alleged investigation were not immediately known.
Vazquez promised to speak further on the issue yesterday.
“I will share all details up front as I’ve done my whole career. With the truth,” she said.
The governor released the statement hours after an incident at the Puerto Rico Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor’s Panel.
Nydia Cotto, a former judge who serves as the panel’s president, told reporters that someone from the Department of Justice was about to drop off files on Monday related to six cases slated for investigation, but abruptly left after receiving a call from an unidentified person at the department.
“That has never happened before,” she said.
Cotto declined to identify the people named in those cases or share any other details, saying they were confidential.
New Puerto Rican Secretary of Justice Wandymar Burgos said in a statement that she had requested the documents on the six cases, because she had just found out about them on Monday and needed to know what they were about.
“Let it be abundantly clear to all the people of Puerto Rico that all investigations of merit will be carried out to the last consequence, regardless of the person involved,” she said.
Before the governor released her statement, the opposition Popular Democratic Party held a news conference to announce a request for a legislative investigation into the allegations of obstruction of justice.
It was not immediately clear if the leader of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives, who is a member of Vazquez’s party, would grant permission for such an investigation.
Vazquez served as Puerto Rico’s justice secretary before the island’s Supreme Court ruled that she should be sworn in as governor following former governor Ricardo Rossello’s decision to step down nearly a year ago following massive protests.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was