SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico's embattled governor was reportedly preparing to resign on Wednesday, yielding to huge street protests in the US territory triggered by the release of a chat exchange in which he and others mocked gays, women and hurricane victims.

Governor Ricardo Rossello has recorded a video to be released sometime during the day in which he announces his resignation, the newspaper El Nuevo Dia reported.

He will be replaced by Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez as leader of the Caribbean island.

Former justice secretary Antonio Sagardia said on Radio Isla that he had spoken to Rossello on Tuesday — and that his resignation is forthcoming.

"The governor is convinced," said Sagardia.

Ricardo Llerandi, who resigned on Tuesday from a senior government position, denied news reports that the governor had already left the island.

Rossello is staring into the abyss over the chat scandal and allegations of corruption involving money that was supposed to help victims of Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico in 2017 and killed nearly 3,000 people.

Huge crowds of Puerto Ricans have been demonstrating regularly since pages and pages of chat exchanges were made public in which Rossello and 11 other men make fun of gays, journalists, women and hurricane victims.

As recently as Tuesday, Rossello insisted he would not step down.

But besides Llerandi, more than a dozen other government officials have already resigned in the wake of the scandal. — AFP