Improving the electrical system, education and the needs of the most vulnerable are among the governor's priorities, according to her first address after taking office. Here are the key quotes from her speech.
After being sworn in and taking office as Puerto Rico's 13th governor, Jenniffer González, the second woman elected and the third to hold the office, announced that her priority will be improving the electrical infrastructure so there are no blackouts, like the one on Dec. 31 that left nearly the entire archipelago without power.
Under a blazing sun and accompanied by her husband José Yovín Vargas and their twins, Jenniffer Nydia Mercedes and José Yovín Jorge, González said her other priorities will include:
improving the education system and promoting bilingual education;
addressing the needs of the most vulnerable;
improving the health care system;
expanding opportunities across the country;
and pursuing Puerto Rico's annexation as a U.S. state.
In addition to resident commissioner-elect Pablo José Hernández, the inauguration ceremony in front of the Capitol was attended by former governors Pedro Pierluisi, Luis Fortuño, Alejandro García Padilla, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Sila Calderón and Wanda Vázquez, as well as Dominican Republic President Luis Abidaner and U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan.
— Jenniffer González (@Jenniffer) January 2, 2025
These are the most notable quotes from Jenniffer González's speech:
Her priority
"Our island faces many challenges. The most recent was a blackout that left our island without electricity right at the end of the year. And that is precisely what moves me to address that first challenge with a sense of urgency and sensitivity, and to use the federal funds we secured in the United States Congress so that once and for all we have an electrical system that works and does not fail us when we need it most."
Vision for government
"My vision for government is not about building grand projects, but about infrastructure that works, about having health care for the people, improving our hospitals. Converting Centro Médico into a level 1 trauma center, having an electrical infrastructure that works, being able to maintain and attract more manufacturing to our people.
Having an education system where our schools can be bilingual and where we have English-language education so that our public school children also have access to power, to science, to mathematics. Where we can dramatically reduce violence by establishing an emotional management course in our public schools. Where we can return to the times when respect, honesty and transparency were the values that distinguished us as a people."
Older adults and mental health
"I want to come and build a new Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rico of opportunity, where we look not at who has, but at what is needed, where we can care for our older adults, where we can care for our elderly who often have no food at night or who are alone, or address the serious mental health conditions facing our people. I am certain we can do it. I am betting on a Puerto Rico that rises."
Her promises
"I come to tell the people that they have here a woman determined to do whatever needs to be done to address the needs of our humble people, in the countryside, in the towns, in the rural areas, in our housing projects, our working middle class, you will have a government that listens to you, that serves you and that solves your problems."
"I am not going to govern only those who voted for me. I will be the governor of all Puerto Ricans."
"The town is tired of divisions. The primary campaign is over. The general election campaign is over. We are in the time to work for the Puerto Rico we love, to look beyond our party and decide that we want to leave a better Puerto Rico for our children and our future grandchildren."
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
