Addressing the energy infrastructure, promoting bilingual education, adding an emotional management course in schools, and improving hospitals are among the governor's promises in her inaugural address.
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Governor Jenniffer González was sworn in and took office Thursday in a ceremony at the north wing of the Capitol, where she outlined her priorities for the next four years and said she would be "the governor of all Puerto Ricans."
After a Mass at Parroquia Santa Teresita in Santurce, during which a protester interrupted the service, González proceeded to the Capitol, where most legislators were also being sworn into their seats. Two of the three legislators from the Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño included under the minority representation law, and Eliezer Molina, a senator-elect by direct nomination, did not take their oaths.
The Comisión Estatal de Elecciones said the reason was that they had not yet submitted the required documents.
Molina was not allowed into the Capitol, which prompted him to begin a protest before González's ceremony.
After the anthems, another group of protesters was escorted outside the event.
Before the swearing-in, and following several religious messages offered as an invocation, U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida, read a message sent by President-elect Donald Trump, in which he congratulated González on her "resounding victory" and her commitment to "make Puerto Rico great again." The letter also stated that Trump would support González in revitalizing "the essential infrastructure of the island, advancing high-impact economic initiatives, promoting fair business practices, and protecting the well-being of every Puerto Rican."
Wearing a green dress and holding her daughter Jenniffer Nydia Mercedes in her arms, González took the oath of office, avoiding the phrase "Estado Libre Asociado" and replacing it with "pueblo de Puerto Rico," then delivered her first address as governor. At her side, her husband, José Yovín Vargas, stood smiling while holding their son José Yovín Jorge.
7 priorities González outlined in her 12-minute speech:
1. Having "an electrical system that works"
After mentioning the New Year's Eve blackout, González said she would address this "first challenge with a sense of urgency and sensitivity" to prevent the power supply from "failing us when we need it most."
She said she would use federal funds to improve the energy infrastructure.
At this time, LUMA Energy, the administrator of the electrical transmission and distribution system, is investigating the causes of the blackout and warned that more outages could occur while the matter is being addressed.
2. Listening to and addressing "the needs of our people"
González promised to listen to, address, and resolve the issues affecting "our humble people in the countryside, in the towns, in rural areas, in our housing projects, our working class."
She wants a Puerto Rico where "we don't look at who has, but at what is needed."
She also said she wants to fight inequality and poverty "with full force." Currently, 38.2% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the most recent Census data.
3. Health care "for the people"
She promised to improve hospitals and turn Centro Médico into a "level 1 trauma center."
She also said she would address the needs of older adults and the "serious mental health conditions facing our people."
4. Increasing manufacturing and opportunities for people
The governor promised to "maintain and attract more manufacturing," currently the largest economic activity in Puerto Rico.
She also said she wants more opportunities so that people do not have to leave for the United States in search of a better future.
5. Bilingual education and an emotional management course in schools
The governor wants schools to "be able to be bilingual," arguing that an English-language education will give public school students access to "power, science, mathematics."
She proposed creating an emotional management course in public schools to "dramatically reduce violence" and instill values such as "respect, honesty, transparency."
6. Order, respect and working "together"
The governor said that in Puerto Rico "there will be order, there will be no anarchy. There will be respect, there will be a listening ear, there will be working together."
She delivered a message of unity because "the campaign for the elections has already passed."
7. She will seek "full equality for all Puerto Ricans"
She said she will bring to Congress the results of the most recent status referendum, in which statehood came out ahead with 56.82% of the votes.
Mayors and legislators will be her allies and "will help me bring the result of that election to Congress."
Currently, the Republican Party removed from its governing platform all references to moving Puerto Rico toward statehood, leaving only language in which it promises "greater participation in all aspects of the political process."
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
