Jenniffer González-Colón’s Honeymoon Is Over

Opinion for The Latino Newsletter

SAN JUAN — Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s latest pro-statehood governor, can kiss the honeymoon period goodbye. Even before the fury of 1.47 million Boricuas in the dark on New Year’s Eve eclipsed her swearing-in, many Puerto Ricans were outraged over the usual suspects in her Cabinet. Her first days in office were no better, rocked by an environmental scandal targeting her in-laws, allegedly quashed by God, and questions regarding inflated numbers in a status plebiscite to suit her political agenda. 

Despite her assurances that she will govern “for all Puerto Ricans,” González-Colón’s most significant challenge —apart from a fragile electrical grid— is convincing Boricuas that she represents “change” and not the Partido Nuevo Progresista’s (PNP) worst iteration.  

It won’t be easy. 

A Republican supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, she won the PNP a third consecutive term with less than 40%. It was a plurality, not a mandate, as she claims. The PNP dominated the Senate and House of Representatives. 

González-Colón says she won with a “pro-Trump ballot.” She paraded a letter from Trump (and wants to erect him a statue) congratulating her “resounding victory,” but it didn’t do her any favor. On Wednesday, local media reported that Trump was already freezing infrastructure funds for the island.

The Status Plebiscite

To lend credence to her “mandate,” González Colón’s administration has been spinning the “results” of the non-binding November status plebiscite—the seventh since 1967. Puerto Ricans were asked to choose between statehood, independence, or free association. This is a fool's errand because only the United States Congress can grant the island a change in status. 

The Puerto Rico Electoral Commission (CEE), which the PNP controls, initially gave statehood 57.46%, independence 30.95%, and free association 11.58%. Then, just before González Colón attended a Latinos for Trump inaugural ball in DC, her first official trip as governor, the numbers changed. The CEE argued that Dominion Voting Systems, in charge of the counting machines, inverted the numbers between independence and free association. The final numbers are now 58.61% statehood , and 29.57% for free association, and 11.82% for independence

Cue the inauguration gala photos.

Great timing, no? 

The trump card here (pardon the pun) is the controversial protest votes: blank ballots (181,200), annulled vote (613), or altered votes (22,528). These have not been included (and they should be) in the final tally. Many on the island have done the math. As they say, la calle está clara. 

A Question of Trust

González-Colón appointed an Energy Czar to oversee a financially strapped Genera PR (a power generator through which she aims to push gas) and LUMA (transmission and distribution). But many Boricuas who endure constant blackouts, power surges, and rate increases feel González-Colón is all talk and no action. Their favorite salutation is “Pal’ carajo, LUMA!“   

It gets worse. A scandal involving the incoming natural resources secretary, Waldemar Quiles, surfaced in her first week in office. As his first order of business, Quiles shelved the investigation that targeted González-Colón’s in-laws with alleged violations (cutting protected mangroves and illegal construction) at La Parguera, a natural reserve.  

González-Colón and her in-laws denied the accusations, even though the construction was deemed illegal. She claimed “Papito Dios” had a hand in shelving the investigation and that it was political persecution by former PNP governor Pedro Pierluisi. Is she calling her own party corrupt?

Much to her chagrin, the scandal caught the world’s attention. The Washington Post, The Associated Press, and The Independent of London, among others, published articles.

And follow-ups, like the one published on Wednesday by Dánica Coto of the AP.

The Maduro Distraction

Then, in the strangest of twists, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ridiculed Trump’s annexation dreams by riffing on “liberating” Puerto Rico from the U.S. with Brazilian troops.  González Colón immediately sent a letter to Trump stating that Maduro’s wordplay was “an open threat” to U.S. stability in the region. She asked for his “swift” help, but Trump has not responded.

She should forget Maduro.

Her nemesis is closer to home.

The Bad Bunny Factor

It’s Benito Ocasio Martinez, alias Bad Bunny. He is the mouthpiece of the “Yo no me dejo” generation, which ousted then-PNP governor Ricky Rosselló and voted for a change in 2024. He is also the voice of popular Boricua discontent.    

Days after her swearing-in, Benito released his sixth solo album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (I Should Have Taken More Photos), a patriotic cris de coeur and his most personal yet. He captured the zeitgeist of Puerto Rico under siege, fighting government corruption, U.S. colonialism, gentrification, and displacement.  

DTMF is Billboard’s top streaming album. And in a brilliant move, Benito announced his first-ever residency in Puerto Rico: “No me quiero ir de aquí” (“I do not want to leave here” ). All 30 shows sold out in record time. The residency promises to bring over 100 million dollars to Puerto Rico. How’s that for putting your money where your mouth is? 

On the morning of Three Kings Day, in the middle of another blackout in Old San Juan, all you could hear from cars, open windows, and written on banners hanging from the balconies was Bad Bunny's song “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii.”

It’s Bad Bunny who reflects the feelings of so many Puerto Ricans. He “is a better leader for Puerto Rico than its politicians” because he puts Puerto Rico above all else.

That is who González-Colón should be afraid of.

Looks like the honeymoon never really started.

About the Author

A former News Director for Univision Puerto Rico and conflict correspondent, Susanne Ramirez de Arellano is now a cultural critic and writer based in Old San Juan.

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