Governor of Puerto Rico Jenniffer González-Colón (NPP, R) delivered her first major address on May 29, 2025, outlining her administration’s early achievements and priorities. While the nearly two-hour state of the territory speech was met with applause from her supporters, opposition figures criticized it as unfocused and out of touch with the territory’s pressing concerns.
Although the room was filled with applause and energy at the time of this speech, that did not apply to everyone. Manuel Calderón Cerame, a well-known member of the Popular Democratic Party (Partido Popular Democrático), described the governor’s address as “long and boring.” Calderón Cerame made his idea clear, that Governor González-Colón failed to address the real issues that people want to hear acknowledged.
“There are several issues here that I think are important, but they were absent from the discussion of the message,” Calderón Cerame stated.
Similar to this, Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera (PDP, D) was direct about his feelings on the address. Hernández was straightforward when describing what he sees as the chaos of the current leadership.
“If one word describes the beginning of this administration, that word is disorder,” Hernández stated after the address. “There’s disorder on the roads, there’s disorder in Public Safety, where our police are demoralized by celebrating and decorating people who promote disorder, instability, and illegality on our public roads.”
Due to this, he felt the governor was seeking to “restart.” Despite his distaste for the address and Governor González-Colón’s administration, Hernández wanted his criticism to be constructive.
“I reiterate my willingness and the willingness of this delegation to be a constructive opposition,” Hernández stated.
The analysis that followed this address shows how this speech was broken down and received. University professor and political analyst Jorge Schmidt Nieto laid out the ideas he had regarding this address.
“She tried to bring an optimistic tone because she knows she has received a lot of criticism,” Professor Schmidt Nieto stated. “It seemed like a ploy to distract those who have criticized her administration of inaction.”
Regardless of that backlash, many people back up Governor González-Colón. The length and political impact of this address were praised by fellow NPP leaders Carlos Johnny Méndez and Thomas Rivera Schatz, who showed their support for the governor.
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