Puerto Rico's new governor sworn in days after a major blackout left much of the island in the dark

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Jenniffer González Colón was sworn in Thursday as Puerto Rico’s new governor during a normally ebullient ceremony held amid widespread anger over a blackout that hit the U.S. territory days ago.

González, a Republican who backs President-elect Donald Trump and whose pro-statehood New Progressive Party secured a historic third consecutive term after she won the Nov. 5 election, has pledged to stabilize the Caribbean island’s crumbling power grid.

“There are many challenges facing our island,” she said in her first public address as governor as she acknowledged the blackout in a speech to a crowd gathered in front of the seaside Capitol. “That is precisely what moves me to address that first challenge with a sense of urgency.”

She pledged to improve Puerto Rico's infrastructure, hospitals and schools, adding that she intends to boost bilingual education.

“I'm going to fulfill my promises to you,” she said. “I am not going to govern only for those who voted for me. I am going to be the governor of all Puerto Ricans.”

Before the start of a ceremony to celebrate her swearing in, González attended Mass surrounded by family and supporters.

“What better than to come first to thank God and to ask God to give me the wisdom, the fortitude and the tools to fulfill everything I promised the people of Puerto Rico,” she told reporters.

A protester with her face covered interrupted the Mass at Parroquia Santa Teresita in San Juan. She yelled, “Jenniffer, we came for you! Puerto is without power.”

Meanwhile, a small group of protesters gathered at the Capitol before González’s arrival. They were especially rankled that a well-known, outspoken activist elected to Puerto Rico's Senate for the first time was not allowed inside the Capitol, with the elections commission noting he had not yet been officially certified.

Protesting the ceremony was Yara Humarán Martínez, an aquatic physical therapist whose 83-year-old mother remains without power.

“I don’t have any hope that she will change anything,” she said of the new governor.

González has promised to appoint an energy “czar” to review potential contractual breaches while another operator is found to possibly replace Luma Energy, a private company that oversees the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico.

However, no contract can be canceled without prior approval from Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau and a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances.

Outages were still being reported on Thursday as crews tried to stabilize the grid following the blackout that hit early Tuesday, leaving 1.3 million customers in the dark as Puerto Ricans prepared for New Year’s Eve.

While electricity had been restored to 99% of the utility's 1.47 million total customers, more than 600,000 were temporarily left without power on New Year’s Day when part of the system collapsed again, according to Luma.

“The stability of the system is fragile,” Luma said late Wednesday as it warned of more outages on Thursday given an ongoing lack of generation. “We know and understand how frustrating it is for our clients to be without service for long periods of time.”

Backup generators were put in place to ensure a smooth swearing-in ceremony on Thursday given that renowned musicians were scheduled to perform.

The anticipated revelry was characteristic of González, a 48-year-old attorney and recent mother of twins who prior to the election showed up at her party’s assembly wearing a Wonder Woman tiara and cuffs. She also made the news after peeling out of one of her party’s conventions in an off-road vehicle earlier this year.

Supporters and critics gathered for the ceremony, some clutching umbrellas to shield themselves from the blistering sun.

“Because she’s a woman, she’s going to be a great governor,” said Amanda Sánchez León, a retired government employee, who arrived two hours early to secure a spot outside an area reserved for guests. She said she was hopeful that González would reduce violent crimes and improve education and health, “especially for us older people.” She also believed the power crisis would improve and that González would see her promises through.

“The people are suffering,” Sánchez said.

Also supporting the new governor was Lizbeth Rodríguez, a school nurse, who believed that as a mother, González would prioritize the island’s weak education system and tackle crime.

But Rodríguez remains rankled at what she believes is the misspending of government money.

“That’s what bothers the people. You’re doing fine, sure, but look at us,” she said.

González, of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, had beat former Gov. Pedro Pierluisi during their party’s primary in June.

At the time, she was Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress and had run on Pierluisi’s ticket four years ago.

After beating him, she won the Nov. 5 general election with more than 526,000 votes, or 41%. Trailing her was Juan Dalmau, who represented Puerto Rico’s Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement.

It was the first time that the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the island’s territorial status quo and is one of Puerto Rico’s two main parties, came in third in a gubernatorial race.

While González’s immediate challenge is Puerto Rico’s fragile power grid, she also inherits a feeble economy that has slowly been strengthening since the U.S. territory’s government declared in 2015 that it was unable to pay its more than $70 billion public debt load.

In 2017, it filed for the biggest U.S. municipal bankruptcy in history.

All but one government agency has since restructured its debt, with Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority still struggling to do so. It holds more than $9 billion in debt, the largest of any government agency.

Experts warn the island will keep struggling to attract investors until the debt is restructured and the power grid strengthened.

González also will have to work alongside a federal control board that U.S. Congress created in 2016 to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances and supervise the ongoing reconstruction after Hurricane María slammed into the island in September 2017 as a powerful Category 4 storm, razing the electrical grid.

She also faces pressure to create affordable housing, lower power bills and the general cost of living, reduce violent crime, boost Puerto Rico’s economy, with the island locked out of capital markets since 2015, and improve a limping health care system as thousands of doctors flock to the U.S. mainland.

Like other governors of the pro-statehood party, González has said she would push for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state, but such a change would require approval from U.S. Congress and the U.S. president.

A nonbinding referendum held during the Nov. 5 election, the seventh of its kind, asked voters to choose one of three options: statehood, independence and independence with free association, under which issues like foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S. dollar would be negotiated.

With 63% of voters participating, statehood earned more than 615,000 votes, or 59%, with independence coming in second for the first time with more than 309,000 votes, or 29%. Independence with free association garnered more than 128,000 votes, or 12%.

While Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they are not allowed to vote in presidential elections, and officials with the New Progressive Party have noted the island receives unequal treatment when it comes to Medicaid, Medicare and other federal programs.

“Statehood means equality, and I want us to have that access to opportunities,” González said. “I want to have those opportunities here so that our people can move forward.”

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon and her husband Jose Yovin Vargas wave with their children during Gonzalez's swearing-in ceremony as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon waves next to her husband Jose Yovin Vargas, after her swearing-in ceremony as governor at the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon is sworn in as governor by Supreme Court Chief Justice Maite Oronoz Rodriguez outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. At left his Gonzalez's husband Jose Yovin Vargas. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon and her husband hold their children on a podium outside the Capitol during Colon's swearing-in ceremony as governor in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon speaks after she was sworn in as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Outgoing Governor Pedro Pierluisi sits with his wife Fabiola Ansotegui during the inauguration ceremony of the new Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon and her husband Jose Yovin Vargas wave with their children during Colon's swearing-in ceremony as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon gives a thumbs up during her swearing-in ceremony as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Soldiers carry U.S. and Puerto Rico flags during the inauguration ceremony of Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon as the new governor of Puerto Rico at the Capitol in San Juan, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

People listen to new Governor Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon speak after she was sworn-in as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon speaks after she was sworn in as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon waves alongside her husband Jose Yovin Vargas during her swearing-in ceremony as governor outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

A street is dark during a blackout in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after sunset on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)

ATLANTA (AP) — Six days of funeral observances for former President Jimmy Carter begin Saturday in Georgia, where he died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100.

The first events reflect Carter’s climb up the political ladder, from the tiny town of Plains, Georgia, to decades on the global stage as a humanitarian and advocate for democracy.

Here is what to know about the initial ceremonies and what happens next:

The proceedings, streamed on apnews.com and the Associated Press YouTube channel, began at 10:15 a.m. EST Saturday with the Carter family arriving at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus.

Former Secret Service agents who protected Carter served as pallbearers, walking alongside the hearse as it exited the campus on its way to Plains.

James Earl Carter Jr. lived more than 80 of his 100 years in and around the town, which still has fewer than 700 people, not much more than when he was born on Oct. 1, 1924. Some other modern presidents — Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton — also grew up in small-town settings, but Carter stands out for returning and remaining in his birthplace for his long post-presidency.

The motorcade moved through downtown Plains, which spans just a few blocks, passing near the girlhood home of first lady Rosalynn Smith Carter, who died in November 2023 at the age of 96, and near where the couple operated the family peanut warehouses. The route also included the old train depot that served as Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign headquarters and the gas station once run by Carter's younger brother Billy.

The motorcade passed by the Methodist church where the Carters married in 1946, and the home where they lived and died. The former president will be buried there alongside Rosalynn.

The Carters built the one-story house, now surrounded by Secret Service fencing, before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and lived out their lives there with the exception of four years in the Governor's Mansion and four more in the White House.

After going through Plains, the procession stopped in front of Carter's family farm and boyhood home in Archery, just outside the town, after passing the cemetery where the former president's parents, James Earl Carter Sr. and Lillian Carter, are buried.

The farm now is part of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. The National Park Service rang the old farm bell 39 times to honor the 39th president.

Carter was the first president born in a hospital. But the home had no electricity or running water when he was born, and he worked his father's land during the Great Depression. Still, the Carters had relative privilege and status. Earl employed Black tenant farming families. The elder Carter also owned a store in Plains and was a local civic and political leader. Lillian was a nurse and she delivered Rosalynn. The property still includes a tennis court Earl had built for the family.

It was Earl's death in 1953 that set Jimmy on course toward the Oval Office. The younger Carters had left Plains after he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. But Jimmy abandoned a promising career as a submarine officer and early participant in the Pentagon's nuclear program to take over the family's peanut business after his father's death. Within a decade, he was elected to the Georgia state Senate.

From Archery, the motorcade headed north to Atlanta. The military-run schedule called for stopping at 3 p.m. outside the Georgia Capitol, where Carter served as a state senator from 1963 to 1967 and governor from 1971 to 1975. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens were set to lead a moment of silence. While former governors are honored with state-run funerals, presidents — even if they served as governors — are memorialized with national rites run by the federal government.

The motorcade then is scheduled to arrive at the Carter Presidential Center at 3:45 p.m., with a private service at 4 p.m. The campus includes Carter’s presidential library and The Carter Center, established by the former president and first lady in 1982.

From 7 p.m. Saturday through 6 a.m. Monday, Carter will lie in repose for the public to pay respects around the clock.

The ceremony is expected to include some of The Carter Center's global staff of 3,000, whose work concentrating on international diplomacy and mediation, election monitoring and fighting disease in the developing world continues to set a standard for what former presidents can accomplish.

Jimmy Carter, who delivered its annual reports until 2019, won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize in part for this post-presidential work. His grandson Jason Carter now chairs the board.

Carter's remains will travel next to Washington, where he will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda until his funeral at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral. All the living presidents have been invited, and Joe Biden, a Carter ally, will deliver a eulogy.

The Carter family then will return to bury its patriarch in Plains after a private hometown funeral at 3:45 p.m. at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter, a devout evangelical, taught Sunday School for decades.

Carter will be buried afterward in a private graveside service, in a plot visible from the front porch of his home.

A U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to the Carter detail, places his hand on the hearse containing the casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

The hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter pauses outside the State Capitol in Atlanta, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

James "Chip" Carter wipes his eyes after speaks during a service for former President Jimmy Carter at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, as he sits next to his wife Becky. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Paige Alexander, CEO of The Carter Center, touches the casket, as Amy Carter and her husband John Joseph "Jay" Kelly, foreground, watch, during a service for former President Jimmy Carter at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

A military body bearer team carries the casket of former President Jimmy Carter into the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum to lie in repose in Atlanta, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, Pool)

Children watch as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter pauses outside the State Capitol in Atlanta, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

The hearse containing the casket of former President Jimmy Carter moves toward Plains, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

A man salutes as the hearse containing the casket of former President Jimmy Carter passes through Fort Valley, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, en route to Atlanta. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

People watch as the hearse containing the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter departs the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm in Archery, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

People watch as the hearse containing the casket of former President Jimmy Carter passes through Reynolds, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, en route to Atlanta. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, walk with the hearse carrying flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

A police escort passes as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter approaches during a procession in downtown Plains, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A person holds signs as the hearse containing the casket of former President Jimmy Carter, pauses at the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm in Archery, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

National Historical Park Superintendent Jill Stuckey and other NPS employees, based out of Sumter County, Ga., salute the hearse carrying former President Jimmy Carter as the motorcade stops in front of the Boyhood Farm, where Carter grew up, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Plains, Ga. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)

The hearse containing the casket of former President Jimmy Carter moves toward Plains, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

People line the road before the hearse with the casket of former President Jimmy Carter departs Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, walk with the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, move the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, walk with the hearse carrying flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter, at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

A memorial wreath of cotton bolls is seen at the entrance to the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in Archery, Ga. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

A woman looks at items left in tribute to former President Jimmy Carter at the entrance to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. Carter died Sunday at he age of 100. (AP Photo/John Bazemore )

A jar of peanuts is among the items left in tribute to former President Jimmy Carter at the entrance to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. Carter died Sunday at he age of 100. (AP Photo/John Bazemore )

A woman leaves flowers in tribute to former President Jimmy Carter at the entrance to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. Carter died Sunday at he age of 100. (AP Photo/John Bazemore )

A Habitat for Humanity hard hat is among the items left in tribute to former President Jimmy Carter at the entrance to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. Carter died Sunday at he age of 100. (AP Photo/John Bazemore )

Tom Chaffin, of Atlanta, leaves flowers at the entrance to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. Carter died Sunday at he age of 100. (AP Photo/John Bazemore )