By The Star Staff
During the inaugural session of the 20th Legislative Assembly, Gov. Jenniffer González Colón urged senators on Monday to respect the will of the electorate, which, she said, has favored statehood in multiple consultations.
“The people of Puerto Rico have exercised their vote, not once, not twice, on more than three occasions,” the governor said. “Just as you were elected, respect the vote of the people in favor of statehood. We cannot choose what suits us. The same people who voted for me and voted for you also voted for statehood. We cannot chain this people to the injustice of not receiving equality in federal programs, condemning our people to poverty.”
The governor also stressed the importance of working beyond party lines for the benefit of the population.
“Let us think of our humble people, who only want to have enough to pay for their electricity, their water, their medicines and guarantee their children’s education,” she said. “I ask them to put God first in their decisions. If God is with us, who can be against us?”
Rivera Schatz slams left-wing governments in Senate welcome speech
Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, meanwhile, used his welcome speech in the Senate on Monday to criticize the Puerto Rican Independence Party and the left-wing governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
“Our people, through their vote, rejected the hypocrisy of those who claim to be patriots but instead destroy and denigrate Puerto Rico,” Rivera Schatz said. “They [the people] have made it clear that trying to hide the truth from them is futile. We Puerto Ricans are discerning. Lies will never be able to disguise themselves successfully, no matter how well they are painted or how magnificent their façade. Hollow phrases will not suffice.”
“What is false cannot evolve for the better, nor can it become genuine; it will always be condemned to be uncovered and replaced by the truth,” the pro-statehood Senate president added. “This is the mission of our Senate: to condemn falsehoods and replace them with authenticity.”
“We had free, democratic, and fair elections,” Rivera Schatz said. “I hope and trust that our brothers in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua can free themselves from the dictatorships that oppress them and enjoy a governance model that is by the people and for the people.”
He encouraged the island’s youth to engage in political, social and governmental processes.
“Their contributions are essential,” he said. “Values such as humility, respect, and the desire to serve others are timeless; they do not change with each generation or trend. Innovation, modernity, and youth are not at odds with morality, faith, or free will. We will create ample opportunities for our young people to contribute their valuable insights.”
Rivera Schatz also invited senior citizens to participate in the island’s political discourse.
“We will direct our attention and efforts toward their well-being,” he said. “The circumstances of their lives often treat them unfairly. Abandonment or neglect in hospitals, hospices, or their own homes must end. We must eliminate intolerance toward their slow walking or actions. We must defend and cherish our elders! They deserve it, and it is our duty as a government and as Christians.”
To his fellow senators, the upper chamber leader said: “The positions we occupy are meant to serve with decency, honesty, and ethics. Honor does not stem from titles, wealth, positions, decorations, or awards. True honor, values, and principles flourish in the hearts and minds of good people; they thrive where good seeds are sown, and are reflected in the actions of those who are honest and just. That is our goal and commitment.”
Rivera Schatz stated that legislative work must reflect the concerns and complaints he encountered during his tour around Puerto Rico.
“We will defend our principles and values, protect the Puerto Rican family, and safeguard our children,” he said. “We will not allow anyone to attack them. We will uphold our government program and intensify our efforts to turn Puerto Rico into a state of the union.”
Independent Sen. Molina Pérez: We are going to recover our country
Independent Sen. Eliezer Molina Pérez, who was elected as a write-in candidate, offered a message full of commitment to the Puerto Rican people, highlighting his political independence.
“We are the first senator in history elected by direct nomination, representing the six million Puerto Ricans who left and the three million who continue to struggle on the island,” Molina said. “We will not allow the name of our people to continue to be crushed due to a lack of awareness and character in the leadership.”
The activist-turned-senator also referred to recent controversies over administrative decisions related to La Parguera, a seaside sector of Lajas, calling on religious leaders to intervene with the governor.
“Here it is our fortune to have many religious leaders,” he said. “I sincerely ask each one of you to speak with the governor and that you, since you have the ability to speak with God, speak with God. The governor says that thanks to God, an administrative order appeared that no one knows who made it, where today an advantage will be given to those in La Parguera who have the ability to generate income. Even the people who are close to the governor. Against all science, against all logic. We are going to continue fighting it. So I tell you, pastors, when you speak with God, tell him that in Puerto Rico the beaches belong to the people and to be careful not to sink Lajas and La Parguera like Venice is sinking. Boricua, forward, we are going to recover our country. This, this has just begun.”
Aponte blasts Maduro for suggesting Brazil invade PR
Echoing Rivera Schatz’s message to the Senate, meanwhile, another veteran New Progressive Party legislator, Rep. José Aponte Hernández, announced the filing of a concurrent resolution this week to express the island House of Representatives’ emphatic rejection of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro for his remark about using the armed forces of Brazil to invade Puerto Rico with the purpose of imposing independence on the island by force.
“In the style of a tyrant and oppressor, on the 11th of January of 2025, Maduro made public statements against the People of Puerto Rico,” Aponte Hernández said in a written statement. “The aforementioned statements represent an affront to the democratic values that rule our system of government where the sovereign, the people, express their choice at the polls without fear of persecution or reprisals.”
According to press reports, Maduro said during the International Anti-Fascist Festival in Caracas on Saturday that “Just as in the north they have a colonization agenda, we have a liberation agenda.”
“And our agenda was written by Simón Bolívar,” he said. “The freedom of Puerto Rico is pending, and we will achieve it with Brazilian troops … leading the way.”
Maduro was sworn in for a third term as Venezuela’s president last Friday after elections in July that the United States and other governments say were stolen. Edmundo González, the opponent the U.S. and others say won the election, remains in exile in Spain, while the country’s top opposition leader, María Corina Machado, has been in hiding inside Venezuela, according to reports by The New York Times and other outlets.
Whether or not Maduro’s statements are to be taken seriously by anyone in Puerto Rico, the United States, or Brazil for that matter, Aponte was not about to let the Venezuelan leader’s words go unanswered.
“Puerto Rico has been part of the United States since 1898,” the former speaker of the island House said. “Since 1917 we have been U.S. citizens with rights and responsibilities, and the people express their will at the polls.”
The results of numerous public referendums since 2012 have favored statehood by wide margins over independence, he noted.
“In the last plebiscite on political preference, more than 58% voted in favor of the admission of the island to be a state of the union,” Aponte said.