Puerto Rico Morning Brief Friday, November 13, 2026

Ángel Jiménez Colón, commissioner of Puerto Rico’s Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administration, resigned effective November 30, 2026, Governor Jenniffer González Colón announced on Thursday, November 12. Francisco Bruno will hold the post on an interim basis. During Jiménez Colón’s tenure the bureau bought 36 transport and rescue units for $2,583,076.50 in federal and state funds. The units were meant to reinforce the 10 operational zones and the central level, and they include three wagons equipped with specialized rescue tools.

Attorney and analyst Eddie López said on Thursday, November 12, that the source who told him the governor intervened with Puerto Rico Supreme Court judges in the LUMA Energy case has direct knowledge of the situation. López called the matter extremely serious and said that is why he used his platforms to denounce it. The allegation surfaced Tuesday, November 10, when López said on TeleOnce’s program Nación that a source told him the governor personally called Supreme Court judges. The calls, according to that source, asked the judges to change their votes in favor of annulling the LUMA Energy contract. The governor denies the claim.

The Puerto Rico House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 1551 on Thursday, November 12, by discharge petition, postponing the ban on single-use plastics until December 31, 2031. The measure passed without amendments and without debate, by 28 votes to 24, and now goes to Governor Jenniffer González for review. The Senate had also approved it by discharge petition, with 24 votes in favor and four against. The four senators who voted no were Ada Álvarez Conde, José Luis Dalmau, Adrián González Costa and María de Lourdes Santiago.

School transportation companies in Puerto Rico began receiving payment for their services on Thursday, November 12, after firms such as Tatito’s Transport Services Inc. halted operations on Tuesday, November 10. José Rosado, president of the School Bus Contractors Federation, said the person in charge at Tatito’s messaged the committee around 8 or 9 a.m. that the company had received money. Other colleagues also reported payments, he said. Before entering the Senate hearings on the ERP matter, Rosado said he received a call from Education Secretary Eliezer Ramos. Ramos told him additional staff had been assigned to process invoices that day.

The share of Puerto Rico under drought conditions fell to 34.7 percent, a drop of 7 percentage points from the previous week, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor report published Thursday, November 12, with data valid Tuesday, November 10. Severe drought shrank from 15.2 to 8.8 percent of the territory, a 6.4-point reduction from the November 3 report. Extreme drought has been absent for a second consecutive week. Moderate drought edged down from 26.5 to 25.8 percent, a 0.7-point drop.

Puerto Rico could face a new round of blackouts because of a lack of electricity generation, according to Genera PR, as discussed by political analyst Jay Fonseca on the program Los Datos Son Los Datos. Fonseca questioned why the Senate has not approved a bill that already received the backing of the House of Representatives. The bill seeks to replace and cancel the agreement with the generating company. The situation comes as the cost of electricity stands at historically high levels.