Marco Rubio opposes giving Puerto Rico the same type of bankruptcy protection available to U.S. towns and cities mired in fiscal crisis, the Florida senator will say Friday as he visits the American territory for the first time as a 2016 contender, the Politico reported today. In an op-ed to be published in both Spanish and English, Rubio blames the "liberal ideology" of Puerto Rico's politicians, creating a "toxic brew of economic stagnation, higher taxes and bloated government." "Allowing Puerto Rican municipalities to reorganize their debts under chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code would not solve Puerto Rico’s problems and should only be a measure of last resort considered if Puerto Rico takes significant steps to fix its budget and economic mess,” he writes. The op-ed was timed to coincide with Rubio’s first visit to the island as a presidential candidate. And his position sets him apart from other 2016 contenders, including Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, who have supported chapter 9 bankruptcy protection for the deeply indebted island. Read more.
For more on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, be sure to visit ABI’s “Puerto Rico in Distress” webpage.
