Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Ohio), chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, on Friday met with Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla to discuss the island's financial crisis ahead of legislative rescue plans expected from Congress in the coming weeks as huge debt payments loom, Reuters reported. Puerto Rico is battling $70 billion in debt and a 45 percent poverty rate, and Garcia Padilla has said the U.S. territory would consider a moratorium on debt payments in May and July to avoid a government shutdown. Garcia Padilla spokesman Jesus Manuel Ortiz told said that the governor hosted Bishop in his San Juan office, where he stressed the effects of the financial crisis, which include delays in tax refunds, and the need for any rescue package to preserve Puerto Rico's autonomy. Read more.
For more news and analysis of Puerto Rico's debt crisis, be sure to visit ABI's "Puerto Rico in Distress" webpage.
