The United States is backtracking from its historic position acknowledging Puerto Rico's right to self-governance, Puerto Rico's governor says in a pending U.S. Supreme Court case over double jeopardy laws, Reuters reported yesterday.
Puerto Rico in Distress
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As Puerto Rico runs out of cash and approaches a Jan. 1 due date for about $1 billion in debt payments, investors increasingly are uneasy about the fate of bonds sold with a near guarantee, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The bonds, backed by sales taxes and known by the Spanish acronym Cofina, were issued starting a decade ago to plug budget gaps and repay other lenders.
Puerto Rico’s beleaguered electric utility announced new progress late Wednesday in its continuing efforts to avoid a default on as much as one-eighth of the island’s total debt of $72 billion, the New York Times reported today.
Puerto Rico's governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said yesterday that it is "very, very unlikely" there will be no default on debt due Jan. 1 and that the U.S. territory was evaluating which bonds are to be paid, Reuters reported yesterday. "Making a total payment will be (very unlikely)," Garcia Padilla said. "If a partial payment is to be done, which bonds should be paid?