Puerto Rican Debt Negotiations At Critical Crossroads

Negotiations over Puerto Rican bonds are at a critical stage where one of two paths can be chosen. The outcome could set a sovereign debt precedent and create a situation that solves long-term problems in the region, providing a roadmap for other sovereign debt issues to be resolved. Or it could create a short-term fix that would require further restructuring if and when the next natural disaster hits the island. Hanging in the balance are bond investors on one side who were promised a safe return on their investment. On the other hand are the island’s residents who continue to struggle with a 60% child poverty rate and an electric grid that that only until recently began to function...