波多黎各总督说，星期一将出现4亿2200万美元的债务违约，并表示美国应对此负部分责任。
波多黎各总督帕蒂拉星期日发表电视讲话，告诉波多黎各350万居民，他做出了拒付债务的“痛苦决定”，但将保障公务员工资以及卫生和教育领域的开支，以避免发生人道危机。
帕蒂拉说，他并不寻求债务救助，但曾争取进行债务重组。做为美国托管地，波多黎各债务重组议案必须得到美国国会的批准，而党派政治使有关议案未能有任何进展。
波多黎各过去也曾出现过债务违约，但星期一的债务违约数额是最大的。
经济分析人士说，波多黎各实际上已经破产，债务总额约700亿美元。
The governor of Puerto Rico says the island is defaulting on a $422 million debt payment due Monday, and he says the U.S. is partly to blame.
Garcia Padilla said in a televised speech Sunday to the island’s 3.5 million residents that he has made the “painful decision” to not pay the island’s creditors, but will instead fund public sector salaries and health and education budgets to avoid a “humanitarian crisis.”
Padilla said he did not want a bailout and had sought to restructure the existing debt. The U.S. territory, however, needs U.S. Congress to pass a restructuring bill for the island, but partisan politics have bogged down any movement on that measure.
Puerto Rico has defaulted on payments before, but Monday’s default is the largest.
Economic analysts say the U.S. territory is basically bankrupt with a total debt of about $70 billion.