Written by Jubilee USA Network   

Washington DC - Puerto Rico may default on a $354 million December 1 debt payment. The US Territory is scheduled to make another payment of $957 million on January 1. The island's governor calls the total $72 billion debt "unpayable" and vows to prioritize public services over debt repayment if forced to choose. Puerto Rico's Government Development Bank presented a debt restructuring concept to the advisers of some firms who hold the debt at November 20 meetings in New York.

"We've reached a critical moment in the debt crisis," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, a religious anti-poverty group that focuses on debt issues. "3.5 million American citizens are on the front lines of a humanitarian crisis that will only get worse if we can't fix the island's debt problems."

Legislation in the House and Senate would grant the same bankruptcy protection available to US cities. In October, the Obama Administration proposed broader bankruptcy protection affecting all of the island's debt as well as health care and tax reforms. Senate Republicans say they are developing their own proposal which could include a federal control board to monitor Puerto Rico's finances. The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing December 1 to discuss the crisis in Puerto Rico.

Nearly 1 out of 2 people lives in poverty in Puerto Rico. More residents left the island for the US mainland between 2010 and 2013 than during all of the 1980's or 1990''s.

"Americans are suffering on the island and we need to urgently implement a solution," said LeCompte.

Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 400 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee's mission is to build an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. www.jubileeusa.org