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.