Puerto Rico is the final corner before the home stretch, with Hillary Clinton seeking to consolidate her lead in the Democratic primary and Bernie Sanders operating on a slender thread of hope. And with a huge win by Clinton over Sanders in Puerto Rico Sunday, both candidates will be looking ahead to Tuesday’s big contests, including California, which could end up sealing the nomination for Clinton.
Puerto Ricans on the island cannot vote in the general election and do not have congressional representation. But the primary vote allowed them to, in some way, weigh in on Congress’s proposed debt relief bill, PROMESA, a potential solution to the island’s immense debt crisis, because Clinton and Sanders have different views on the legislation.
The plan would provide broad financial restructuring powers to appointed board members, none of whom would be directly accountable to Puerto Ricans. It would also eliminate some minimum wage protections for young workers and refuses any injection of bailout funds. All in all, the provisions have caused concern among many liberals who still support it as a necessary way to avert disaster. Some such as Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla have directly likened it to colonialism.