Against the backdrop of a crushing debt crisis, Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio took their presidential campaigns to Puerto Rico on Friday. They offered pointedly different views on how to best resolve the financial woes afflicting the US territory.

The two candidates took time away from routine stops in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire to court Puerto Rican voters, who cannot vote in the general election but can play a critical role in the primary process by providing delegates to the eventual nominee.

While Clinton held a low-key roundtable to discuss struggles within the island’s healthcare system, Rubio used his visit to draw a sharp contrast with his Democratic opponent and link her proposed policies to Puerto Rico’s $72bn debt.

Speaking entirely in Spanish at a restaurant in San Juan, Rubio told around 150 people that allowing Puerto Rican municipalities to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection was not the solution to its problems.

The senator announced his position earlier in the day, in an op-ed that placed him at odds with both Clinton and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, one of Rubio’s key rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Clinton and Bush have both embraced extending Chapter 9 bankruptcy status, a right reserved under the law for the municipalities of US states, to Puerto Rico and called on the US Congress to move legislation to meet that end.

Clinton stood firmly behind her stance on Friday and, though she did not mention Rubio by name, sharply criticized Republicans in Washington over congressional inaction.



“Congress needs to do its part, and that means it should give Puerto Rico the authority to let severely distressed government entities, including public corporations and municipalities, restructure their debt,” Clinton said at her roundtable event.

“There is no alternative because the debt is so large and it is impossible to restructure it without the kind of help you get in bankruptcy.

“But not a single Republican has stepped up in Washington to support the leaders, and they’re not offering any alternative either.”

Puerto Rico’s Democratic governor, Alejandro García Padilla, has repeatedly appealed to lawmakers in Washington to assist with the commonwealth’s financial crisis. Clinton’s campaign confirmed she would meet Padilla during her visit.

Conservatives have been steadfast in their opposition to enacting bankruptcy legislation, arguing that it would amount to a bailout. Influential donors, including the billionaire Koch brothers, have also lobbied against granting Chapter 9 status to Puerto Rican municipalities.

Speaking hours before Clinton’s event in San Juan, Rubio insisted the only way forward was for leaders to first bring the island’s debt, deficit and spending under control, even as reporters pressed him on how that could be achieved without outside help.

“I don’t believe Chapter 9 would solve Puerto Rico’s problems,” he said. “I believe what would solve Puerto Rico’s problems is the same thing that would solve Washington’s problems, and that is to restructure the way government spends its money.

“No organisation, whether it’s a government, a company or a family, can survive long-term spending more money than it takes in.”

For Rubio, the trip presented an opportunity to preview what a general election matchup might look like if he and Clinton were to secure the nominations. As the son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is fluent in Spanish and regarded by Republicans as one of their best hopes to broaden the party’s tent.



The senator, who is one of 17 Republican presidential hopefuls, served up jabs at Clinton in both English and Spanish.

“I don’t know what Secretary Clinton’s plan is for Puerto Rico is. I think it was on her server and it was wiped clean,” Rubio quipped, to a mix of laughter and applause, referring to the controversy over Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Clinton’s own event was markedly different in style and tone. The former secretary of state held a roundtable with eight officials in a conference room at the Cardiovascular Center of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, resembling the listening sessions she held in early voting states in the initial stages of her campaign. An additional 120 seats in the room were reserved for local officials and members of the healthcare industry.

Clinton placed her emphasis on healthcare, telling attendees she wanted to hear about the challenges they face – particularly with respect to the federal reimbursement rates for entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which are lower for healthcare providers in Puerto Rico than in any US state.

Two-thirds of the Puerto Rican population is enrolled in either Medicare or Medicaid. According to data from the Puerto Rico Healthcare Crisis Coalition, the Medicare reimbursement rate is 40% lower than in any state, while that for Medicaid is 70% lower. Puerto Rico’s physicians have been leaving the island in droves.

Rubio pinned Puerto Rico’s healthcare troubles on Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which he has said he would repeal and replace as president. The senator said his healthcare plan would treat Puerto Rican consumers the same as consumers in US states.

Clinton pledged to do everything in her power, if elected president, to move the island “on a path toward equal treatment”.



Hillary Clinton has endorsed extending Chapter 9 bankruptcy status to Puerto Rico. Photograph: Charlie Neibergall/AP

“It’s just hard to justify how you can be an American citizen in Puerto Rico and be treated differently in so many ways from being an American citizen somewhere else,” Clinton said.

“No one who is fair-minded could listen to this and conclude anything other than, the way Puerto Rico is being treated when it comes to health is inconsistent, it is incoherent, it is inequitable.

“It just shouldn’t continue. We must do more to deal with what is morally wrong and economically disastrous for the people of Puerto Rico.”

Puerto Ricans have traditionally favoured Democrats, and have grown in their political influence, a situation reflected by the overtures candidates from both parties have made toward the island. Rubio’s state of Florida, where votes are crucial in both the primary and general contests, is home to the second-largest Puerto Rican population among US states.

During her 2008 presidential bid, Clinton made a number of trips to Puerto Rico, ultimately winning a decisive victory over Barack Obama in the island’s Democratic primary, taking nearly 68% of the vote.

With Clinton’s second run for president shaping up to be competitive once more, due to Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, her campaign has said it is taking nothing for granted and looks forward to gaining the island’s vote.