FAJARDO, P.R. — Puerto Rico, dealt only a glancing blow by Hurricane Irma, has become an impromptu emergency hub for its Caribbean neighbors that were left devastated by the storm’s wrath.
Looking for a way to help debt-ridden Puerto Rico, administration officials on Wednesday proposed an ambitious — if politically perilous — plan that stops short of a direct federal bailout but that its backers hope is sweeping enough to keep the island from becoming America’s Greece.
SAN JUAN, P.R. — It’s the lunch hour at Baker’s Bakery, a fixture in Río Piedras, one of Puerto Rico’s oldest neighborhoods, but the bustle at the counter is long gone.