Politics | Fri Apr 15, 2016 6:09pm EDT

Puerto Rico rescue falters under attack by conservatives, investors

WASHINGTON | BY PATRICK RUCKER AND RICHARD COWAN

An aggressive advertising and lobbying campaign by conservative activists and financial interests this week stalled a plan in the U.S. Congress to rescue Puerto Rico from crippling debt, while lawmakers adjourned on Friday with no clear path forward.

As its economy reels and basic services are threatened, the U.S. island territory is pleading for help from Washington, but lawmakers have been unable to formulate a response, or even estimate when they might be able to advance a legislative fix.

Puerto Rico is staring down a May 1 deadline for paying about $422 million to Government Development Bank bondholders.

With that as a backdrop, the Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives huddled privately for 90 minutes on Friday to hear ideas, then decided to go home.

"There may be different ways to fix a problem that may include doing nothing and allow it to work through the court system," conservative Republican Representative Mick Mulvaney, of South Carolina, told reporters following the meeting.

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