Puerto Rico is drowning in $72 billion of debt. Over the last few years, an accelerating fiscal crisis has brought an unusual amount of attention to the U.S. territory and the unique issues it faces. News media has been calling it the “Greece of the Caribbean.” But for those that aren’t experts in municipal finance, it can be all a little abstract. How did Puerto Rico rack up such a huge bill, and how is it affecting life on the island?

Latino USA answers that question, with help from a few experts: Robert Smith of NPR’s Planet Money, economist Rosario Rivera from the University of Puerto Rico and Hector Cordero-Guzman of Baruch College.