Puerto Ricans are still rebuilding after Hurricane María devastated the island and its infrastructure last September. Since then, most of the focus has been on the effects of the Hurricane. Nonetheless, in some ways, the bigger story when it comes to Puerto Rico’s future is the island’s economic crisis.

In part one of a two-part series produced in collaboration with WNYC, business reporter Jane Sasseen looks at how Puerto Rico became mired in billions of dollars worth of debt, how it’s affecting Puerto Ricans today, and what the commonwealth is doing to try to dig itself out of a bankruptcy so big and so sprawling that it makes other historic bankruptcies, like Detroit’s, look small by comparison.

WNYC’s series, Puerto Rico: The Future of Debt can be found here.

Featured Illustration by Zeke Peña

This reporting was made possible in part by funds granted by the Charles H. Revson Foundation. The statements made and the views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.

WNYC’s participation in this story is supported in part by The Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, the Park Foundation, and Chasing the Dream, a WNET initiative on poverty, jobs and economic opportunity in America. Additional support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as part of a collaboration between APM Reports, KCUR in Kansas City, KPCC in Southern California, WABE in Atlanta, and WNYC.

The series is also supported by the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.