MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Sanders is currently visiting the US territory, currently in multimillion debt, ahead of the Democratic primary on June 5.
"The people of the United States cannot continue a colonial-like relationship with the people of Puerto Rico," Sanders said at a rally on Monday, as quoted by the CNN network.
Sanders said he would give the island three options – becoming the 51st state, having more rights as a US territory or becoming an independent country, the media outlet reported.
Puerto Rico first defaulted on its $73 billion debt in August 2015 and also on a portion of its debt in January 2016. The US territory has since been beset by financial problems that affected healthcare and other services as well as economic growth.
