New York, August 15 (RHC)-- Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz has spoken out about Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, as dozens protested in New York City in the latest action against hedge funds that have bought up the island’s debt.

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Stiglitz compared the crisis in Puerto Rico to that in Greece, writing: "Greece chose to join the eurozone; Puerto Rico never chose to become an unincorporated U.S. territory. ... [T]he U.S. must take responsibility for its imperialist past and neocolonial present."

At a protest outside the Manhattan offices of hedge fund Paulson & Co., protesters echoed the call for the United States to acknowledge the role of colonialism in Puerto Rico’s debt crisis.

An organizer of the protest, Lourdes Garcia, told reporters: "Puerto Rico has an economic crisis, with the $72 billion debt that is being charged to Puerto Rico, to the people, despite Puerto Rico being a colony of the United States, and the debt is owed to U.S. corporations. We’re here to protest the actions of shareholders, such as Paulson, who is one of the major shareholders taking money from Puerto Rico today."