No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsBusinessFarmers protest planned $50 billion canal in Nicaragua

Farmers protest planned $50 billion canal in Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Hundreds of farmers on Tuesday demonstrated against a new $50 billion waterway aimed at rivaling the Panama Canal, irate at plans to expropriate the land they work.

“We do not want the canal to be built. Nobody should come in here and take over our land,” said Ronald Enríquez at a march in the southern town of Potosí, where participants scuffled with police.

The mega-project through Nicaragua — which would link the Caribbean and the Pacific — has been assigned to a Chinese company, HK Nicaragua Development (HKND).

Demonstrators chanted “We do not want the Chinese here,” and “the police are on the side of the Chinese,” at the second such show of opposition in the Rivas department in less than a week.

The Great Inter-Oceanic Canal Commission, which is managing the project, said it would pay fair prices to landowners whose property is taken for public use.

Work on the 278-kilometer (172 mile) waterway is scheduled to begin late this year.

President Daniel Ortega has said the project will create enough work to help alleviate the poverty that affects more than half the population of this Central American country.

But environmentalists are worried, in particular about the effects of ship traffic on a lake that is along the path of the planned canal. Lake Cocibolca is the largest freshwater body in Central America.

Panama earns about $1 billion annually from its canal.

Recommended: Nicaragua canal survey off to rocky start marked by fear and mistrust

Trending Now

Costa Rica Opens New Pedestrian Bridge at Guayabo National Monument

Costa Rica has added a new attraction to its archaeological sites with the opening of a pedestrian bridge at Guayabo National Monument. The structure...

Costa Rica’s Poás Volcano Park Reopening to Tourists With Safety Measures

The Poás Volcano National Park will reopen its doors to tourism starting July 30, after  scientific entities reported a decrease in volcanic activity. This was...

Can Costa Rica’s Blue Zone Preserve Its Longevity Legacy?

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is recognized worldwide as one of the five blue zones, where people live beyond the age of 90...

El Salvador at Center of Controversial U.S.-Venezuela Detainee Exchange

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele received the 10 Americans exchanged on Friday between Washington and Caracas for 252 Venezuelans who had spent four months in...

Why Birders Are Flocking to Costa Rica’s Barra del Colorado

Costa Rica is a bird-watching paradise, offering an incredible diversity with close to 900 recorded species, including resident and migratory species. One reason for...

A Closer Look at the Elusive Purple Gallinule in Costa Rica

Quick! Think of a purple bird! It’s a little difficult, right? I searched my brain and came up with a purple martin. A small...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica