Friday, December 19, 2014

Letter from Managua: A canal dividing a country


The proposal to build a trans-oceanic canal across Nicaragua seems mostly like the scenario for a slightly implausible summer blockbuster movie.
The movie would have it all. Powerful business forces, environmental risks, social upheaval and conflict and even global intrigue - Chinese interests are behind the project. And lots and lots of mystery. I can see Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie racing from Caribbean villages in Nicaragua to skyscrapers in Hong Kong in a race to uncover the truth.
The canal would be about 280 kms long, more than twice as long as the Panama canal. A short 24-km section would let ships travel through locks from the Pacific to Lake Nicaragua (or Cocibolca, its indigineous name). Giant container ships would travel about 70 kms across the lake, the largest in Central America, and then through a canal across some 180 kms to the Caribbean. 
Der Spiegel
Details are sketchy, but the goal is to allow ships capable of carrying 18,000 containers, about 50 per cent lager than the ones the new locks being built in Panama can handle. (For a fascinating look at how shipping containers transformed the world, I hihgly recommend Marc Levinson’s The Box.)
All that comes with an entirely unsupported price tag of $50 billion, about three times the combined cost of B.C.’s Site C dam and Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project. And while Site C represents about 3.7 per cent of British Columbia’s GDP, the new canal would represents about 250 per cent of Nicaragua’s GDP. 
Sounds like a crazy project for a poor country. (Nicaragua was ranked 132 in the 2014 UN Human Development Index report, ahead of only Haiti in the Americas.) 
The canal project is being backed by Wang Jing, China’s 12th richest man with a fortune of some $6.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine. President Daniel Ortega, one-time revolutionary, supports the project and his son Laureano is the link with the government. The largest business group backs the megaproject.
But there is fierce opposition, based in part on the secrecy and lack of real planning. Last week about 3,500 Nicaraguans marched in the streets of Managua. They arrived despite efforts by government transportation officials and the police to keep groups from travelling to the capital. The military has moved into the countryside where canal opposition has been strongest.
There are four big concerns about the project.
First, a lot of people – perhaps 30,000 - are going to get pushed off their land to make way for the canal. That´s no big deal in China, where some 1.5 million people were relocated to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. But it will be in Nicaragua, where land can mean survival.
Second, there have been no real studies of the environmental impact. The project would mean dredging rivers and blasting a 70-km channel across Lake Nicaragua, a beautiful, largely unspoiled treasure. Thousands of hectares would be cleared, new lakes built to hold water to operate the giant locks and both coasts would be affected. The country would literally be cut in half, with plans for one bridge at this point.
Third, there have been no social or economic impact studies, or publicly released information on the business case for the canal. 
Shipping experts are skeptical. The canal would knock about 1,300 kms off the sea route from China to the East Coast of the U.S., but the canal would take longer to transit then Panama. 
The government is claiming the canal will create 50,000 construction jobs and 200,000 permanent jobs, but it hasn’t set out the value of the concessions granted to Wang´s company, which include the right to operate two ports, an airport, tax-free industrial zones, a railway and pipeline and other potentially profitable businesses. One fear is that the canal will never be built while Wang will cash in on the other opportunities.
And fourth, there is wide speculation that the canal is less a commercial venture and more an effort to extend Chinese government influence in the region. Wang hasn’t revealed where the $50 billion will come from, and investments from Chinese state-controlled companies are considered likely. For analysts who doubt the plans commercial rationale, the geopolitical strategy makes sense.
Work is scheduled to start on Monday, with the first projects a new dock on the Pacific coast and roads to receive the heavy equipment and supplies needed for the project. 
The idea for a canal has been around for a long time. In the to-be-read section of my Kobo is the 1852 book ¨Nicaragua: Its People, Scenery, Monuments, and the Proposed Interoceanic Canal.¨ U.S. tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt was awarded a canal concession in 1849. He never built it, but made money off a train and stagecoach route.
It´s always been controversial. And it still is.



24 comments:

Nepal High Trek Ptv. Ltd. said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
scotty on denman said...

Fascinating. Particularly interesting is the potential strategic advantage to the presumed Chinese government investor---not necessarily so much that the canal itself is viable, but that China would gain a strategic footing in Central America by way of the "ancillary" proposals (ports, sea and air, "free" trade zones, etc.)

I've often wondered about the strategic aspect of China's Northern Gateway prospect which naturally hooks deep into the biggest blob of petro-goo in North America: it is an aspect that is hardly ever publicly discussed here in North America, drowned out, as 't were, by environmental and economic issues surrounding the dubious project. The most glaring strategic question for me is: how does our longtime American ally and protector feel about Canadian pip-squeaks trying to bid up the value of bitumen on them by allowing America's main strategic rival to plunge deep into a strategic resource the US justifiably regards as being well within their realm of strategic interest?

Or maybe America's strategic game is really to entrap a sizeable chunk of Chinese investment in an enticing blob or petro-goo that also happens to be landlocked deep in the continental interior, near the American border, and linked to China by a tenuous pipeline and tanker route easily cut, if needs, by America, the proposed port of exit being in the pincers of Alaska and the Lower Forty-Eight.

But that's just me. Still, I wonder why this strategic aspect of Northern Gateway has never really been raised, even to the extent of your concise strategic expose of Nicaragua's own eye-popping canal proposal. Northern Gateway has, after all, been sliced and diced every which way otherwise. The omission of the strategic aspect seems conspicuous. Perhaps it's a strategic omission, no?

Fascinating subject. I hope we can look forward to more on this project from you.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Olive Farmer said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Icicles adventure said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Icicles adventure said...

For organizing your trekking in Nepalholiday, you can trust Icicles Adventure Treks & Tours since it is run by a team of experts those have decades of experience in trekking and tourism sector. Please surf through our website to select a standard program that interests and suits you. If you are looking for a tailor-made program for trekking in Nepal, just write us with your interest details, we will be right back to you.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
aboshady said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
aboshady said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
aboshady said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
التميز المثالي للخدمات المنزلية said...

شركة تسليك مجارى بالدمام

شركة مكافحة صراصير بخميس مشيط

شركة مكافحة صراصير بابها

شركة مكافحة حشرات بخميس مشيط

شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان

شركة مكافحة حشرات بابها

شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بخميس مشيط

شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بجازان

شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بابها

شركة رش مبيدات بخميس مشيط

التميز المثالي للخدمات المنزلية said...

شركة كشف تسربات بالرياض

شركة عزل خزانات بالرياض

شركة عزل اسطح بالرياض

شركة رش مبيدات بشمال الرياض

شركة رش مبيدات بالرياض

شركة رش دفان بالرياض

شركة تنظيف منازل بالرياض

شركة تنظيف فلل بالرياض

شركة تنظيف شقق بالرياض

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
elmnzel said...


شركة تنظيف خزانات بجدة

عرووووض قوية جداا من شركة المنزل شركة تنظيف خزانات بجدة
شركة عزل خزانات بجدة
تعمل من خلال اقوي فريق متخصص ذو خبرة كبيرة باستخدام افضل الوسائل العلمية
و اقوي مواد التنظيف و افضل مواد العزل الامنة تمام علي المياة و لا تتفاعل معها
و تحافظ علي كيان الخزان من اي خلل
شركة المنزل تمنحكم مياة صحية و خزان خالي من البكتريا


شركة عزل خزانات بجدة


http://elmnzel.com/cleaning-tanks-jeddah/

Nepal Kailash Trekking said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

شركة المثالية للتنظيف بالدمام
شركة المثالية لمكافحة الحشرات بالدمام
شركة المثالية للتنظيف بالخبر
شركة المثالية لمكافحة الحشرات بالخبر
شركة المثالية للتنظيف بالجبيل
شركة المثالية لمكافحة الحشرات بالجبيل
شركة المثالية للتنظيف بالقطيف
شركة المثالية لمكافحة الحشرات بالقطيف
شركة المثالية للتنظيف
شركة طيوب للمجارى

شركة المثالي سوبر said...

شركة غسيل المكيفات بالدمام وبالخبر
شركة تنسيق الحدائق بالدمام وبالخبر
شركة كشف تسربات المياه بالدمام
شركة عوازل مائى بالدمام وبالخبر
شركة ترميم فلل منازل بالدمام وبالخبر
شركة تنظيف بالخبر
شركة تنظيف بالقطيف
شركة تنظيف بالاحساء
شركة تنظيف بالجبيل
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالخبر



شركة المثالي سوبر said...

شركة تسليك مجارى بسيهات وعنك
شركة عزل اسطح براس تنورة
شركة عزل اسطح بسيهات وبعنك
شركة مكافحة حشرات يراس تنورة
شركة مكافحة حشرات بسيهات وبعنك
شركة تنظيف براس تنورة
شركة ضي الرحمن للتنظيف
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالدمام
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالخبر
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالقطيف
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالجبيل
شركة تنظيف مجالس براس تنورة



Aaron said...

Please join me today as I make impact, as you are planning for Christmas don't forget that their kids outside who are homeless that need help, I'm soliciting for your assistance today to join me as I plan to feed five children for this Christmas and I want to also send them back to school your support is needed nothing is too small nothing is too big for this purpose, if you are interested in joining me, email me at charitydonation8@gmail.com.

al ghadeer said...

شركة تنظيف مكيفات بالرياض
شركة تنظيف مكيفات شمال الرياض
شركة تنظيف مكيفات
شركة تنظيف مكيفات غرب الرياض
شركة تنظيف مكيفات بالخرج
شركة تنظيف مكيفات بالدمام
شركة تنظيف مكيفات بالخبر
فنى صيانة مكيفات سبليت بالرياض
نتيجة الثانوية العامة 2019

_______

Kim said...

You’re so interesting! I don’t believe I’ve truly read something like this before. So great to find someone with genuine thoughts on this issue. Really.. many thanks for starting this up. This website is something that’s needed on the internet, someone with some originality!

CBSE Schools In Mehdipatnam
CBSE Schools In Nagole
CBSE Schools In Nalgonda
CBSE Schools In Kushaiguda
CBSE Schools In Nizamabad
CBSE Schools In Nizampet
CBSE Schools In Patancheru
CBSE Schools In Pragathi Nagar
CBSE Schools In Rajendra Nagar Hyderabad
CBSE Schools In Rampally

Shaimaa Elsadek said...

شركة تنظيف شقق بالاحساء
شركة تنظيف كنب بالاحساء
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالاحساء
ارخص شركة رش مبيدات بالاحساء
شركة مكافحة بق الفراش بالاحساء