Chinese Company to Build Canal Across Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s National Assembly announced that a Chinese company will be contracted to build a canal across Nicaragua linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

The inland waterway would be an alternative to the Panama Canal [pictured above], with the ultimate goal of generating jobs for disadvantaged Nicaraguans and other Central Americans. The canal will not go along the San Juan River as it had been planned. Instead, it will be built farther north, through the waters of Lake Nicaragua.

Legislative leaders said the Chinese will use funds from global investors to build the $40 billion project, after presenting two bills for streamlining the process of building the canal and evaluating its environmental impact.

The government plans to grant the Chinese company a concession for 100 years.