A “ho-hum” reaction has greeted a recent announcement of developments in building a second overland rival to the Panama Canal. President Daniel Ortega has given approval to the plans for a $30 billion rail/water connection from Puerto Corinto on the Pacific and Monkey Point on the Caribbean.
Nothing much to raise the pulse rate, admittedly. Central American countries are constantly proposing grand schemes that are forgotten as soon as they are unveiled.
But then along comes the news that Hong Kong-based Xinwei Telecom will handle the financing. A joint venture will be set up, HK Nicaragua, to do the construction and the rest of it.
Place this along with the announcement about a year ago that another group of China venture capitalists are beavering away to get Colombia to build its own “canal” and the inference is clear that China is certainly going to be involved in a canal that can compete with the de facto US-controlled canal.