Nicaragua’s canal: “Dubious Plans and Abundant Unknowns”

Heritage has an Issue Brief, Nicaragua’s Canal Push and Concerns for the U.S.

Although the project has gone public, many questions remain, including the route of the canal, its economic feasibility, and the overall environmental effects, especially on Lake Nicaragua, one of the major sources of freshwater in the region. While limited infrastructure details have been announced, it appears that the project would also include an oil pipeline, two deepwater ports, an airport, a railway, and two free trade zones. With a projected total price tag of $40 billion, the overall project would cost four times Nicaragua’s 2011 gross domestic product (GDP).

Additionally,

Although the project has gone public, many questions remain, including the route of the canal, its economic feasibility, and the overall environmental effects, especially on Lake Nicaragua, one of the major sources of freshwater in the region. While limited infrastructure details have been announced, it appears that the project would also include an oil pipeline, two deepwater ports, an airport, a railway, and two free trade zones. With a projected total price tag of $40 billion, the overall project would cost four times Nicaragua’s 2011 gross domestic product (GDP).

The smell of scams in the morning?

And keep in mind that the Chinese executive who wants to build Nicaraguan trans-ocean canal has spotty global record

In 12 of the 20 countries where Wang’s Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group and associated companies say they’ve done business, the AP found no evidence of a successful, large-scale project up and running.

In the other eight, either analysts and major telecom firms said they had not heard of the company, or Xinwei did not provide enough details about its partners or projects to allow its record to be examined.

Read the Heritage report: “Dubious Plans and Abundant Unknowns” indeed.