Chinese-backed Nicaragua canal could be $50B boondoggle

Boondoggle?
WASHINGTON — This week, Nicaraguan dignitaries and officials from a Hong Kong-based consortium inaugurated what could be the most ambitious infrastructure project in the Western Hemisphere. The planned Grand Canal of Nicaragua would span 172 miles across the Central American nation, cutting through Lake Nicaragua, the region’s largest freshwater reservoir. At a cost of about $50 billion, it would dwarf the Panama Canal in terms of capacity and bring untold economic benefits to what remains one of the poorest countries in the Americas.

“With this great canal, Nicaragua expects to move 5 percent of the world’s commerce that moves by sea, which will bring great economic benefits and double the GDP,” said Nicaraguan Vice President Omar Halleslevens at a groundbreaking ceremony on the Pacific Coast.

But there are many reasons to doubt the venture will be a success.

The dream of building a trans-oceanic waterway through Nicaragua is an old one, dating back to the 19th century. American proponents of such a project included the powerful Vanderbilt family and President Theodore Roosevelt. None of the earlier plans were realized.

($ referring to US Currency)