Nicaragua canal approved by Nicaragua's president, Chinese businessman
| Managua, Nicaragua
President Daniel Ortega and Chinese businessman Wang Jing have signed an agreement giving his company the right to build a shipping channel across聽Nicaragua聽that would compete with the Panama听颁补苍补濒.
The signing took place a day after聽Nicaragua's聽National Assembly voted to grant Hong Kong-based HK聽Nicaragua聽Canal聽Development Investment Co. a 50-year concession to study, then possibly build and run, the聽canal.
Ortega's backers say the project would transform one of the region's poorest countries by bringing tens of thousands of jobs to the country and fueling an economic boom that would mimic the prosperity of nearby Panama and its U.S.-built聽canal.
Critics say the proposal, which was given fast-track approval, contains no specific route for the聽canal聽and virtually no details of its financing or economic viability.
Addressing opposition comments that the previously little-known Chinese businessman was illusionary, Ortega said at the signing: "Here we have our brother Wang Jing in flesh and blood, here is the ghost in flesh and blood."
