[Author]NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
Due to the lack of space and the length of this article, it will be published in two parts. This is Part 1.
by Jens Gluesing[/Author]
PART ONE – Wearing orange overalls and sun hats, the Chinese arrived in Río Brito by helicopter before being escorted by soldiers to the river bank — right to the spot where José Enot Solís always throws out his fishing net. The Chinese drilled a hole into the ground, then another and another. “They punched holes all over the shore,” the fisherman says. He points to a grapefruit-sized opening in the mud, over one meter deep. Next to it lie bits of paper bearing Chinese writing. Aside from that, though, there isn’t much else to see of the monumental and controversial project that is to be built here: The Interoceanic Grand Canal, a second shipping channel between the Atlantic and Pacific.
ANZEIGE
The waterway is to stretch from Río Brito on the Pacific coast to the mouth of the Punta Gorda river on the Caribbean coast. Beyond that, though, curiously little is known about the details of the project. Only Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his closest advisors know how much money has already been invested, what will happen with the people living along the route and when the first construction workers from China arrive. Studies regarding the environmental and social impact of the undertaking don’t exist.
The timeline is tight. The first ship is scheduled to sail into Río Brito, which will become part of the canal, in just five years. When completed, the waterway will be 278 kilometers (173 miles) long, 230 meters (755 feet) wide and up to 30 meters (100 feet) deep, much larger than the Panama Canal to the south. A 500-meter wide security zone is planned for both sides of the waterway. And it will be able to handle enormous vessels belonging to the post-panamax category, some of which can carry more than 18,000 containers.
Thus far, only a few dozen Chinese experts are in Nicaragua and have been carrying out test drilling at the mouth of the river since the end of last year. They are measuring the speed at which the river flows, groundwater levels and soil properties. Not long ago, police established a checkpoint at the site and it is possible that the entire area will ultimately be closed off.
For now, though, the region remains a paradise for natural scientists and surfers. Sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach and a tropical dry forest stretches out behind it to the south, reaching far beyond the border into Costa Rica. But if the river here is dredged and straightened out as planned, the village on Río Brito will cease to exist.
No Answers
The project has created massive uncertainty for those who live here and ever since the arrival of the Chinese workers, they have been wondering when they will be resettled and how much the government will provide as compensation. Thus far, they haven’t received any answers. And they aren’t alone: A total of 30,000 people live close enough to the planned canal route that they will likely have to be resettled, but an exact number has yet to be announced.
Employees of a Chinese company are currently going door-to-door to collect details on residents and property. But with opposition to the project rising, they are accompanied by police and soldiers armed with Kalashnikovs. Thousands of locals along the route have begun protesting against their impending expropriations with several demonstrations having taken place in just the last few weeks. Many of the signs they carry read: “No Chinos!” The anger has become so intense that police have begun patrolling outside of the Chinese engineers’ headquarters in the provincial city of Tola.
But disdain for the project is not universal, leading to a growing split in the country. Many Nicaraguans welcome the Chinese investment and hope that the canal will bring in jobs and prosperity. Others fear a flood of Chinese immigrants.
Making matters worse is the raft of questions surrounding the project. At first glance, the geography looks ideal for the canal. Lake Nicaragua provides a natural waterway in the country’s interior, with just 20 kilometers separating the lake from the mouth of Río Brito. But breaking through to the Caribbean on the other side promises to be difficult. The area is swampy, hardly developed and populated by indigenous peoples. Thousands of square kilometers of forestland would have to be cleared.
It is also unclear if the undertaking will ever be profitable. The Panama Canal is currently being expanded and several other Central American countries are planning “dry canals” consisting of train lines connecting the two oceans across the isthmus. In order to be competitive against the others, the Nicaragua canal would have to transport a vast amount of freight. Furthermore, the small country has neither the money nor the know-how for a project of this magnitude.
Stranglehold on Power
None of these problems, however, seem to be of much concern for the president, hoping as he is that the canal will cement his legacy. But Ortega is far from the first to dream of such a thing. For 200 years now, the idea of a waterway connecting the two oceans has been one pursued by both Nicaraguan leaders and the country’s US occupiers. The Sandinista revolutionaries likewise expressed interest in the project for a time.
Ortega was one of the comandantes who led the 1979 Sandinista revolt against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza. In 1990, the Sandinistas were voted out of office, but Daniel Ortega returned to power in elections seven years ago. Since then, he and his family have established a stranglehold on power in the country. The opposition is divided and he faces little resistance in the country’s parliament. At the beginning of the year, Ortega pushed through a constitutional amendment allowing him to stand for re-election indefinitely. Critics accuse him of ruling the country like Somoza did, just without the torture.
The erstwhile socialist Ortega has cemented his power by making peace with the church and with the country’s business leaders. Furthermore, his Sandinistas have firm control of the Judiciary, Parliament and the Executive while Ortega’s children own several television channels. He is fond of presenting himself as a kind of Christian savior.
Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, is the government spokeswoman, but in reality she has much more power than that. People in the country refer to the esoteric First Lady as “La Bruja,” the witch. In the capital Managua, she has installed gigantic steel trees covered with thousands of lights on important arterials. They are lit up throughout the year as though it were eternally Christmas — many of them are decorated with glowing stars, reindeer and Santas. She has also had several public buildings painted pink, her favorite color.
Because Nicaragua is unable to build the canal on its own, Ortega brought the Chinese on board as a partner. Ever since the revolution, the Sandinistas have had close relations with the Communist Party of China. Two years ago, the president sent his son Laureano to Beijing to explore the possibilities for economic cooperation.
NEXT WEEK: PART TWO, MAKING CONTACT WITH CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY
