Rising anger as Nicaragua canal to break ground

[Karl]

Associated Press

By PETER ORSI

RIO GRANDE, Nicaragua (AP) — As a conscripted soldier during the Contra War of the 1980s, Esteban Ruiz used to flee from battles because he didn't want to have to kill anyone. But now, as the 47-year-old farmer prepares to fight for his land, Ruiz insists, "I'm not going to run."

Ruiz's property on the banks of Nicaragua's Rio Grande sits in the path of a $50 billion transoceanic waterway set to break ground on Monday.

Nicaraguan officials will start building access roads on state-owned land as the first step in creating a canal expected to rival that of Panama — a project supporters say will directly employ 50,000 people and dramatically boost the country's GDP.

Farmers like Ruiz insist they'll fight "until the last breath" to protect their land. Whether or not landowners do actually take up arms, Nicaragua's government insists it is determined to push through.

The project is slated to open a huge waterway over what is now the town of Rio Grande, an evangelical-dominated community of 2,000 people with only a dirt road amid fields of corn, beans, banana and sorghum. Everything within 10 kilometers (6 miles) would be subject to expropriation.

http://news.yahoo.com/rising-anger-n...--finance.html

[Historian]

Wish Those Farmers Luck

Nicaraguan officials will start building access roads on state-owned land as the first step in creating a canal expected to rival that of Panama — a project supporters say will directly employ 50,000 people and dramatically boost the country's GDP.

Farmers like Ruiz insist they'll fight "until the last breath" to protect their land. Whether or not landowners do actually take up arms, Nicaragua's government insists it is determined to push through.

Karl, I haven’t read the link you provided as yet, but the fact is that this Nicaragua Canal plan is nothing new, as it had been contemplated way back in the 19th century, and in fact work was about to begin on it around the same time that work started on the Panama Canal (very early 20th century). So, while the Panama Canal is the economic success story of Central America, Nicaragua could have been that success story, as that country was actually considered for a canal route BEFORE Panama was.

Well, I strongly suspect that that 47-year-old farmer will be taking his “last breath” sooner than he thinks. Governments like those of Nicaragua are not like the clowns in Jamaica who spend years discussing a logistics hub but taking very little direct action.

In terms of priority, the government of Nicaragua will no doubt see the creation of jobs for 50,000 people and the expected permanent boost to the country’s GDP as infinitely more important than the needs of a handful of landowners.

This landowners stance, by the way, didn’t help the Russian farmers during the 1930s when they sought to fight the priorities of Joseph Stalin and his government. We all know what happened to those millions of farmers in Russia during the great collectivization drive!