Nicaragua launches the work of a controversial canal

A new canal in Central America. Nicaragua has launched the work of this very ambitious project. A pharaonic construction estimated at $ 50 billion, funded by a Chinese group that will manage for 50 to 100 years, 5 years of work, 50,000 workers. A boon for the country according to Daniel Ortega where poverty affects 45% of the population, "With the revenue this kind of project will generate, we will have great opportunities to completely eradicate poverty and extreme poverty."

The canal will link the Pacific coast to the Caribbean coast, a plot of 278 km long, three times more than the Panama Canal.

The population is far from sharing the enthusiasm of its President. For months, the protests are increasing: peasants and indigenous threatened with expropriation, but also worried associations risk ecological disaster. All environmental studies are kept secret. Big concern for Lake Cocibolca, the largest freshwater reserve in Central America. The channel must cross the salt water and the entry threaten local species.