New Inter-Oceanic Canal
Nicaragua:
civic organisations want protesters freed, 'Chinese invaders' out
Expropriation law upsets peasants,
environmentalists. 30 arrested nationwide. President Daniel Ortega dubbed a
'traitor'.
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unrest over the Nicaragua Canal
A coalition of civic and political
organisations Thursday demanded the release of 30 people arrested during
protests against Nicaragua’s planned inter-oceanic canal. The protesters want
the repeal of the law authorising the project and the expulsion of “the Chinese
invaders,” a reference to executives and employees of the Hong Kong-based lead
contractor, HKND Group.
Police said they arrested a total of 30
peasants when they dismantled protest camps located at two different sites. The
confrontations left 16 police officers and five canal opponents injured,
authorities said.
The peasants, many of whom showed signs
calling President Danuiel Ortega “a traitor”, are unhappy with a provision of
the canal's expropriation law that effectively compels residents along the
route to sell their land at whatever price HKND offers. The $50 billion project
officially got under way on Monday despite widespread opposition spurred by the
government’s failure even to conduct studies of the canal’s potential impact on
the environment and on the affected communities.
The waterway is to wind 278 kilometers
(173 miles) from the Pacific coastal town of Brito to the mouth of the Punta
Gorda River on Nicaragua’s Atlantic shore. A significant portion of the canal
route – 105 kilometers – runs through Lake Nicaragua.
The infrastructure is to include two deep-water
ports, an airport, an artificial lake, two sets of locks, a tourist complex, a
free-trade zone, roads, and cement and steel factories, according to the Hong
Kong-based HKND Group, which expects to complete work in 2019.
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