Daniel Ortega: I'd be happy to throw in my first-born child as well

Look I hope that the proposed canal through Nicaragua works out well for the Nicaraguan people - minimal environmental damage, good jobs, increased revenue, and all that other stuff. I have my doubts but I hope that if they do go forward with the project it will succeed.

And I understand that the Nicaraguan government needs to offer some incentives to investors in order to go forward with the project but have you taken a look at what the government is offering?

After three days of discussion in June, the National Assembly controlled by Ortega’s Sandinista party approved giving Beijing-based telecommunications CEO Wang Jing a 50-year renewable concession to build a canal more than three times the length of the Panama Canal, as well as tax-free side projects including ports on Nicaragua’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts, an oil pipeline bisecting the country, a cargo railway, two free-trade zones and an international airport.

The deal pays Nicaragua $10 million a year for 10 years and gradually transfers ownership to Nicaragua, handing over 100 percent after a century. But the payments and the transfer only begin if and when the canal begins operation. Under the agreement, Wang can skip building the canal altogether but plow ahead with the other projects.

....

The legislation allows Wang to petition the state to confiscate any land needed. It requires him to pay owners the assessed value, but much of the property outside major cities has never been officially assessed, risking what private businesses fear could be a land grab for pennies on the dollar.

Nicaragua is required to compensate Wang for legal changes that delay the canal or cause it to lose money. Compensation can come from state coffers, including the reserves of the central bank, under a waiver of Nicaragua’s sovereign immunity.

On the one hand, I imagine that these tasty concessions are the sort that US investors receive moving into new countries that are desperate for foreign direct investment. On the other hand, could you imagine the outrage in this case if the investor were US-based?