Nicaraguan writer and Catholic priest Ernesto Cardenal this weekend blasted plans for the construction of a massive interoceanic canal, calling it a “monstrosity” that would split the country in two and irreversibly damage Lake Cocibolca, the biggest freshwater lake in Central America.
Cardenal penned an op-ed column in the local newspaper La Prensa titled “La monstruosidad del canal” – “The monstrosity of the canal” – in which he criticized the favorable conditions that the government of Daniel Ortega granted to Chinese businessman Wang Jing in the canal concession.
“We should denounce to the world what is happening in Nicaragua,” Cardenal wrote, accusing Ortega of imposing the project on the country with “power absolute.”I can't say that I was totally shocked but at last week's talk at Marquette, I spoke to someone who has been involved in Central America solidarity work for quite some time. I listened to him rail against the Guatemalan government for its repression of indigenous groups in the name of hydroelectric and mining profits. He then criticized the Honduran government and business sector for displacing peasants in the Aguan region in order to plant palm oil. He was proud of solidarity's work in defeating Milwaukee's Commerce Group in El Salvador.
But then he went on and on defending the Nicaraguan government's handling of the proposed canal. It was painful. I'm not an engineer, but I don't know how anyone can deny the likely environmental and societal damage that the proposed canal will have on the people of Nicaragua.
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