Asia Pacific Dec 10, 2021
Nicaragua breaks ties with Taiwan, switches allegiance to Beijing
Chinese state media said government representatives from China and Nicaragua would hold talks in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Friday.
World / Social Issues Jun 20, 2019
Human Rights Watch accuses Nicaragua of torturing protesters and urges sanctions
Pro-government forces in Nicaragua committed human rights abuses including torture in suppressing recent protests against President Daniel Ortega, and top officials should face sanctions, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Wednesday. After demonstrations against Ortega broke out in April 2018, more than 700 ...
Business Nov 2, 2018
Trump signs sanctions order targeting Venezuela gold exports: John Bolton
Washington ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday with new measures aimed at disrupting the South American country's gold exports, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said. Bolton promised a tough stance by the Trump administration toward "dictators and despots near ...
World / Politics Sep 24, 2018
At least one killed as protests rock Nicaragua; Ortega defiant
Police and supporters of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega clashed in Managua on Sunday with demonstrators calling for the release of people imprisoned during recent protests, leaving at least one person dead, authorities said. Hundreds of protesters carrying Nicaragua's blue and white flag massed in the ...
World Jul 19, 2018
Foes of Ortega go into hiding, vow no surrender after deadly clampdown
Hundreds of opponents of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega are in hiding in safe houses and planning their next steps to push for his resignation after Ortega loyalists, supported by police, took over a stronghold this week. Police and armed Ortega supporters stormed the Monimbo suburb ...
Asia Pacific Feb 8, 2016
Nicaragua retains hope of building new canal despite China's woes
Manuel Coronel Kautz isn't a man who's easily deterred, which is a good thing, because as head of Nicaragua's Canal Authority, he's seen the $50 billion, Chinese-backed project suffer setback after setback. The latest: 12 months of construction delays on a key port just as ...
World / Social Issues Dec 28, 2015
Pope pleas for Central America governments to resolve fate of stranded U.S.-bound Cubans
Pope Francis urged Central American governments on Sunday to find an urgent solution to help thousands of U.S.-bound Cuban migrants stranded on the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Nicaragua has refused to let the growing number of Cubans trying to reach the United States ...
World Dec 30, 2014
Doubts over ambitious Nicaragua canal project grow as work gets underway
When one of the poorest countries in the Americas and a little-known Chinese businessman said they planned to undertake one of the biggest engineering projects in history, few people took them seriously. A year and a half after the $50 billion project to build a ...
World Nov 21, 2014
Construction of Nicaragua's $50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, expected to rival the Panama Canal, will begin Dec. 22 after feasibility studies have been approved, the committee overseeing the project said on Thursday. The route suggested for the 172-mile (278-km) canal, which would be longer, deeper ...
World Oct 14, 2014
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck late on Monday off the coast of El Salvador and Nicaragua and was felt across Central America, killing at least one person, but there were no immediate reports of major damage. El Salvador's emergency services said a dozen homes in ...
Business May 5, 2014
Wang Jing, the enigmatic businessman behind Nicaragua's $50 billion Interoceanic Grand Canal, shrugs off skepticism about how a little-known entrepreneur can be driving a huge transcontinental project, insisting he is not an agent of the Beijing government. "I know you don't believe me," said Wang, ...
Commentary / World Jul 5, 2013
China eyes a canal project in America's backyard
by Gwynne Dyer
It would be easy to blow off the plans to build a canal across Nicaragua to connect both oceans if it were not for the expected support of the Chinese government.