The murky legal framework which led to the canal concession violates a catalogue of national and international human rights standards, according to Amnesty’s new report. President Daniel Ortega, a former Sandinista leader, has been accused of surrendering Nicaraguan sovereignty as the 100-year canal concession grants Chinese telecommunications magnate Wang Jing and his Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment (HKND) control over large parts of the country. The 2013 canal law also green-lighted environmentally harmful infrastructure projects including ports, free trade zones and a railroad. Ortega, 71, has described the canal as “phase two” of the Nicaraguan revolution, dismissing critics as anti-revolutionary and anti-development. Nicaragua canal: in a sleepy Pacific port, something stirs Read moreDespite the pushback, the government has refused to enter into meaningful dialogue with communities, and details on relocation and compensation remains scant.

Source: The Guardian August 03, 2017 15:00 UTC