Dream on, Nicaragua

The dubiously dubbed “Grand Canal of Nicaragua” bears a troubling resemblance to the phantom “Argentine Canal,” proposed in the 19th century. By all evidence, both ideas are frauds.

The Argentine adventure was meant to rival the Suez, but critics rightly saw it as a ruse to colonize the South American nation. Those familiar with Oscar Wilde’s play, An Ideal Husband, will recall that the plausibility of such a huge undertaking was quickly quashed by Parliament before any real engineering effort could get underway.

Not so with the Nicaraguan effort – which is designed to undermine the expanded Panama Canal. At last week’s opening ceremony (conducted by a shady Hong Kong-based international consortium) Nicaraguan Vice President Omar Halleslevens declared that the completed Canal “will bring great economic benefits and double the GDP.”

But there is already evidence that the Nicaraguan people are not buying it.

Many rightly fear that the environmental damage will outweigh any economic benefit, as the canal will cut through Lake Nicaragua –  a vital source of fresh water for many of the poorest people in the hemisphere. Other Nicaraguan critics of the plan cite the political implications of the Canal, noting that China may have grand designs of financial conquest.

In any case, most shipping authorities give the project little chance of success. Beneficial Cargo Owners have hardly been crying out for new routings, and the savings on total landed costs have yet to be factored in.

One would hope, however, that this scheme might compel the Nicaraguans to seek an alternative to the oppressive regime that now governs their land…and one which promotes such pipe dreams.