That canal has been the dreams of explorers and governments over and over since Pizarro. I think the US at one point had interest developing a canal but work in Panama was seen as easier of the two isthmuses.
I think this will be a double edged sword for the locals. It has the potential to pull the country from the bottom of the barrel and catapult it into a relatively richer country, like Panama, if the government does not squander its money --given their history, the odds seem stacked against them.
On the other hand, this would be major disruption of "indigenous" lives with the big mighty foreigners coming in (in this case the imperialists, no longer gringos or Euros, but Chinese. But, that's probably not the biggest concern (mega projects are often multinational) I think the biggest issue is disruption of the local flora and fauna specially introduction of seawater as well as stowaway species into their lakes and streams. However, given their poverty, I can hardly find fault with trying for prosperity whichever way they can get it.
Interesting to see that MacAfee's travel guide[1] would be pretty relevant for anyone going down there.
Out of curiosity, for anyone who knows the history: how did southern central America manage to wind up split into a bunch of tiny countries? There's no obvious geographic, linguistic or cultural reason that I can see.
My guess is they formed along the lines of Spanish and Portuguese governorships. Keep in mind the smallest states in the western hemi are in the Caribbean.
I think this will be a double edged sword for the locals. It has the potential to pull the country from the bottom of the barrel and catapult it into a relatively richer country, like Panama, if the government does not squander its money --given their history, the odds seem stacked against them.
On the other hand, this would be major disruption of "indigenous" lives with the big mighty foreigners coming in (in this case the imperialists, no longer gringos or Euros, but Chinese. But, that's probably not the biggest concern (mega projects are often multinational) I think the biggest issue is disruption of the local flora and fauna specially introduction of seawater as well as stowaway species into their lakes and streams. However, given their poverty, I can hardly find fault with trying for prosperity whichever way they can get it.
Interesting to see that MacAfee's travel guide[1] would be pretty relevant for anyone going down there.
[1]http://www.whoismcafee.com/the-travel-guide/