A police crackdown on hundreds of Nicaraguan farmers protesting the construction of a $50 billion canal across their land left two dead Wednesday, an activist and opposition leader reported. Police action against protesters began on Tuesday and intensified Wednesday near land to be expropriated by Chinese firm Hong Kong Nicaragua Development Investment (HKND) to build a massive canal.
The leader of protests in the department of Rio San Juan, south of Managua, told AFP he saw the bodies of two people but police blocked protesters from approaching them. Opposition leader Eduardo Montealegre said that that the crackdown also left many people injured. The government has not confirmed any casualties among protesters. Protests followed the inauguration of the canal on Monday by President Daniel Ortega and Chinese billionaire Wang Jing. Wang won a 100-year contract to build the canal in 2013. The environmental, technical and financial studies of the 280-kilometer long (175-mile) route have been kept secret.