Over the last two years, farmers and conservationists have been fighting against plans by the Nicaraguan government and a Chinese company to cut Nicaragua in half with the creation of an interoceanic canal. Last Thursday, the farmers from the Nicaraguan group National Council in Defense of our Land, Lake and Sovereignty turned in 28,000 signatures in opposition to the law that grants concession for the project, according to Nicaraguan newspaper Confidencial.

A Nicaraguan scientist leading the opposition to the project, Jorge Huete-Pérez, spoke about the challenges in preventing the creation of the canal during his visit to Seattle in Dec