Thursday, March 13, 2008

Iran to build $230 million hydroelectric dam in Nicaragua


A state-owned Iranian company will build the $230 million Bodoke project on the Tuma River in the Jinotega province with financing by Iran's export bank, Energy Minister Emilio Rappaccioli told Nicaragua's Channel 2 on Thursday."The construction will take place once both sides reach an agreement on a series of factors that have to studied further," Rappaccioli said.

The visit came just a week after U.S. Ambassador Paul Trivelli warned the Central American nation about its increasingly close ties with Iran. But Trivelli also said that the relationship would not endanger the United States' "good relations" with Nicaragua.

Under the Iran-Nicaragua pact, Iran will fund a farm equipment assembly plant, 4,000 tractors, four hydroelectric plants, five milk-processing plants, a health clinic, 10,000 houses and two piers in the western port of Corinto. In exchange Nicaragua will export coffee, meat and bananas to Iran.
The planned dam is part of Nicaragua's plan to shift toward renewable energy sources. Currently 80 percent of the country's energy needs are met by oil imports.


The Iranians are now trying to help out the South Americans. This seems strange because the Iranians seem to be "buddying up " with county's closer to the U.S.A. This article also explains that this project is one of many projects talked about by the Iranian government.

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