Nicaragua canal

The Nicaragua canal is a proposed waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans distinct from the Panama canal. It would be 278 kilometers (172 miles) long and would generally follow the San Juan River[?], then go through Lake Nicaragua near the southern shore and across the narrow isthmus of Rivas[?] to the Pacific Ocean. First proposed by Henry Clay, the U.S. Secretary of State in 1826, the route was an important factor in negotiation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850.

At various times since the Panama canal opened, the route has been reconsidered; it would shorten the water distance between New York and San Francisco by nearly 800 kilometers (500 miles). Under the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty[?] of 1916, the United States paid Nicaragua US$3 million for an option in perpetuity and free of taxation, including 99-year leases to the Corn Islands[?] and a site for a naval base on the Gulf of Fonseca[?]. Costa Rica protested that Costa Rican rights to the San Juan River[?] had been infringed, and El Salvador maintained that the proposed naval base affected both it and Honduras. Both protests were upheld by the Central American Court of Justice; the court rulings are ignored by both Nicaragua and the United States.