Speaking yesterday on the anniversary of the birth of national hero Francisco Morazán, and also on national Soldier’s Day, Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced that “in the name of the state and … to protect the public and social interests of 9 million Hondurans, I declare that the project to build an interoceanic railroad to join the Atlantic and Pacific oceans is a matter of national interest.” She said, it will be a project to promote the economic and social development of the entire Central American region, for which a new state company will be established, the Honduran daily El Heraldo reported.
President Castro reported that the U.S. and many other countries had mentioned how important this project would be for the whole region, and that she has already approached several countries on financing this project, which would contribute greatly to national development and to trade. In fact, several countries are expected to make their financing offers soon.
This is a message that New York City Mayor Eric Adams should be listening to and grasp: That if the countries of Central and South America are able to develop and offer jobs, housing and healthcare to their citizens, people wouldn’t have to leave their nations and make the dangerous trip to the United States to seek asylum. He should be praising President Castro’s proposal, instead of embarking on a four-day tour today in Mexico, and then to Ecuador and Colombia to threaten would-be migrants not to be fooled by “misinformation” which lies to them that if they reach New York City they’ll get a warm welcome, jobs or hotel rooms. Adams will even visit the Darién Gap linking South and Central America, through which many migrants travel north, Politico reported. Referring to the flow of migrants who’ve entered New York City recently, Adams told reporters yesterday, “we want to give people a true picture of what’s here. We’re at capacity.”
Meanwhile, plans are moving forward on the Honduran rail project. In July, Foreign Minister Eduardo Reina had told El Heraldo that the government would soon be presenting to China the proposed construction of the railroad and four dams, plus other large infrastructure projects it hopes China will finance. According to Sputnik, when the first round of talks by the China-Honduras Mixed Trade and Investment Commission took place to discuss a free trade agreement in early July, Honduras proposed that China build the railroad whose price tag is $20 billion. In 2016, Italy (or an Italian company) had conducted a pre-feasibility study of the project, which had, among other things, pointed to the potential for developing the port of Amapala into a megaport on the Pacific side to connect to Puerto Castillo on the Caribbean/Atlantic side.
