The Guatemala Canal?

If you build it, they will come. But what if someone else built it first? We just might find out the answer to that question if Guatemala goes forward with its new president’s plan to build a canal connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. You can read about it here.

Presumably Guatemala is aware of the fact that Panama is currently building a third set of locks that will significantly expand its capacity. You can read about that here.

So Guatemala won’t just compete with the Panama Canal we all know and love; it will compete with a new and improved Panama Canal.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that Guatemala’s president proposes to build its new canal as a Public Private Partnership. That likely means that it won’t get done unless the marketplace determines that the canal would generate enough income to pay for its construction.