Taiwan donates us$30
million dollars to
Nicaragua for energy
The government of Taiwan
granted Nicaragua a
donation of 30 million
dollars on Thursday to
purchase thermoelectric
plants that help solve
the Central American
country's severe energy
crisis.
The donation was
officially granted at a
ceremony at the
Nicaraguan Foreign
Ministry in Managua
attended by Nicaraguan
Foreign Minister Samuel
Santos and Taiwanese
Ambassador Wu Chin-mu.
Santos thanked Taiwan
for 'this significant
gesture of solidarity'
and stressed the speed
with which authorities
in Taipei responded to a
request which Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega
formulated in May.
On June 1, neighbouring
Costa Rica broke
decades-long ties with
Taiwan to establish
diplomatic relations
with China. The move
prompted rumours that
Nicaragua and other
Central American
countries might follow
suit.
Taiwan, seat of the
exiled Republic of China
since the end of the
Chinese Civil War in
1949, is now recognized
by only 24 mostly small
nations, half of them in
Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Ortega recently ruled
out abandoning ties with
what he called 'the
brothers in the
government and the
people of Taiwan.'
Nicaraguan Energy
Minister Emilio
Rapacciolli said the
government plans to
acquire the
thermoelectric plants
later this year.
The Central American
country has undergone
rationing of electricity
in recent weeks, with
blackouts lasting up to
12 hours a day.
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