*Nicaragua’s 92-member unicameral legislature has approved an agreement signed by the finance ministry and Chinese firm China CAMC Engineering (CAMCE) for a total of US$482.9m for the reconstruction, expansion and improvement of the small Punta Huete (Panchito) airport in Managua. A statement published in state mouthpiece el19digital highlights that Central America has 20 international airports, but Nicaragua is the only country in the sub-region which has just one (the Augusto C. Sandino international airport in Managua. The project was announced by Vice President Rosario Murillo in October 2023 among other transport and infrastructure projects with China on the sidelines of a forum held in Beijing of China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI), which enables cooperation on major infrastructure projects. It is the latest sign of burgeoning ties between the two countries, which established relations in late 2021 after Nicaragua severed ties with Taiwan.