*Nicaragua’s government led by President Daniel Ortega has announced the arrival of the 250 buses from China to be used in the capital, Managua. This is the third such fleet; the first arrived in October 2023. The government is expecting a total of 2,000 buses. It follows other recent signs of strengthening cooperation with Beijing with the announcement of agreements signed last month with Chinese firm China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) for solar project Solar El Hato, to be constructed in Ciudad Darío municipality, in Matagalpa department, a 194.47m yuan (US$27m) loan from Chinese firm China CAMC Engineering to strengthen Nicaragua’s “energy capacities”, and agreements with Chinese firms pertaining to the mining sector. The two countries established bilateral relations in December 2021 after the Ortega government severed ties with Taiwan.