*Nicaragua’s government led by President Daniel Ortega has announced the start of works on the new Punta Huete (Panchito) airport in Nicaragua’s capital Managua which is being built by Chinese firm, China CAMC Engineering (CAMCE), as part of the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI), China’s flagship global infrastructure investment initiative. A ceremony marking the start of the works, which will transform what was a small military airport into an international one, was attended by the presidential couple’s son, Laureano Ortega, a presidential adviser on investment, the ministers of transport (Ret. General Óscar Mojica Obregón) and finance (Bruno Gallardo), and the vice president of CAMCE, Yan Hailu, among others. The Nicaraguan government is describing the initiative as its most important project, noting that when the new airport is up and running, it should have the capacity for 3.5m passengers and 60,000 tonnes of cargo annually.