Nicaragua - Iran's Central American Foothold

(Managua, Nicaragua) Nicaraguan Energy Minister Emilio Rappaccioli announced today that Iran will build a $230 million hydroelectric dam and power plant on the Tuma River in northern Nicaragua. The project will be financed by the Export Development Bank of Iran.

The dam is one of many joint Iranian-Nicaraguan projects to result from agreements between President Daniel Ortega and Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian last year.

Under the Iran-Nicaragua pact, Iran will fund a farm equipment assembly plant, 4,000 tractors, four hydroelectric plants, five milk-processing plants, a health clinic, 10,000 houses and two piers in the western port of Corinto. In exchange Nicaragua will export coffee, meat and bananas to Iran.

It's worth noting that Nicaragua is also known as an illegal drugs and arms transshipment country. Iran's interest in those attributes wasn't disclosed.