Ecuadorean President-Elect Rafael Correa has announced dedication to building a port on his country's Pacific Coast in a plan to create a cross-continental river corridor to Brazil, an effort to ease transport of Asian goods throughout South America.
"The initiative is at the top of the list among the 31 projects of the South American regional infrastructure integration initiative (IIRSA)."
"The terminal will be connected via land to port Francisco de Orellana, on El Napo river, said Correa."
"In turn, the river will be dredged and Francisco de Orellana port will then be connected to Brazilian port Manaus through a system of locks, he added. The Brazilian port would lead to Atlantic port Belén, in the same country, making the initiative the cheapest and quickest path to connect the Atlantic to Asia, he said."
Many environmentalists are concerned about the environmental effects of such a large scale project and are opposing the dredging.
