Which one of the following countries is planning to construct a rival to the Panama Canal to link the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans?

The country planning a rival interoceanic route is Nicaragua. Proposals to build a canal linking the Pacific and Atlantic (via Lake Nicaragua and associated waterways) have recurred for centuries and were revived in the 2010s with plans championed by a Chinese-backed developer; commentators have described this as a potential rival to the Panama Canal given its aim to connect the two oceans [1]. In 2013–2014 Nicaragua’s government granted a concession to HKND for the “Interoceanic Grand Canal,” a project described as a massive, multi-hundred-kilometre canal intended to provide an alternative transoceanic shipping route [2]. These sources identify Nicaragua — not Colombia, Costa Rica, or Guatemala — as the country linked to the rival-canal proposals.

Sources

1. [1] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230825-the-rival-to-the-panama-canal-that-was-never-built
2. [2] https://www.acs-aec.org/en/news-release/getting-bottom-nicaragua-canal