Belly, Félix (1816–1886)

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Belly, Félix (1816–1886)

Félix Belly (b. October 1816; d. 3 November 1886), French journalist and promoter of a Nicaraguan trans-isthmian canal. Belly visited Nicaragua and received a canal concession in 1858 from the government of General Tomás Martínez. Belly's settlement of a boundary dispute between Nicaragua and Costa Rica cleared the way for work to begin. Yet Belly faced other problems. The U.S. government disapproved of Belly's work, fearing that he was an agent of French imperialism. More serious still was a shortage of investment capital. Belly surveyed a canal route, but financial problems and renewed border disputes terminated the project.

See alsoFrench-Latin American Relations .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cyril Allen, France in Central America: Félix Belly and the Nicaraguan Canal (1986).

David I. Folkman, Jr., The Nicaragua Route (1972).

                                      Steven S. Gillick