The Cuban-American representative María Elvira Salazar alerted the U.S. Congress on Tuesday about a Chinese investment of 500 million dollars in the Punta Huete airport in Nicaragua, a facility capable of operating strategic bombers that could reach Washington D.C. in just three hours from there.
Salazar issued the warning during a hearing of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee that she herself chaired, titled "Confronting the Ortega-Murillo Totalitarian Regime," with a State Department official as a witness.
The legislator showed images of the project and directly questioned the administration on whether it is taking measures to stop what she called a persistent threat.
Beijing is expanding its reach in our own backyard, Salazar stated. Chinese bombers operating from there could reach Washington D.C. in three hours. China is investing hundreds of millions in Punta Huete, an airbase in Nicaragua capable of hosting strategic bombers.
The lawmaker identified the Chinese bomber Xian H-6—approximately equivalent to the U.S. B-2—as one of the models that could operate from that runway, alongside Russian strategic bombers.
According to data collected by Infobae, the total investment amounts to 517.6 million dollars, with 80% financed through a Chinese loan at 5.2% interest for 15 years, executed by the Chinese state company CAMCE.
The projected runway is category 4F, measuring 3,600 meters in length and 60 meters in width, dimensions that allow for the operation of wide-body aircraft and, potentially, large military planes. The project's completion is scheduled for October 2028.
Salazar emphasized the geographical proximity of the site: "Managua is closer to Miami, the city I represent, than to Los Angeles." Punta Huete is located about 60 kilometers north of the Nicaraguan capital.
The project is officially presented as an international airport for cargo and passengers with a capacity for 3.5 million travelers annually, but the legislator rejected this framing: "We are talking about this being a beachhead that our enemies will have very close to us."
The concern is not new. The Punta Huete runway was originally built by the Soviet Union in the 1980s specifically for the use of strategic bombers during the Sandinista era, which reinforces interpretations of its possible dual use under the current Chinese project.
This pattern of strategic penetration in the hemisphere also includes Cuba, where Washington has pointed out the existence of Chinese signal intelligence facilities in places like Bejucal, Wajay, Calabazar, and El Salao, capable of intercepting military communications and monitoring activity in the southeastern United States.
The Cuban regime systematically denies the existence of those bases.
In May of this year, the U.S. warned about the increase in Russian and Chinese espionage from Cuba, and Salazar has repeatedly linked Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua as part of an authoritarian bloc that threatens regional security.
The legislator acknowledged that the administration is "watching closely and deeply concerned" about the project, although she warned that the matter should be discussed in a classified environment. Her message to the State Department was straightforward: "We need to stop this before it becomes permanent".
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