KATHMANDU, Feb 7: The statement issued by the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal regarding the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela has continued to trigger debates at home.

While some have suggested that a section of politicians in Kathmandu had lobbied with Chairman Dahal to issue the “strong-worded” statement criticizing the US and its allies, others have suggested that top NCP leaders themselves had taken proactive initiatives to issue the statement.

No matter who provoked NCP Chairman Dahal on January 25 to issue the statement, the language used in the statement appears similar in many ways with the one issued by Communist Party of India (Marxist). 

The NCP statement issued by Chairman Dahal appears to contain similar jargon that CPI (Marxist) issued on January 24 to criticize the US and its allies. Although all communist parties across the world tend to use similar jargon, it might not just be a mere coincidence to have the same spirit and even language in Dahal’s statement issued a day later.

For instance, the CPI (Marxist) statement ‘denounces’ US intervention in the internal affairs of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, accusing the US of trying to subvert the constitutional order. Although the CPI (Marxist) statement criticizes US alone, NCP statement puts US and its allies together. 

Similarly, the CPI (Marxist) statement has alleged that the US was “trying to destabilize the democratically elected government of Venezuela through various means including the imposition of inhuman economic sanction and threatening military intervening” – something that resonate in Dahal’s statement. 

Like in NCP Chairman Dahal’s statement, CPI (Marxist) statement also alleges that the US was “making attempts to destabilize the country” and hatching a “coup attempt”. 

Similarly, the concluding part of the CPI (Marxist) statement condemns the “act of aggression of US imperialism on Venezuela, while appealing to international community to stand in favor of Venezuela”. This is exactly what the NCP’s statement concludes with. 

Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) later issued a separate statement on Venezuelan crisis after the US sought clarification if Dahal’s statement reflected the government’s official position, the US continued to be miffed with Nepal. The government also organized a briefing to the international community to clarify the government’s position on a number of different foreign policy priorities. 

Amid tensions in bilateral relations between the United States and Nepal over their differences on the issue related to the ongoing Venezuelan political crisis, US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry called on Prime Minister KP Oli on Tuesday. 

The envoy held one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Oli at the latter’s official residence, Baluwatar in the evening. Although officials did not divulge what transpired during the meeting, sources said Prime Minister Oli had tried to address the concerns raised by the US during the meeting.

Asked to comment on the meeting, US embassy spokesperson said the ambassador had discussions with prime minister on various facets of the Nepal-US relation. 

“We do not normally comment on the content of such conversation, but I can say that the ambassador welcomed the opportunity to speak with the prime minister about the US-Nepal relationship,” said the spokesperson.

 
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