Leaked files reviewed by The Grayzone show the US gov’t covertly funded Nepalese youth groups in the run-up to a violent coup. The “Gen Z” shadow army mobilized as the US sought to neutralize Chinese and Indian influence over Kathmandu – now controlled by a leader chosen by an informal social media poll. The US government’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED) spent hundreds of thousands of dollars tutoring dozens of Nepalese youth on “strategies and skills in organizing protests and […]
  • Inui [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    4·
    13 days ago

    I’ll eat my words for pushing back against this line of thought when it happened. But I still believe it wouldn’t have escalated if the previous govt were doing their jobs.

    They had many corruption scandals and if you visit Boudhanath in Kathmandu, you can walk 5 minutes from the Stupa, a major tourist destination, to meet people living on concrete slabs with tin roofs surrounded by mud. The monsoon affects them heavily every year and they’re part of a discriminated minority the govt ignores.

    There are women clearly sex trafficked and/or coerced into sex work in Pokhara, another location you’ll find countless foreigners walking around before going on treks.

    Those are just some examples.

    I’d have wanted to force their hand too.

    • pinguinu [any]@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
      6·
      13 days ago

      I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. The protests can be and most of the time are organic and have well-founded concerns, but from some point on the NED gains the lead because there’s just no organisation to compete with it. This just means the population lacks an already-existing organisation championing their own [sovereign] interests (which is pretty much everywhere in the world, not trying to lay blame).

      • Inui [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        2·
        13 days ago

        I agree. But I saw a ton of sentiment here when it happened like “silly gen z mad about their apps”, which I believe was an ignorant reaction in defense of an ineffective government. Is it better than the monarchy? Surely. Is it comparable to other nations with communist parties as far as social/economic progress? Not really.