Posted on 05/10/2005 10:53:23 AM PDT by Srirangan
Intelligence Reports | Nepal | USA
10 May 2005: With the idea to restore and stabilise democracy in Nepal, constrain King Gyanendra from future coups, and to keep the Maoists from gaining strength and eventual power, the US government has cleared the entry and operation of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which has previously intervened in Poland (through the trade union, Solidarity), Chile, Nicaragua, Eastern Europe (after the fall of the Soviet bloc), South Africa, Burma, China, Tibet, North Korea, and the Balkans.
This was disclosed to Nepalese politicians in private interactions when the US assistant secretary of state, Christina Rocca, met them during a visit to the Himalayan kingdom, and while the entry of the NED to stabilise democracy in the country has the obvious but grudging approval of the king, China may not be very comfortable with the development, and India could be suspicious.
At various times in its two decades history, the NED, otherwise a private, non-profit organisation, has been accused of being a CIA front, although it openly receives special appropriations from the Congress, and King Gyanendra has been forced to accept its operations and agree to restore democracy in return for development aid.
“The US was taken by surprise with Gyanendra’s coup,” said a diplomat, “and its strategic interests were hurt, with the definite possibility of Nepal being drawn into Chinese embrace, and it wants no repeat of this, and NED will set up and strengthen democratic institutions, and function as an advance warning in case events turn for the worse again.”
Original Article
http://www.ned.org/about/about.html
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. The Endowment is governed by an independent, nonpartisan board of directors. With its annual congressional appropriation, it makes hundreds of grants each year to support prodemocracy groups in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union.
The Endowment is guided by the belief that freedom is a universal human aspiration that can be realized through the development of democratic institutions, procedures, and values. Democracy cannot be achieved through a single election and need not be based upon the model of the United States or any other particular country. Rather, it evolves according to the needs and traditions of diverse political cultures. By supporting this process, the Endowment helps strengthen the bond between indigenous democratic movements abroad and the people of the United States -- a bond based on a common commitment to representative government and freedom as a way of life.
".........and India could be suspicious."
Why is India suspicious? I thought India and the US (along with UK) were coordinating together in Nepal.
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