Cuba's envoy meets with Nepal's Royal Dictatorship

[flyby2]

english.people.com.cn/200503/02/eng20050302_175259.html

Cuba backs Nepal's peace efforts
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A visiting Cuban official has said the recent political development in Nepal was its internal affairs, and Cuba would extend support to Nepal's efforts to establish peace in the kingdom.

"The Nepalese people and the present government led by King Gyanendra are capable of addressing their internal problems by themselves," Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba Abelardo Morento told reporters here Wednesday.

He has brought with him the good wishes of the Cuban President to all the Nepalese people, said Morento, who arrived here Monday on an unofficial visit.

Cuba and Nepal have cordial relationship for many years, for both countries are the members of the non-aligned movement, he said.

During his visit, Morento met with Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey and handed over a letter to Pandey from Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.

Source: Xinhua

[1949]

Figures. I've also seen more than one report from the Korean Central News Agency about north Korea's good relation with the Nepalese government. I will look for those later.

[1949]

Congratulations to Nepalese Foreign Minister

Pyongyang, March 4 (KCNA) -- DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun sent a congratulatory message to Ramesh Nath Pandey upon his appointment as Nepalese foreign minister. Convinced that the excellent friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries would continue to develop on good terms in the future, too, the message sincerely wished him success in his new job.

www.kcna.co.jp/item/2005/200503/news03/05.htm#10

[1949]

I recall someone having said at another forum back around July that he thinks it is actually a good thing that the governments of Cuba and north Korea do not speak out in favor of the People's War in Nepal because, if they did, it would encourage armed U.S. intervention in Nepal.

How would others counter this?

[Fernando Gonzales]

Yes, that sounds quite logical.

[flyby]

yeah, think of that "logic."

first, perhaps we should all send greetings to the Nepalese King. Perhaps that will make it harder to suppress the revolution.

Second, think of all the things Cuba should do to follow that logic!

They should send greetings to cops charged with killing people -- so it will be easier to resist police brutality. They should hail all employers who own sweatshops, so it is easier for the workers to organize.

[repeater]

A friend of mine suggested that Cuba's move was somehow related to Chinese foreign policy. In light of North Korea's actions in Nepal it seems there could be something to this. Of course N. Korea is tightly connected to China.

I didn't know this, but apparently China at one time was the main destination for Cuba's sugar crop. I'm not sure if that's the case today, but if so it could give one reason that Cuba would be messing in the internal affairs of Nepal (while claiming that no one should interfere in Nepal's internal affairs). There was also the recent news in Venezuela that Venezuelan oil will now be shipped to China. Chavez and Castro seemed to be allies of sorts. There's also been talk of more oil exploration and exploitation by China in L. America.

I think China's interest in Nepal has to do with imperial competition between China and India. There's also the ideological aspect, the chinese government is no friend of revolutionaries.

At first I thought the ideological aspect of this was the most important in explaining why Cuba did what it did, but the amount of distance and what I would assume is the economic irrelevance of Nepal to Cuba suggests that it has to be more than simply the history of the Cubans against Maoists in Peru, and their stature as one of the last "socialist states". To me it suggests some ass kissing of Cuban patrons.

[RedFlagOverTrenton]

Here's how I've heard the China-India-Nepal connection explained.

China's had beef with India ever since the days of Mao - wars over territory, conflicting alliances (India straddling the Soviet and US camps), etc. So there's competition but also no small amount of mutual suspicion. Now, China likes having Nepal as a sort of nice, vaguely neutral buffer against Indian expansion or aggression (they may be Indian puppets, but Indian troops having to mass in Nepal would at least give some sort of warning), and India likes having Nepal as a client state for the same reason. Now, a Maoist victory could, as the CPN has warned, trigger an Indian military intervention - putting many thousands of Indian troops right on China's doorstep, which Bejiing obviously doesn't want. They want Indian military actions and intervention in the region to an absolute minimum, especially given the disputed territory in the general Nepal/Kashmir area it wants to keep.

I guess it kinda makes sense.. as for Cuba and the DPRK, given the fact that the Maoists there and everywhere refer to them as revisionists or phony communists, I think they wouldn't lift a finger even if strategic considerations weren't involved - and the revolutionaries would rightly shrug their shoulders or outright repudiate it anyway.

[saidamenebhi]

hello comrades i've got this e-mail message from [e-mail]
comrades,
I read the mail send by [e-mail], reffering 'Cp of Cuba is supporting CPN[M] see Resolution on nepal,2-4 May 2004,Brussels.
This truth circulated by "Revisionist camps is obvious.After two weeks of feb 1,2005 in Nepal, This news appeared in some English newspapers that Cuban Foreign Ministry said that it is the Nepal's internal matter,and Cuba will support King's effort to restoring in Peace in Nepal.
so in this respect "this Resolution is contradictory", to say that Cuba is going to support the aspiration of Nepalese in the leadership of CPN{Maoist}.
With Struggle,
LONG LIVE MAOIST MOVEMENT IN NEPAL AND THE WORLDOVER.

[Fernando Gonzales]

" In light of North Korea's actions in Nepal it seems there could be something to this. Of course N. Korea is tightly connected to China."

What do you mean by "North Korea's actions in Nepal"?

[repeater]

It wasn't just Cuba which came out in favor of the monarchy. N. Korea, China and several other states took this stand as well. I was referring to North Korea's support of the monarchy.

[1949]

www.revolutionaryleft.com/index.php?showtopic=34628

Severian is slandering the people's revolutionary forces in Nepal and defending the counterrevolutionary policy of the Cuban gov't. Somebody refute him.

[1949]

www.philippinerevolution.org/cgi-bin/statements/statements.pl?author=ndfiio;date=050506;language=eng
rebolusyon.250free.com/Articles/3-2001/3-2001-2b.htm
rebolusyon.250free.com/Articles/3-2001/3-2001-2c.htm

It seems the Cuban and Korean revisionists are very supportive of the Philippine Maoists, and vice versa. Why do you think their policy is different from the ones they have towards Nepal and Peru?

[a superficial point]

I would suggest that the difference is the role of China. Cuba is aligning itself to be a part of the Chinese orbit, but China has no explicit, or rather important interest in the Philipines, whereas they do have an interest in Nepal and South Asia.

Therefore it would be necessary for Cuba to back up its Chinese supporters in Nepal and not the Philipines.

[severian]

Cuba's not "backing" anyone in Nepal - in that news item anyway.

They're maintaining normal diplomatic relations with a capitalist regime. And endorsing non-interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state - you disagree? Think there should be intervention in Nepal?

Both perfectly routine for Cuba. There is no news here.

I commented in the Revolutionary-Left thread that it might be useful, though, if there was more separation between Cuban government diplomacy and Cuban Communist Party statements. The CP could say things that, for diplomatic reasons, the government remains silent on. Similar to the distinction between the early Soviet government and the Comintern.

And here, we find out, lo and behold, there is such separation, that the Cuban CP supported this resolution. Actually I think they did make a mistake there...it's correct to oppose U.S. and other intervention but not to praise the CPN(M)'s "people's war" which is in fact a campaign of terror against working people.

As I document with many sources in this thread.

As for the Phillipines...if the Cuban CP has a different position there, maybe, just conceivably, it's because the NPA/CP of the Phillipines is different from Sendero and the CPN(M)?