NCP lawmakers ‘defer’ Venezuela visit

Kathmandu, February 7

A jumbo delegation of lawmakers of the ruling party from both the houses of Parliament that  was scheduled to head for the Venezuelan capital of Caracas next week has been put off.

Sixty-one lawmakers from the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led by National Assembly member Balaram Baskota were scheduled to attend the first International Assembly of the Peoples on Venezuelan popular movements in Caracas.

NCP lawmakers’ decision to cancel the visit comes in the wake of NCP Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s statement against the USA and its allies.

Dahal had issued a press statement on January 25, denouncing ‘intervention in internal affairs’ of Venezuela by the US and its allies, terming it ‘an unacceptable intrusion in the country’s  internal affairs and an attempt at imperialist coup’.

Baskota told THT that the visit had been postponed due to unrest in Venezuela. “We were ready to go there next week, but we have postponed the meeting for now due to unrest in Venezuela,” he said.

The objective of the International Assembly of the Peoples is to build a  platform of popular movements that will follow and deepen the path  taken by the

leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Hugo Chavez, in pursuit of unity and international solidarity.

It also seeks to create a communal and socialist  alternative for the peoples of the world to bring together  expressions of international and national struggles against  imperialism, capitalism, patriarchy, colonialism, large estates, racism,  religious intolerance, wars

and repression.

More than 200 popular movements and organisations are expected to take part in the first meeting of the International Assembly of the Peoples on Venezuelan popular movements.