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The Biden administration unveiled a new proposed US economic partnership with Latin America on Wednesday (Jun 8) as regional leaders gathered for a US-hosted summit whose agenda has been undermined by discord over the guest list, Reuters reported.

Seeking to counter China's growing clout, a senior administration official said President Joe Biden is offering America's neighbours to the south an alternative that calls for increased US engagement, including stepped-up investment, strengthening supply lines and building on existing trade deals.

However, Biden's "Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity," which still appears to be a work in progress, stops short of offering tariff relief and, according to the US official, will initially focus on "like-minded partners" that already have US trade accords. Negotiations are expected to begin in early fall, the official added.

Biden was due to outline his plan in a speech later on Wednesday to formally open the summit, which was originally conceived as a platform to showcase US leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling migratory pressures.

But Biden's agenda has been marred by a partial boycott by leaders upset at Washington's decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the summit, according to Reuters.

US officials hope the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and a parallel gathering of top business executives can pave the way for greater economic cooperation as regional nations grappling with higher inflation work to bring supply chains stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic closer to home.

"It's much better for us ... to have a supply chain here in the Americas than it is for us to be dependant on a supply chain that comes from China," US ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar told Reuters.

Biden is seeking to press the administration's competitive goals against China with the launch of the new partnership for the region, the US official said.

Washington, which already has a combined trade pact with Canada and Mexico, a collective one with Central America and a series of bilateral agreements in the region, will attempt to develop new customs, digital trade, labour, environmental and corporate accountability standards, according to the official.

The plan would also aim to mobilise investments, revitalise the Inter-American Development Bank, create clean energy jobs and strengthen supply chains whose weakness were exposed by the pandemic.

Still, the Biden administration appeared to be moving cautiously, mindful an initiative that promotes jobs abroad could face US protectionist pushback, Reuters reported.

Sri Lanka's prime minister says the country needs at least $5bn (£4bn) over the next six months to pay for essential goods as it faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years, BBC reported.

Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament the money is needed for basic items such as food, fuel and fertiliser.

In May, Sri Lanka defaulted on its debts with international lenders for the first time in its history.

The country has held bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund.

On Tuesday, Mr Wickremesinghe, who is also the country's finance minister, told parliament that more money was required this year to meet Sri Lanka's basic needs.

He said the island nation, which has a population of around 22 million, requires $3.3bn for fuel imports, $900m for food, $600m for fertiliser, and $250m for cooking gas, according to BBC.

It comes as Sri Lankan lawmakers accepted a $55m loan for fertilisers from India's Exim Bank.

The United Nations also plans to make a worldwide appeal for Sri Lanka, and has pledged $48m for food, agriculture and healthcare, Mr Wickremesinghe added.

He also warned of a slowdown in government payments to businesses and workers across the country, as funds are redirected to pay for food supplies.

"A lot of people will be without food, so the food programme we are initiating will ensure that all families, even if they have no income, they will have food," Mr Wickremesinghe said.

"We can have community kitchens in temples [and] churches to supply the food. The community has to get involved," he added.

The South Asian nation will also try to renegotiate a $1.5bn financial support deal with China, Mr Wickremesinghe said, BBC reported.

Sri Lanka is struggling with its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948.

The country's economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, rising energy prices, and populist tax cuts.

A shortage of medicines, fuel and other essentials has also helped to push the cost of living to record highs.

Sri Lanka's official rate of inflation, the pace at which prices rise, rose by 39.1% year-on-year in May. At the same time, food prices in its largest city Colombo increased by 57.4%.

Mr Wickremesinghe is set to unveil an interim budget next month, as he faces the challenge of slashing overall government spending while still providing social welfare payments.

Last week, Sri Lanka's agriculture minister called on farmers to grow more rice as he said the country's "food situation is becoming worse".

The government also announced an immediate increase to value added tax (VAT) from 8% to 12%. The move was expected to boost revenue by 65bn Sri Lankan rupees ($181m; £144m). It also said corporate tax would rise in October from 24% to 30%, according to BBC.

An insurrection of sorts is brewing in the CPN-UML. KP Sharma Oli, the all-powerful party leader and two-time prime minister, is being called out for his poor leadership.

This week, speaking in a TV interview, Ghanashyam Bhushal, one of the party leaders, blamed Oli for the UML’s poor showing in the May 13 local elections. Bhushal not only told his interviewer that Oli must be held to account for the UML’s poor electoral performance. He also called on the party leader to step down on moral grounds.

This was probably the harshest criticism of the UML chief following the 2021 party-split. Oli’s fierce critics like Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal—both former prime ministers—have left the party and registered a new one.

Such is the power and popularity of Oli inside the UML that barring some pointed remarks by Bhim Rawal, another senior UML leader, Oli has enjoyed unprecedented sway among the rank and file.   

Bhushal’s remarks against Oli haven’t gone unnoticed in the party. The UML’s Central Disciplinary Commission, led by Keshav Badal, has already recommended action against him. Now, it is for the party’s central committee to decide whether Bhushal should face the music for criticizing Oli.

Badal says Bhushal must be punished for trying to besmirch the party’s image.

“Every party member must respect the party’s ethics and discipline,” he says. UML’s Vice-chairman Ishwar Pokhrel describes the issue as “an internal matter” and not a subject of public discourse. “We will arrive at an appropriate decision after discussions in the party,” he says.

But the Bhushal episode has made one thing crystal-clear: the UML is struggling to maintain healthy intra-party democracy.

The UML disciplinary body’s recommended action against Bhushal has drawn mixed reactions from in and outside the party.

Some UML leaders say the party is clearly in need of an opposition voice to maintain healthy check and balance and to keep the leadership on the right track, particularly after the departure of senior leaders like Nepal and Khanal.

Oli maintains a strong grip on the party and speaking against him has repercussions. Even top leaders don’t dare criticize Oli these days.

As the UML is the only big party in Nepal not to have a strong in-party opposition to its top leadership, says a party leader requesting anonymity, Bhushal is trying to position himself as a strong and legitimate opposition voice.

“After Madhav Kumar Nepal’s exit, Bhim Rawal tried to occupy that space by challenging Oli for UML leadership at 10th general convention. He failed and perhaps Bhushal now believes it is his turn to stake claim as Oli’s main in-party ideological opponent,” says the leader. 

Bhushal had also gone against the will of some senior leaders and vied for the post of the party’s vice-chair at the general convention. 

Some UML leaders believe Bhushal is being treated unfairly and that taking action against him for criticizing Oli does not reflect well on the image of a democratic party like UML. But there are others who argue that although Bhushal’s attempts at democratizing his party are admirable, he does come across as an opportunist, given the nature of his past spats with Oli.

When Oli became prime minister for the second time in 2018, Bhushal was one of his most vehement critics in the UML. In order to placate Bhushal, Oli then offered him a position in his cabinet, which the latter accepted in a heartbeat.

That Bhushal, someone who railed against ideological and policy-level flaws of the then Oli government, accepted the ministerial berth cannot be forgotten, says the UML leader.  

“And when the dispute inside the then Nepal Communist Party (NCP) was at its peak, it was Bhushal who provoked Madhav Kumar Nepal and Pushpa Kamal Dahal to revolt against Oli,” says the leader.

Journalist Sitaram Baral, who has closely followed Nepal’s left politics for two decades, says Bhushal is trying to send a message to Oli that his working style and leadership are not helping the party. “I believe Bhushal is in favor of a broad left alliance and he sees Oli as the main obstacle towards this goal,” he says.

But whatever Bhushal’s end-game, Baral believes he has raised an important question of democracy inside Nepali political parties.     

Otherwise, dissent tends to be suppressed and attempts are even made to sabotage the political careers of dissenting leaders. This tendency, some political analysts say, is one of the main reasons for the repeated splits we see in Nepali political parties. The break-ups, first of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and then the UML, are cases in point. 

At the same time, maintaining healthy intra-party discipline is also a big challenge for political parties. 

Political analyst Lokraj Baral says Oli may have an authoritarian bent, but his critics like Bhushal and Rawal have also displayed opportunistic tendencies, making it difficult to trust them entirely.    

“They instigated Madhav Kumar Nepal to fight Oli and when the party broke up, they chose to remain in the parent party. Such behavior is also bound to weaken intra-party democracy,” he says.

Instead of speaking with the media, Bhushal should have raised his objections against Oli from within the party, Baral adds.  

“At the same time, Oli should learn to listen to the grievances of his party leaders,” he says. “It is amply clear that some UML leaders are displeased with Oli but afraid to speak up.” 

The US government’s international religious freedom report 2021 has stated that police surveillance of Tibetan refugees in Nepal remained high throughout the year. 

In some cases, the number of security personnel monitoring Tibetans and the scrutiny of Tibetan cultural and religious celebrations, particularly those involving the Dalai Lama, increased, says the report.  

The report further states that Tibetan community leaders again said government authorities generally permitted them to celebrate most Buddhist holidays in private ceremonies but prohibited the public celebration of the Dalai Lama’s birthday and continued to curtail their ability to hold other public celebration

The Ambassador and visiting U.S. government representatives met with government officials to express concern regarding restrictions on the country’s Tibetan community, says the report.   Embassy officials met with civil society groups and government officials to discuss the challenges of registering and reregistering religiously affiliated NGOs and other NGOs, the report further reads.  Read the Nepal report here : https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/nepal/