Did U.S. Engineer Nepal’s Regime Change With $900 Million? Inside The Script Of The Gen-Z Protest | World News

KATMANDU/WASHINGTON: Nepal, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’nin a week of a week of violence came out. Gen-Z-led protest, about 50 people died, opened fire on parliament and the Supreme Court and damaged hundreds of buildings. What started as anger on corruption, unemployment, high inflation and comprehensive social media ban turned into one of the most destructive political uprisings in the recent history of Himalaya.

Now, questions about whether the unrest is automatically or whether the scenario has been written abroad.

The political storm had a long accumulation. In March, Sunday Guardian conducted a detailed investigation, claiming that a major flow of US financing to Nepal was linked to the regime -changing efforts. The report even chosen local political actors allegedly playing a role in the operation.

Internal communication from the United States International Development Agency (USAID), program outputs published by American Democracy-Promotion groups, claim that Washington has poured about $ 900 million in Nepal between 2020 and 2025.

Critics argue that most of this money does not go to development, but instead of political education, narrative construction and networks that shape the protests that give birth to Oli.

US financing trail

According to the documents specified by the newspaper, the United States has been claimed to have committed more than $ 900 million in the country through aid and governance programs since 2020. The majority of the funds have been reported to be channeled through the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Institute of Republic (NDI), International Elections (NDI) and international foundations through a Washington -based consortium.

In May 2022, the USAID has signed a 402.7 million dollar developmental agreement (DOG) with the Nepal Ministry of Finance. Until February 2025, $ 158 million has already paid, 244.7 million dollars were not used.

In parallel, a separate $ 500 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) signed in 2017 was claimed to have been approved in 2022 despite violent street protests and parliamentary wars.

At the beginning of 2025, the MCC’s budget was only spent $ 43.1 million (8.63%). The authority of the project was still expanded and kept infrastructure and governance initiatives alive. The USAID and MCC packages together brought us commitments to Nepal, which is unusual for analysts as unusual for Nepal’s size and geopolitical weight.

Where the money goes

The degradation of US allocations describes priorities: $ 37 million for civil society and media, 35 million dollars for adolescent reproductive health programs and $ 8 million especially for “democratic processes”. It was claimed that even a relatively small $ 500,000 project for a “democracy resource center Nepal” was fully spent.

On paper, these programs tried to strengthen democracy, improve the participation of youth and provide fair elections. However, critics inside and outside Nepal claim to serve as a means of political engineering. Initiatives, which are branded as health or research projects, have doubled as tools to create impact and shape narratives.

NGOs, Education and Youth Factor

The Sunday Guardian investigation emphasizes NDI, IRI and IFES’s activities that look closely linked to the final uprising.

Between 2020 and 2022, NDI issued reports on Federalism, Dalit Rights, Climate Change and Youth Participation. It is also claimed to have developed training vehicle sets for young activists.

It is claimed that IRI has been conducting country -wide surveys that measures public dissatisfaction, focusing on youth disappointment with unemployment and interest in new political parties. It is claimed that IFES supports Nepal’s 2022 local elections with technical assistance and voter awareness campaigns.

Officially, they were programs to deepen democracy. However, as a Nepal analyst said to the article, they effectively added the American agenda to the country’s political ecosystem. This year, most of the protesters who filled the streets of Kathmandu were reported to be the same young people who participated in training and civilian participation programs financed by the US.

A scenario written in Washington?

The idea that a small South Asian nation could withdraw approximately one billion dollars in US financing in just a few years raised the eyebrows. “For a country like Nepal, this financial commitment scale is not normal for a country -based political observer -based political observer.

When Nepal depends on his last political orbit, the doubt deepens. In the weeks before Oli’s fall, the charges of corruption and severe censorship had already caused tension. When the protests exploded, they quickly purchased the organizational structure, slogans and coordination, which was more common than spontaneous street anger in external supported movements.

Sunday Guardian argued that what emerged appears to be a less sudden explosion and that it was more like a scenario that has been written before, like a scenario that lasted for years of training modules, vehicle sets and NGO -supported activism.

Is it a fire next time?

For Washington, programs under USAID, MCC and CEPPs are framed as democracy strengthening. For critics in Nepal, it is a thin cover for geopolitical maneuver, placing the American leverage in a sandwich country between China and India.

The open, anger cheers, the Gen-Z protest movement that overthrew a government is not born alone. Allegedly, a generation of Nepalli youth shaped the years of structured financing, surveys, workshops and activism programs grew. Whether these programs are democracy promotion or regime engineering is now at the center of one of the most urgent debates in South Asia.