The chief of staff at Paraguay’s Agriculture Ministry received a delegation headed by a self-proclaimed Hindu god
FILE PHOTO. Guru Nithyananda Paramashivam. © MICHAEL BUCKNER/ AFP
The Paraguayan Ministry of Agriculture has sacked its chief of staff, Arnaldo Chamorro, after he signed a memorandum of understanding with the ‘United States of Kailasa,’ which is a non-existent country. Several other officials also received a delegation from the supposed Hindu state.
On Wednesday, the ministry posted a copy of the document on X (formerly Twitter), stating that Chamorro was to be replaced.
The decision was made after it came to light that the top official had signed off on the accord, which, among other things, confirms Paraguay’s commitment to exploring the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations with the ‘United States of Kailasa.’ In the memorandum, Chamorro also recognizes “Hindu Supreme Pontiff Nithyananda Paramashivam” as the made-up country’s sovereign.
According to Paraguayan media, the latter is a Hindu guru, self-proclaimed god and a leader of a religious group, who is wanted in India for sexual offenses and abduction.
Aside from Chamorro, a number of other regional level officials also put their signatures on documents establishing ties with the fictitious nation.
Speaking to reporters, the disgraced chief of staff explained that the representatives of Kailasa “came and expressed a wish to help Paraguay,” presenting “several projects.” The dismissed official acknowledged that he had been misled.
The ministry later issued a statement in which it accused its former chief of staff of committing “procedural errors when signing the supposed document without any authorization and without having the powers required for this type of procedure.”
It was stressed that the memorandum with the Hindu group is null and void, and “cannot be considered to be an official document.”
In fact, the dismissed Paraguayan official was not the first to fall for the ‘United States of Kailasa.’ In January, Newark, New Jersey signed a sister-city agreement with the fictitious entity. When the local government found out in March that they had been duped, they rescinded the accord.
However, it did not stop the “government of Kailasa” from claiming on its website that “The United States of America recognises the United States of Kailasa (USK) and signs a bilateral agreement.”
In February, two USK representatives made their way into a meeting of a United Nations panel in Geneva. The Hindu group then alleged on its social media that their self-proclaimed country had been recognized by the UN.
