ERITREA The struggle for national liberation in its twenty - fifth year IN THE midst of the barrage of media reporting on the appalling drought and famine in Ethiopia, one aspect of the region's politics has been almost totally ignored - that of the wars being waged against the Ethiopian regime by the Sidamo and Oromo ethnic groupings inside Ethiopia, by the Tigreans in Tigre province, and by the Eritreans in what is currently the province of Eritrea. (1) The latter war is now in its twenty-fifth year, making it the longest running war on the continent. The Eritrean revolution has, against all odds, been developing rapidly, a fact which probably accounts for the continued wall of silence from most of the world press. The author of the following article has recently returned from working on an
Sudan. Out of three groups which split away from the ELF in 1969, two joined together in April 1970 to form the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).
To begin with the EPLF was very small and had to contend, not only with the Ethiopian army, but also the ELF (whose leadership named itself the ELF-Revolutionary Council), which launched the first of two civil wars against it in 1972. The conservative Arab states which backed the ELF (RC) were terrified of the increasingly revolutionary policies of the EPLF.
Tensions developed within the EPLF itself, and an opposition group was expelled in 1975. Following this the EPLF's foreign bureau head, Osman Salih Sabbe, signed an unauthorised unity agreement with the ELF in 1976, and was expelled. He set up the Eritrean Liberation Front - People's Liberation Forces (ELF-PLF). The rift was over an important issue; Sabbe was worried that the PLF'S Marxist policies that the EPLF's Marxist policies would alienate support from the West and the conservative Arab states. The EPLF, on the other hand, did not trust the ELF and its backers, and wanted full political independence, even if that meant losing the support of countries such as Saudi Arabia who might have otherwise supported it.
Until 1981 the ELF (RC) and the ELF-PLF had considerable influence with the former having substantial presence in the field. There was great concern from the Arab states at the increasing Soviet, and Cuban, involvement in Ethiopia. They pressurised the EPLF, ELF and ELF-PLF to unite in considering an autonomous Eritrea as part of a federal arrangement with Ethiopia. EPLF refuse to compromise
The EPLF could not agree with their framework for this. Their conditions for negotiations were that the Dergue [the military body ruling Ethiopia] must agree to "resolve the Eritrean question peacetully and begin negotiations without pre-conditions." They opposed regional autonomy and demanded that negotiations should be held with the "joint supreme leadership" of the ELF and EPLF.
It became clear to all that the EPLF would not compromise its political line, and since 1981 intense efforts have been made by the conservative Arab states to unify the non-
Tigre is in the North of Ethiopia. In 1983/4 the Tigrean People's Liberation Front has made some important advances. Other liberation movements include the Oromos, the Afars and the Somalis. International Viewpoint 9 December 1985 education project in the country. PAUL WORCESTER
The Eritrean fight for the right to self-determination goes back a long way and involved a struggle against both Italian and British imperialism. Economically and socially, Eritrea developed in a radically different direction from the rest of Ethiopia after Italian colonisation of this former Ethiopian territory had been formally recognised in 1889.
The British defeated the Italians in 1941 and administered Eritrea until 1952. They were supposed to administer the territory on behalf of the allied powers, but they pushed their own plan forward - partition between the Sudan, which they ruled, and Ethiopia. Britain was in the powerful position of controlling Egypt, the Sudan, and Aden [now South Yemen], plus being a power in Ethiopia. Control of the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and thereby the trade routes to India and the Far East were British imperialism's main concern. Given that Eritrea occupied such a strategic position on the Red Sea, with a 1,500 kilometre coastline, plus the only two ports between Sudan and present day Djibouti, imperialism could not afford the luxury of Eritrean independence,
All the Eritrean political parties favoured a unified Eritrea and were opposed to partition even though some wanted union with Ethiopia, others independence and others an international trusteeship. Since the four powers (Britain, the USSR, 12 the USA and France) could not agree among themselves on Eritrea's future, the issue finally went to the United Nations.
The eventual outcome of the United Nations discussion was for federation. Nevertheless according to the final resolution the Eritreans were supposed to get the fullest respect and safeguards for their institutions, tradition, religions, and languages, as well as the widest possible measure of self-government' What actually happened was that by 1962 Eritrea was annexed to Ethiopia. The Eritrean Liberation Movement began their activity in late 1958. Severe repression led many Eritrean workers to emigrate to the Sudan and Saudi Arabia. These exiles founded the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). Egypt's Nasser welcomed the Muslimdominated front, and provided military training. The ELF's political line was unclear, and discipline very weak. No attempts were made to develop a programme on such crucial issues as land reform, and there was no internal democracy under Idris Mohammed Adem's dictatorial leadership. New members from among the young educated Eritreans of the urban centres reacted against this, and they were persecuted and expelled but not before the Ethiopian army had launched a devastating military offensive which drove tens of thousands of Eritrean peasants into exile in the
EPT R factions Faru thic vooro EPLF factions. Early this year a
Unity conference was held in
Khartoum, without much success.
It remains the case that the various factions receive large funds from their shifting backers [in the region] to continue their diplomatic activities, and, in the case of the ELF, their harassment of the EPLF, where possible. A positive development took place in 1982 when oppositionists among the ELF who had been driven into the Sudan by the EPLF in 1981 formed a new body, the ELF (Central
Command), with the name meaning
"We shall return". After discussions with the ELF, they returned to
Eritrea and carried out joint activities with the EPLF, whilst maintaining their own organisation. At the time of writing, further talks have taken place between the two bodies and a complete merger seems likely.
The EPLF acknowledges unspecified support from the Somali government, at war with the Dergue over the huge disputed Ogaden region of southern Ethiopia. The Sudanese government tolerate EPLF presence in the Sudan and use of Sudanese territory to transport supplies from Port Sudan into Eritrea, although there have been talks between the Dergue and the new Sudanese regime. The Dergue would like to see Sudan close Port Sudan to the Eritrean Relief Association for the importing of food aid; this would be a big blow, and could only be overcome by expensive camel trains across the extensive border. In return, the Dergue has hinted that it would stop supplying the Sudan People's Liberation Army led by Colonel John Garang in the South, which John Garang in the South which is fighting for some form of independence from Khartoum.
The EPLA, the military wing of the EPLF, now operates at division level, and in terms of experience and strategy is somewhat exceptional for a non professional army. The EPLF now controls about 75-80% of Eritrean territory. In February 1984, the EPLA defeated 20,000 Ethiopian troops in a 49-hour battle on the Red Sea coast, taking 3,000 prisoners, and followed this up in April of that year with a commando raid on the Dergue's air force at Asmara airport, destroying 33 planes and helicopters. In its current new offensive, the Dergue has withdrawn troops from Tigre and the East and, as well as attacking the EPLA, has carried out large scale bombings against the local peasantry, maintaining its scorched earth policy of driving the peasantry off the land in terror and thus trying to weaken the ELF's support base. The recent retaking by Ethiopian forces of Tessenei also constitutes a big, hopefully temporary, setback.
International Viewpoint 9 December 198:
However the almost totally conscript Ethiopian army, with its many unwilling and demoralised recruits, will find it extremely diffieult to inflict a long term defeat on the highly motivated and disciplined EPLA forces. Recent very large shipments of weaponry, artillery and aircraft from the Soviet Union have probably replaced those lost to EPLA forces over the past 18 months. One third of the Dergue's budget is spent on arms, and it owes the Eastern bloc three billion dollars. This spending ratio is one of the highest in the world in a country whose national income per head is only 111 dollars, making it one of the world's poorest.
Strategic interests are behind the Soviet Union's blank cheque policy toward the Dergue. It has no other ally in this key area. Its massive naval bases on the Eritrean Red Sea islands are crucial for its Indian Ocean fleet, with the Red Sea also providing access to the Indian Ocean and beyond for all Soviet ships based at the Black Sea bases. The Soviet Union has switched from actively supporting the Somali government against the Ethiopians up till 1977, (and supporting Eritrean independence in the 1950s and 1960s) to being the Dergue's principal backer, and ruthlessly supporting it against the Eritreans.
The position of Cuba is that until 1975 the Cubans provided training facilities for the Eritrean liberation movements. This support for Eritrean self determination changed, however, 0 miles 200
Keren after 1977, when Cuba sent several thousand troops to Ethiopia to assist in the Ogaden war, once the USSR had switched sides away from Somalia. Castro refused to commit Cuban troops to Eritrea, saying that Eritrea was an internal Ethiopian problem which needed a political solution, not a military one. However, -this position contains grave problems. Cuban troops are highly trained and disciplined; by stationing several thousand in Ethiopia, this released the equivalent number of crack Ethiopian troops (a rare commodity) to fight against the Eritreans. This is why the EPLF, whilst acknowledging the domestic gains of the Cuban revolution, are highly critical of their presence in Ethiopia. The programme of the EPLF
The ELF's programme has concentrated on land reform; women's rights; literacy and education; and health care. Land reform efforts are aimed at redistributing land from landlords and the rich peasantry. In one area captured from the ELF in 1981, all previously landless people have received land with areas set aside for communal cultivation. However, the drought and famine have wreaked havoc, and many peasants in the drought areas have been put in temporary displacement camps, with the Eritrean Relief Association (linked
SEA
Massawa
•
Asmara •
Kassala
E R
A
SUDAN
TIGRE
/ GONDAR
,- Assab»
ETHIOPIA
Djibouti
WOLLO
GOJAM
/
SOMALIA
SHOA
WOLLEGA
HARER
Addis Ababa
5
13
und
No vem ber.
first
Youth ing
PLF expects further
Youth are women,
Dergue, from
There are also massive attacks the
Assemblies, attem ipting to destseed, with
Village est.
Asmara, the two
Assab and
Mitsiwa, and
EPLF nomads is
Dergue which the tivity is carried out øhlv actcandarolıe the route
Eritrea roads literacy fair campaign
45% of particiincluding have been an extremely
Sections of the ed in ivities oppressed sector.
of integrating aimed at the hostile male at victory, settlement, are women's rights
EPLF's aircraft.
slow.
Aid the
It is political cadres having from
Port of
200-250 about distance only kilometres one to discuss take four days can to reach of the displaced some
Until this whole camps.
operation
Addis opians tru gif number.
mittee; and
Eritrea starved of Mass of aid
Aid
IS sion. However, in
May 1984
EPLF, what within the economy that aid witheld
15,000 students which from all curricula developed aid to to Ethiopia), any from caused by the underway the extension of
Eastern bloc are and masses camps.
very priorities.
barrier to the
Untegi for internationally, the class rooms, as and and done, place
(although be then must ighted rapidly overcome.
14
International Viewpoint 9 December 1985