MENGISTU AND THE POLITICS OF STARVATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504400051-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 51
• Publication Date: January 18, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT `y ~ -~--~'
`Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/17 :CIA-RDP90-009658000504400051-6
14RTICLE ~FPEARED ~"
R P~~ ~ =.1----
CORD I~~YER
of starvation
ven as the Reagan adminis-
tration increases io more
_ than Sl billion iTs current
commitment to relief of the- .
'African famine and calls on others '
. to:': match this grant,' the )S4arxist- .
. regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam in ';
Ethiopia emerges as mainly respon-.
_~ib-le for the worst oonsegverrces of -
-the prolonged drought
_ By deliberately suppressutg a
,United Nations report in 1982 that
-warned of approaching disaster if..
reserve grain stocks were not built,
:-~ the military junta of Coi. Meiigista..
' ensured the death of ffiousaadawho .
-could have been. saved bp_;time~g- ?
.warning and prompt action.
?Vlore reprehensible still was.thc_ -
: refusal of CoL _ Mengisttz~.via tir ..
..spring and summer of 198? to p$ -.
..any attention to the waxathgs of ha -"
own Relief and RehabzTttaZ~Com-? -
-mission. ~ .. - -
-Driven by his overriding ftPtP}~
nation to stage for his Saa~se[affiesa .
:massive celebration lastSepoe~;_,
'-of the 10th anniversary af.theEthi .
i opian revolution, -CoL-Meagisty=~:~
wasted more than SIOQ ~Ziioa:tea
.huge monuments, aad:~
decorations while famine: already -
stalked his impoverished land:. -"' _
_;ln a seven-hour address ID tfite
founding congress of the Workers '.
' Party of Ethiopia, CoL Mengistu, as
..the new secretary-genial, vvaa the
smiling approbation of visitiag.._~
:Soviet Politburo member Grigory-.
t:Romahov. by a speech replete with
svtarxist slogans. The only indirect
.~ reference to the hungerspreading in t
the northern provinces was a brief :.
- mention of the famine 10 years agog=.
and the assurance that scientific`1
materialism would solve- the prob-,:.
lem. - -.
The sins of omission and corrunis- .
sion of the Mengistu regime in _'.
handling the drought go bac3cin time .
bIASKI(~IGTON --TIMES
18'~January 1985
and have deepened its impact 'not
only in Ethiopia but in the Sudan.
The initial enthusiasm of Ethiopian ` ''
peasants for the land reform made
possible by the revolution has faded
as 90 percent of agricultural invest-
menthas been diverted to ineffective
state. farms that" produce. only 6. -,
_ percent of the grain:.'. ,
In the lush southern provinces, :~.
whosefond.surplus might have been'
expe~ed to cushion the impact of-
draagist-iathenorth, food conserva?.
tivn~,ras- condemned as hoarding,.
and: government-controlled -prices
Left ttte peasant farmer with no
:. mcentfvc m produce. As a result,:t#ie
country possessed few reserves.
when the full extent of the disaster
had ~.h~ea~tsed. - ,
IIa'-m -meet halfway the _ ~ 1
dema~s=of-et3inia minorities for'
_ locataum~o~K in the northern pro-
vthces,C~Mmgistu has builrup. an
army .af ZSQ,Q00 equipped .with;~~
bi3lioes word: of Soviet weapons. Hb ~
wea.hea tke. support .in aloe
countc}rsi~defc-r continuing guerrilla
resistance;}te has used the danger of
starvatiaa tD justify -the forcible.i
relocatiaa of thousands of ,pease t i
farmeYS fxvm north xo' south: ? but I
this compulsory migrapon- has 7iot
been accompanied by .any ` prier '.,
planning for new-homes,:and thgtr -'
sands are .straggling -back to their ;
abandoned villages` = ;? ;
?ven rriore tragic'is the~plight of '
`~ those peasants , in ~ the provinces ~ of
Tigre and"Eritrea `who have sbug~it ,
food -and -asylum in neighboring
Sudan: They have been attacked by.
Ethiopian planes on their escape
route and have found the Sudanese
~ refugee camps full and food scarce.
~ Tlie Reagan administration-was
initially~slow in reacting to the cord=
~.. pfei~demands of this. tragic. drama
'' ~but~iow, .quite rightly has- place`d~
first priority on the emergency need ~
for feeding the starving, and. Agengy
for International Development offi-
cials recognize that more .funding
map be necessary.. - _
However, in the long run `no
American administration can"irrdefi-
nitely continue supporting an. Ethi-
I opiaa regime so grossly
incompetent that it cannot feed "iXs
own people, soideologically commit-
ted that it provides the Soviets with
strategic air and naval bases and $o
irresponsible `as to plot -with Col.
Qaddafi of Libya the overthrow:;of
the -governments of Sudan and
Somalia. _ _ _ s
Already the-State Department is '
.underpressiirefromEthiopianeiai~e:{
? leaders to make it clearthat contizui- .:
ing long-termaupport must depend j
on soave change in the regime itself -~
or init.: pohciesr ~ -
`~ : t The word needs lobe passed yiti-
etly in AddisAbaba that an ~Ethr
opian goveriunent -that puts some
distance between`itself and the Sovi-
ets .and is -willing to adopt Ialoilre
rational agricultural policies hes-ia
better chance of getting the help it
needs from the T3nited States. -M~
_ ~ Recent'visitors Ito the Ethiopaab
capital reportthat army officers are ,
increasingly' outspoken in xfieir
criticism of ~CoL Mengistu, and no
one. weans,.. to` 'take "seriously his ;
attempt to 'blame the famine one ;
lack of Western response." = - '==
With only 1,700 Soviet advisei-'s {
and 4,000 Cuban troops in thecoon- ,
try,.a disaffected officer corps could
turn:against the unproductive ~sIif ;
ance -with the `Soviets; especially~if . i
the ~teagaa` administration asalcesft .
clear that the''iJnited States ,woult~ =
respect the `teritorial : integrity-tiY.
Ethiopia and provide economic sad ~i
military assistance ~:'=. ~w -
' Until this~~ldnd of basic ehang~ .
takes place, tlie'United States has`sa
obligation to demand an increased -
officialpresence inAddis Ababa and
the .right to ? travel throughout -the
country; to,,;ensure the honest..an~
- impartidl flistt~ibution of our~aid?~-'~
. ?-Cord Meyer:is a riationaIly synth- .
' cared coturrintst' - . _ ? ~~.: ~.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/17 :CIA-RDP90-009658000504400051-6