| Ethiopia after Haile Selassie
In a gradual coup that began in Feb., 1974, and culminated in
September with the ouster of Haile Selassie, a group of military
officers seized control of the government. Haile Selassie's failure
to deal adequately with the long-term drought in N Ethiopia in
1973-74 was reportedly a major reason for his downfall. The
constitution was suspended, parliament was dissolved, and Lt. Gen.
Aman Michael Andom became head of a newly formed Provisional
Military Administrative Council (PMAC). In 1977 Lt. Col. Mengistu
Haile Mariam became head of the PMAC, which soon diverted from
its announced socialist course. A popular movement, the Ethiopian
People's Revolutionary Party, began a campaign of urban guerrilla
activity that was contained by government-organized urban militias
in 1977. Under the Mengistu regime, thousands of political opponents
were purged, property was confiscated, and defense spending was
greatly increased.
In 1977, Somalia invaded disputed territory in the Ogaden Desert
and Bale Province. In addition, Eritrean nationalists were able to
gain control of most of Eritrea. However, with massive amounts of
military aid from the USSR and troops from Cuba, the government
drove the Somalis out of the country (1978) and also retook land in
Eritrea. Severe droughts throughout the 1980s resulted in
devastating famine and led to widespread flight to Djibouti,
Somalia, and Sudan. In 1987 a new, Marxist-based constitution was
approved. Ethiopia and Somalia signed a peace agreement in 1988, but
internal strife worsened as bitter fighting occurred (1989) in
Tigray and Eritrea. Diplomatic relations with Israel, which had been
severed in 1974, were restored in 1989 as aid from the Soviet Union
and Cuba declined and Ethiopia looked for other potential investment
sources.
In 1991 the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF),
a coalition of rebel organizations (led by Tigrayens) under the
leadership of Meles Zenawi, began to achieve real successes and
ultimately routed the Ethiopian army, forcing Mengistu to resign and
flee the country. The EPRDF organized an interim government with
Meles as president. A new constitution, drafted by an elected
constituent assembly and approved in 1994, divided the country into
ethnically based regions, each of which was given the right of
secession. Eritrea had established its own provisional government in
1991 and became an independent nation in 1993.
In 1995, Negasso Gidada became president, a largely ceremonial
post. Meles became prime minister after elections that were
boycotted by most opposition parties. In early 1996, some 70 figures
from the Mengistu regime went on trial on charges of genocide and
crimes against humanity; many of them, including Mengistu himself,
were tried in absentia. Ethiopia, despite work toward reforming the
nation's agriculture, continues to face problems of famine and
widespread poverty. Elections held in May, 2000, resulted in a
landslide for the EPRDF.
A border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea broke out in 1998 when
Eritrean forces occupied disputed territory. Fighting was largely
inconclusive, with many thousands killed on both sides, until May,
2000, when Ethiopian forces launched a major offensive, securing the
disputed territory and driving further into Eritrea. A cease-fire
agreement signed in June called for a truce, the establishment of a
15.5 mi (9.6 km) UN-patrolled buffer zone (in Eritrean territory),
and the demarcation of the border by a neutral commission, A treaty
was formally signed in Dec., 2000, and there was slow progress
toward the goals of the treaty in the subsequent months. The border
was established in Apr., 2002, by the Hague Tribunal. The ruling
generally favored neither country, but some decisions in favor of
Eritrea led to Ethiopian resistance to finalizing the border, which
remains undone.
Ethiopia, despite work toward reforming the nation's
agriculture, continues to face problems of famine and widespread
poverty. The country is dependent on rainfall to raise its crops,
and a drought in 2000-2001 affected some 10 million Ethiopians, with
perhaps as many as 50,000 dying from starvation. A new famine
threatened the country in 2003 as a result of a drought that began
in 2002. The situation improved somewhat by 2004, but several
million people were still dependent on food aid. In 2003-4 there was
ethnic violence in the Gambela region (W central Ethiopia); there
were accusations that the army was involved in some of the attacks. |
