Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 9. April 24 1978
Russian Expansionism in Africa Eritrea Next
Russian Expansionism in Africa Eritrea Next
With the conclusion of the Ogaden war, the Soviet Union has ended successfully one more phase in its African plan. The next is being prepared — the invasion of Eritrea. The arms are being readied, the Cuban mercenaries flown in, Pravda is cooking up their justifications, Soviet lickspittles the world over are organising support for the invasion, and the Eritreans wait.
Eritrea is a former Italian colony. After defeating the Italians in 1941, the British installed a military adminstration which governed the former Italian colonies until 1950. In accord with the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, Italy lost its empire in Africa and elsewhere, the former East African colonies coming under the joint authority of the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Britain.
In 1952, Britain manoevred Eritrea into a federation with Ethiopia. In 1962, with full United States support, Ethiopia forcibly annexed Eritrea. For the United States the prize was Kagnew Station, a once highly sophisticated communications base in Asmara.
Liberation War begins
Ethiopia's forcible annexation of Eritrea ignited the war of national liberation which had begun a year earlier. Now over 90% of Eritrea has been liberated by the combined forces of the Eritrean People's Liberatión Front (EPLF), a Marxist - Leninist revolutionary organisation, and the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) a nationalist organisation.
EPLF controls the north, east and centre, while ELF holds the western, lowlands and sections of Eritrea's border with Tigre province. EPLF forces have cleared the entire highway between Massawa and Asmara and have begun concentrating around Massawa. Apart from Massawa and Berentu, the only towns still in Ethiopian hands are Asmara, the southeastern port of Assab and a small garrison at Adi Caieh.
If Eritrea should be completely liberated, the Soviet Union will have lost an expensive gamble for control of the strategic Horn of Africa—Red Sea region. Taking advantage of the dispute over the Ogaden between Ethiopia and Somalia, a problem originating from colonialism, the Soviet Union has poured in arms, money, "military advisers" and Cuban mercenaries to prop the fascist Mengistu regime. The Horn of Africa sits astride important sea lanes to West Europe and the United States. The Horn juts out into the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, overlooks the 20 mile wide Strait of Bab el-Mandeb and, beyond that, the Red Sea which stretches north to the Suez Canal.
The sea route passing near the coast of Somalia carries 70% of the strategic raw materials imported by West Europe, including over 50% of West Europe's imported oil and one fifth of US oil imports. Control of the Red Sea — Horn of Africa region would give the Soviet Union considerable leverage over its superpower rival, the United States. But without Eritrea's ports the Soviet Union will have lost its more than $1,000 million investment, as its gamble has cost it Somalia's Berbera and Ethiopia is landlocked.
Necessary Force
For that reason, even though Cuba in the the past trained guerrillas from the EPLF, Eritrea must be forcibly retained by Ethiopia and the Eritrean national liberation movement must be liquidated. Soviet stooges round the world are now helping create public opinion to support the Soviet invasion.
In New Zealand the Socialist Unity Party has already done its dirty work. Its newspaper "Tribune" has already claimed that "the imperialists plans are now concentrating on helping the Eritrean separatist movement in the hope of establishing a neo-colonialist government there, the aim being to cut Ethiopia's outlet to the sea. The United States no doubt hopes to regain its huge air base at Asmara in Eritrea." (March 27, 1978) There is no depth to which the SUP will not sink in licking Russian boots!
Methodical Preparations
The true situation has been revealed by a progressive American journalist, Dan Connell, who recently returned from a six month visit to the liberated zones of Eritrea. Writing in the "Guardian" (29-3-78) Connell reveals the methodical preparations for the invasion of Eritrea.
"According to EPLF, more than 2,000 Cuban combat troops have been airlifted into the beseiged Eritrean capital of Asmara and a series of bases are being constructed under Soviet supervision in the northern Ethiopian province of Tigre.
"In a major battle March 14—16, some 10,000 Ethiopian troops were turned back when they attempted to break out of Asmara and crush the EPLF encirclement. EPLF sources claimed 1500 Ethiopian troops were killed in the clash.
"Cuban officials have in the past denied any intention of becoming directly involved in Eritrea, but an EPLF spokesman says that Cuban soldiers were active in the battle.
.jpg)
EPLF fight [ unclear: e] to assault Massawa naval base in late December.
"In support of the campaign against Eritrea, day and night construction work has been proceeding on an airstrip for Ethiopia new Soviet-supplied MIG jet fighters in the Tigre capital of Makele, 60 miles south of the Eritrean border, with Soviet Antanov-12 supply planes ferrying in materials and equipment from Addis-Ababa.
"Supply bases for the Ethiopian move north are being built in the cities of Gondar and Axum. An airstrip is also being set up to accommodate light reconaissance planes on the Dahlak islands off the Eritrean coast, and army, navy and air force bases are being erected in the Eritrean port of Assah."
Eritrean Victories
Connell reports that the Eritrean liberation forces have won an unbroken series of victories against Mengistu's forces despite the steady flow of Soviet heavy arms, Soviet and Cuban military advisers and South Yemeni combat troops over the past six months and more. He also reports that it is likely that Cuban troops are being airlifted from Angola to join the Ethiopians — which should give pause to those who try to justify the Soveit-Cuban intervention in Angola.
The Eritreans are in striking distance of Asmara where more than 20,000 Ethiopians and 200,000 civilian residents have been encircled since mid-October 1976. The city is facing acute shortages of food, fuel, water and medicines, the joint Ethiopian-Soviet airlift being unable to keep pace with needs. Within the city, executions are being carried out against dissenting officers and soldiers. Desertions are running at 15-20 per day, according to the EPLF.
Connell reports that "The protracted battle for the coastal city of Massawa, former cite of a US navy base involved the most substantial outside support yet for Ethiopia with South Yemeni crews driving tanks. Soviet technicians firing BM-21 Katyusha multiple rocket launchers (Stalin organs), South Yemeni pilots flying the new MIG-21 jets and Soviet warships joining Ethiopian naval vessels in shelling the city"
Whatever specious justification the Soviet imperialists may make, their attempt to crush the Eritreans will be a brutal undertaking which will arouse the world's opposition. Much of the terrain is mountainous and ill-suited to armour. Mengistu is reported to want an all-out war against the Eritreans. But the Soviets may settle for a limited operation to open the road from the Red Sea port of Massawa to Asmara and possibly south to the border of Ethiopia.
The Strength of the People
Faced with the combined power of the Soviet imperialists, Cuban mercenaries and the Ethiopian army, can the Eritreans win? No matter how strong the enemy, a united people can always win a just war. The Eritreans are highly confident that they can beat the Soviet Imperialists. They have the people on their side, they have the experience of people's war, and they have learnt how to defeat heavier firepower. Connell watched the EPLF turn back tank columns, overrun artillery positions, withstand heavy air and naval bombardment with surprisingly low casualties, and [ unclear: repeaedly] rout numerically and technically superior Ethiopian forces outside Asmara and inside Massawa.
Towards a World War?
As the EPLF spokesman in Khartoum Tsegai Dinish, put it: "The Cubans are not in Eritrea to play football." "The Russians and Cubans are mercenaries, and we shall defeat them." And in defeating the Soviet - Cuban intervention, the Eritreans will not only liberate themselves, they will make an important contribution to all peoples of the world.
For underlying the Soviet moves in Eritrea is the sharpening rivalry between the superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, for world domination. The Soviet Union is on the offensive. Each day which improves its strategic position brings closer the day on which a new world war will break out. In defeating the Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa, the Eritreans will break up the timetable of war preparations by the two superpowers and help delay the outbreak of a new world war.