[The following article appeared in the February 21 issue of the French Trotskyist weekly, Rouge. The translation is by Intercontinental Press.]
For the last three weeks fighting has raged throughout Eritrea. By taking the initiative in Asmara, the capital of the country, the ELF [Eritrean Liberation Front] has pulled the rug out from under the blustering of the Ethiopian military regime, which was preparing to mount a general offensive against the liberation movements-one of those last-ditch efforts generally associated with colonial wars. Whatever the outcome of the present fighting, its political consequences are irreversible. The position of the ELF, of the two movements that emerged from the split in 1970, has been strengthened both internally and internationally.
As for the regime in Ethiopia, the ambiguity of its socialist claims has been shown by its acceptance of the expansionist and colonialist heritage of Haile Selassie's policies. It is digging its own grave, to the satisfaction of American imperialism which, in a region that remains of strategic importance for it, is undoubtedly preparing its own scenario.
An Italian colony until 1941, Eritrea was occupied by the British until 1950. In 1952, under the pressure of the USA, the United Nations denied independence to Eritrea and accepted the expansionist claims of Ethiopia. In this way Haile Selassie was repaid for Ethiopia's participation in the Korean war, and the Americans in turn obtained military bases in Asmara and Kagnew, on the Eritrean coast.
In theory a federation was formed, with Eritrea retaining its own laws, flag, and language. These UN proposals were soon violated by Ethiopia: Eritrean parties and trade unions were banned. In 1962, Eritrea was annexed to the Ethiopian empire and thus became a colony subject to exploitation and domination by one of the most backward dictatorships on the globe.
The nationalist movement in Eritrea was formed during the period of Italian colonization. Until 1952, several bourgeois-nationalist parties made use of the existing constitutional framework to call for independence. The ELF was formed in 1961, independent of the legalist-oriented nationalist movement. While at the outset its forces were very weak, the brutality of the exploitation and repression propelled its growth. A nationalist movement, its program in this period could almost be summed up in the formula "One goal, independence. One method, armed struggle." Important sectors of the peasantry and some elements from the cities and the poor strata rallied around the front; a section of the Eritrean bourgeoisie supported the Ethiopian government. Abroad, the ELF has the support of some Arab countries.
In 1967, the ELF asserted that it controlled two-thirds of Eritrea's territory. A substantial crisis then occurred within the leadership. Apart from personal clashes, the essential differences concerned the organization of the armed forces. In this period, Ethiopian military intervention became a more important factor. It was directed by the Americans, who "trained" the Ethiopian army, particularly the air force, and even participated in a certain number of actions.
The military apparatus of the ELF, organized in nearly autonomous willayas [military administrative regions], was ill suited to meet this offensive, but the unification of the ELF armed forces fell apart in 1969. Two organizations were formed: the ELF-People's Liberation Forces, whose leader best known abroad is Osman Saleh Sabbe; and the ELF-Revolutionary Command, which is led from abroad by Idriss Mohammed Aden. For a whole period, confrontations between these two organizations took an extremely violent turn.
Centralization within these two movements appeared to be very limited. The two leaderships located abroad were made up mostly of elements from the most rightwing sectors. Important political cleavages existed inside each organization. Leftist currents exist, though scarcely organized, in the ELF-PLF, and undoubtedly in a more structured form in the ELF-Revolutionary Command.
Bourgeois-nationalist currents are dominant inside these two movements, and programmatic questions have been left to the side. It is certain that independence would result in a redefinition of the political currents that would not be the same as the present differences between the two movements. The prospect of independence is today drawing toward the ELF a sizable number of bourgois elements—it has recently been reported that the chief of police of Asmara has gone over to the side of the ELF-which makes the drawing up of a genuine class-struggle program an urgent task for the left. All the more so since in addition to these internal pressures, there is the external pressure of the Arab states.
The independence of Eritrea and the outcome of the class struggle in this country are questions that go beyond the national boundaries of Eritrea. The support given to the ELF by such states as Saudi Arabia and Libya, by the Soviet Union via Iraq, and the links that exist here and there across the Red Sea between the Eritrean nationalist movement and South Yemen provide the framework for a certain number of ambitions and struggles for influence.
The Sudan's offer of mediation is particularly significant. Nimeiry's anticommunist regime is worried by the presence of ELF liberation fighters on its borders. It is also worried by the links that may exist between these fighters and the Sudanese Communist party, which despite the repression continues to operate clandestinely. The Sudan is pushing for a rapid normalization of the situation.
As for American imperialism, on the scene through its bases in Eritrea, it is undoubtedly no stranger to the initiatives by Nimeiry and the sudden solicitude on the part of Saudi Arabia toward Eritrea. Its aim is to counterbalance possible Soviet influence in the Red Sea, and above all, to maintain its own influence in Ethiopia. On this level, the "destabilization" of the military committee in Addis Ababa and its replacement by a regime more favorable to the United States seem to be one of its high-priority objectives.