Suleiman A. Hussein
432 posts
@teazabi
Pro democracy activist
Here he comes again every speech filled with propaganda, trying to brainwash his followers with lines like, ‘When we own Assab Port, we will do this and that.’ The real question is: why build projects on land you don’t even own? #Eritrea #HornOfAfrica @AbiyAhmedAli #Ethiopia
I too heard the latest remark from #Ethiopia|s leadership about not wanting to be “encapsulated.” Frankly, no one is encapsulating #Ethiopia. A country with a large population and six neighbors, #Eritrea, #Djibouti, #Somalia, #Kenya, #South Sudan, and #Sudan, cannot be “boxed in” unless it insists on drawing the box itself. Let’s be honest: calling Ethiopia “encapsulated” is like calling the elephant in the room “trapped by the furniture.” Size is not the problem, and size does not entitle anyone to lean on their neighbors. #Africa doesn’t run on imperial nostalgia; it runs on #cooperation, #law, and #respect. Glad to hear the Prime Minister’s reassurance that war is not on the table. That’s good news, because in our region, we’ve had more than enough of wars that start with slippery metaphors. Our people need jobs, schools, and roads, not lectures about geography. Also note the Prime Minister’s dramatic warning that “if there is any Ethiopian who believes that Ethiopia will forever remain a geographic prisoner, that person is a dead one.” Such statements, while certainly attention-grabbing, are more suited to political theater than constructive regional dialogue. For neighboring states, they raise eyebrows and questions: is this metaphor meant to signal ambition, assert dominance, or intimidate? In any case, rhetoric that conjures death or confinement is far less useful than concrete agreements, transparent policies, and cooperative planning. Our people, #Eritreans, #Somalis, #Djiboutians, #Sudanese, #South Sudanese, and #Kenyans, are focused on tangible priorities: jobs, schools, infrastructure, trade, and security. Metaphors about “geographic prisoners” or warnings about death do not feed families, build schools, or create roads. True leadership in the Horn of Africa will be measured not by dramatic pronouncements but by practical outcomes that benefit all citizens and neighbors alike. It is worth setting the record straight on a point that seems to befuddle many: owning a sea outlet (የኢትዮጵያ የባሕር በር ባለቤትነት) and merely having access to the sea (የባሕር በር) are not the same thing. Owning a port means full sovereignty, control over the land, administration, security, and tariffs. That’s not something any of #Ethiopia|s neighbors can just hand over like a cup of water... Access through a transit state, by contrast, is perfectly doable, entirely legal, and happens every day around the world: #Ethiopia uses Djibouti’s port, South Sudan relies on Port Sudan, Bolivia negotiates access through Chile. Ethiopia can do negotiate with its neighbors for a mutually agreeable arrangement with its neighbors, that can accommodate its needs. Conflating the two only fuels delusions of being “trapped” or “encapsulated”, inflates expectations, and strains neighborly relations. The truth is far simpler and far more practical: Ethiopia doesn’t need to “own” a port to reach the sea, it simply needs agreements, cooperation, and a little common sense. Anyone claiming otherwise is busy spinning-tired fantasies, recycling old metaphors about being “trapped” or “encapsulated” PP cadres must come to terms with this reality. It is an important education about #Ethiopia’s true circumstances, one that successive #Ethiopian leaders and elites have largely failed to impart to their citizens. The cost of this deliberate attempt to hoodwink their population has been high: false expectations, misallocated resources, and unnecessary tension and wars, with neighboring states. Misleading rhetoric does not advance #Ethiopia’s development; it only sows unnecessary confusion, frustration, and risk. The future of the Horn of Africa will be built with roads, railways, ports, and trade corridors, not trial balloons, empty metaphors, or theatrical rhetoric. Real progress comes from connecting people to markets, students to schools, farmers to ports, and entrepreneurs to opportunity, not from spinning dramatic speeches about “encapsulation” or threatening neighbors with metaphors. While PPs cadres are busy floating ideas in the air, the region is laying the physical and economic foundations that actually improve lives, foster cooperation, and create long-term prosperity. Ports are for commerce, not coercion. If Ethiopia wants more access, more markets, more growth, the door is wide open, but it must be through lawful, cooperative arrangements, not rhetoric or claims over sovereignty that belongs to others. So, let’s replace the word “encapsulated” with the word that really matters: integrated. That is the path forward, for #Ethiopia, and for all of us.
በአንድ ክፉ አጋጣሚ ኢትዮጵያ ህወሓት የሚባል ሀገር ጠል ስብስብ ላይ ወደቀች።እነዚህ ከሀዲዎች የኢትዮጵያ ታሪካዊ ርስት የሆነውን አሰብን በመለስ ዜናዊ መሪነት ለኤርትራ አሳልፈው ሰጡ።ኢትዮጵያ በጀግኖች ልጆቿ አሰብን መልሳ ክብሯን ትጎናፀፋለች።
President Isaias Afwerki 1992 letter to UN’s Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Eritrea’s Independence 22 September, 1992 H.E. Boutros Boutros-Ghali Secretary General United Nations Dear Mr. Secretary General, I wish to apologize at the outset for compounding your job by sending this second letter in such a short time when you are under pressure and grappling with tasks of enormous importance. The reasons that have impelled me to do so are the intensive campaigns underway to create obstacles at this decisive juncture when the Eritrean people are preparing to conduct the referendum in order to assert their right to self-determination through a legal and fair process and when the United Nations has signaled its willingness to participate in the undertaking as an observer. In the event, I wish to put on record the following fundamental precepts. 1) We have been working under the presumption, especially so following the visit of the technical team to Eritrea, that the participation of the United Nations in the process is a foregone conclusion. 2) As we have stressed it repeatedly, the assertion of the right of self-determination of the Eritrean people is the sole prerogative of the people concerned and does not fall within the jurisdiction or authority of any other party. And as such, although the changes that occurred in Ethiopia and the formation of the Transitional Government have been positive developments, the right of self-determination of the Eritrean people and its exercise is not predicated on the good will, authority, or permission of the Transitional Government or any other government in Ethiopia. An approach that alludes to, or gives the slightest hint that, the forthcoming referendum or the participation of the United Nations as an observer as stemming from the permission of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia would constitute a grave historical mistake. Because such a course of action would not bring a lasting solution to the conflict, or be tantamount to a resolution that would breed potential tension, instability and war. 3) That elements bent on expansion and war are, and have been, dong their utmost to impede the constructive participation of the united nations, obstruct its adoption of a judicious resolution, and created loopholes that could be exploited in the future is a well-known fact. We abhor war. We are accordingly extremely apprehensive to situations that may potentially lead to war. Under the circumstances, I urge the United Nations to take stock of this situation and not adopt a resolution that carries the seeds of potential conflict, and humbly point out that historical responsibility for such an undesirable outcome would not rest with us. The right of self-determination of the Eritrean people and its exercise is not predicated on the good will, authority, or permission of the Transitional Government or any other government in Ethiopia. President Isaias Afwerki, 1992 🇪🇷 #ERITRA #UnitedNations
