Word: ethiopias
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...upheaval in Ethiopia, which began with a strike by teachers and taxi drivers and culminated in a military mutiny, continued unchecked last week. Beleaguered Emperor Haile Selassie, 81, offered the protesters concession after concession, only to see them ask for even more reforms. By promising changes for his semifeudal country, Haile Selassie probably saved the monarchy as an institution, at the price of yielding much of his fabled, once absolute power...
...resume. But in organized military operations, nothing was happening." The peace was brief. Last week government forces overran three insurgent positions south of Phnom-Penh, heavy air and artillery attacks took place near the Plain of Reeds in South Viet Nam, and thousands of soldiers mutinied in Ethiopia (see THE WORLD...
Clearly shaken, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Lion of Judah, Elect of God and King of Kings mounted the balcony of his lion-guarded Jubilee Palace in Addis Ababa. Speaking to 600 members of the armed forces, Haile Selassie declared in a faltering and cracking voice: "This is a poor land. Your country cannot afford to give you more. I appeal to your loyalty!" From the palace courtyard, the Emperor received the expected cheers of support. But in Ethiopia's key garrison towns, where thousands of his soldiers were mutinying, the appeal fell on deaf ears. There, junior officers...
What was surprising was not that the mutiny took place, but that it was so long in coming. Well-trained by American, British and Israeli experts, the 42,000-man army is a modern outfit with-at least for Ethiopia-modern views. Its educated officers have long been unhappy about the appalling gap between rich and poor and the inefficiencies and inequities of a feudal agricultural system. Last year drought, landlord indifference and government mismanagement combined to produce a famine that left at least 50,000 dead...
Venerated by his people and respected by other African leaders, Haile Selassie is still head of state and a symbol of authority. But for the moment, at least, power in Ethiopia rests with the military. After Endalkachew took office, some army officers called for trials of many of the ousted Cabinet Ministers on the ground that they had "enriched themselves at the people's expense, maintained fat foreign bank accounts and took land illegally from the peasants." Thousands of students paraded noisily proclaiming support of the army and demanding freedom of the press and formation of political parties...