Ethiopian dictator Zenawi dies

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Meles Zenawi, dictator of Ethiopia, has died.

If someone dies, then usually his family and friends mourn. One should respect mourners.

However, millions of people in East Africa will react to this news with: “Good riddance to bad rubbish”.

Meles Zenawi made an ideological somersault from Marxism as interpreted by Albanian Party of Labour leader Enver Hoxha to the “free markets” (free for big corporations) of Milton Friedman and Margaret Thatcher.

He invaded neighbouring countries to deflect attention from domestic hunger; making him a beloved ally of the Pentagon in Washington, DC. And an accomplice of the CIA in secret renditions and torture prisons.

Zenawi‘s legacy for the people of Ethiopia is poverty and violent oppression.

Zenawi‘s legacy for the people of Eritrea is bloody invasion.

Zenawi’s legacy for the people of Somalia is several bloody invasions, during which Somali civilians’ throats were slit.

From the BBC:

21 August 2012 Last updated at 11:03 GMT

Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi dies after illness

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has died aged 57 in a hospital “abroad”, the government says.

It did not give details but an EU spokesman later told journalists he had died in Brussels, Belgium. …

Brussels is not so far from the Hague. It is a pity that Zenawi did not go from Brussels to the Hague to stand trial at the local international war crimes court.

Mr Meles took power as the leader of rebels that ousted communist leader Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. …

the UK Prime Minister David Cameron called him “an inspirational spokesman for Africa” who had lifted millions out of poverty.

Not so surprising, as the British Conservative government really likes other dictators as well, like Bashir in Sudan and the royals of Bahrain.

That Christine Lagarde of the IMF praises Zenawi is also not so surprising. Someone whose disastrous Thatcherite policies bring starvation to Greece will like a dictator bringing starvation to his own people.

[Government spokesman]Mr Bereket insisted Ethiopia was stable and “everything will continue as charted” by the late prime minister.

For the sake of the Ethiopian people, I surely hope not!

Three weeks ago, spokesman Mr Bereket dismissed reports Mr Meles was critically ill, and declined to give any details about Mr Meles’ whereabouts. …

Under Mr Meles, Ethiopia became a staunch US ally, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in aid over the years, and hosting the US military drones that patrol East Africa.

He won accolades from the West for sending troops to battle Islamist militants in Somalia, says the BBC’s James Copnall.

But concern had been growing about the lack of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, our correspondent in the region says.

At least 200 people died in the violence that followed the 2005 elections, and many journalists and politicians have been locked up.

One rights critic, Commander Assefa Seifu, called Mr Meles “a devil incarnate”.

“He was always talking about democracy, civil rights, adherence to [the] constitution and the like. But it was only a lip service,” he told the BBC.

Imperialist powers mourn death of Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi: here.

The aid spending watchdog revealed today that Britain could have alleviated more suffering in the Horn of Africa if it had reacted quicker to last year’s food crisis: here.