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According to recent interviews given by leaders Meles Zenawi and Isaias Afewerki, both of them seem to just play tricks on the opposition groups of each country. Sources say that Meles Zenawi is repeating Sebhat Nega’s pro-Eritrea rhetoric by saying that the Meles Zenawi ruling party will defend Eritrean independence. Unconfirmed translations say that Meles Zenawi wants to “make sure” that there will not be a dangerous Ethiopian opposition against Eritrea ’s sovereignty. Thus, not only did Meles anger pro-unity Ethiopian oppositions once, but he made sure everyone knows that it is his party’s identity and permanent policy to protect Eritrea ’s independence, including the Asseb port. By saying all of this, Meles Zenawi also appears to be demanding the complete trust of exiled Eritrean opposition groups like Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA)
The same way, Isaias Afewerki continued to play tricks just like Meles Zenawi. Trying to get the trust of exiled Ethiopian opposition groups, Isaias held another interview about Ethiopia . According to Eritrean sources, Isaias says he only hates Meles Zenawi but he supports Ethiopia ’s territorial integrity. According to the interview, Isaias Afewerki said he wants a “united Ethiopia .”

What is more likely to be the truth of this drama?
Both Meles Zenawi and Isaias Afewerki are doing the same thing they have been doing for many years, which is supporting each other’s oppositions and exiled dissidents. In order to do this work successfully, they have to throw a lot of propaganda. Basically such interviews are part of their propaganda strategy. These developments are not new. For the last 8 years, both Meles Zenawi & Isaias Afewerki don’t use the national languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea when they do such special interviews. Meles uses one of Eritrea’s national languages and Isaias uses Ethiopia ’s national language. Why? Isaias Afewerki and his officials always use Amharic to trick & attract nationalist Ethiopian opposition groups against Meles. And Meles Zenawi and his officials use Tigringa language for these special interviews to trick & attract the Eritrean opposition groups who can best drain EPLF’s support base. All of these Meles & Isaias techniques are calculated and they are not coincidences.
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All of these games by Meles and Isaias sometimes work, but most educated opposition politicians are not tricked by their propaganda. For educated Eritrean opposition groups, to trust Meles Zenawi’s propaganda means to trust the anti-Eritrea Siye Abraha. So can Eritrean opposition groups agree with Meles Zenawi about the survival of Eritrean independence when the anti-Eritrea Siye Abraha is still part of the TPLF? That is the main question. For educated Ethiopian opposition groups, to trust Isaias’s propaganda means to trust ONLF & to trust ICU about Ethiopian territorial integrity. So can Ethiopian oppositions agree with Isaias about the pro-secession ONLF and the pro-“Greater Somalia” ICU in Asmara? That is the other main question. Both Ethiopian and Eritrean exiled opposition groups have these two important questions & concerns to address. Both Meles Zenawi and Isaias Afewerki want to topple each other and they will say almost anything just to get the support of the opposing citizens.
There are many other specific questions. For example, Ethiopian exiled opposition groups should ask about Isaias:
- Would Isaias want to see a centralist & pro-unity Ethiopia opposition groups in power, even if they want to take back Asseb and maybe even annex the former Eritrean province?
- Would Isaias’s ONLF and ICU friends sacrifice the Ogaden just to make CUD happy?
- Why did Isaias destroy Ethiopian unity in 1993 by separating Eritrean province after allowing an illegal referendum that scandalously asked people to choose between “freedom” and. “slavery” (colonial Ethiopia )?
And Eritrean exiled opposition groups should ask about Meles Zenawi:
- If Meles really supports Eritrean sovereignty then why are the most militarily powerful groups supported by Meles mostly made up of ethnic based militias in Eritrea?
- Why did Meles give freedom to Siye Abraha, a person famous for deeply hating Eritreans?
- Why are many anti-Eritrea TPLF “dissidents” gaining power in Ethiopia under the label “opposition party”?
There are many issues to be addressed before any person trusts the propaganda of Meles Zenawi and Isaias Afewerki. For us, Ethiopian unity should & can be protected ONLY by Ethiopians who have NEVER said and who have NEVER done anything to question, to doubt, to destroy, to mock and to harm Ethiopia ’s unity & territorial integrity. Would any Ethiopian and Eritrean fall for Isaias's and Meles's trickery? We will see.
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