Mengistu biography
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While many leaders of such magnitude fall in battle or face trial, Mengistu remains a rare exception: a deposed ruler who continues to live in exile, unrepentant and protected.
The Rise of a Revolutionary Soldier
Born into a modest family in southern Ethiopia, Mengistu rose through the military ranks during a time of mounting unrest under Haile Selassie’s imperial rule.
Corpses were left in public spaces as warnings, and grieving families were often forced to pay for the bullets used in executions.
At the same time, Mengistu’s government imposed collectivized agricultural policies and launched massive forced resettlement programs. A number of books and articles, however, discuss his role in the Ethiopian revolution and the policies of socialist development and diplomacy for Ethiopia.
" Many young Ethiopians were killed and imprisoned when the struggle for power between civilian and military factions erupted on the streets of the capital.
By the time Somalia invaded Ethiopia in 1977 Mengistu had become the dominant political figure in the country. Mengistu resigned as head of state in 1991 and fled into exile. Between 1977 and 1984 Mengistu made seven visits to the former Soviet Union, and a number of other visits to political allies Cuba, Libya, South Yemen, and Mozambique.
COPWE served for four years as an arm of the government which paralleled many of the functions of the Council of Ministers and which prepared the ground for the announcement of a new socialist party. Since then, he has lived in Harare, where he is reportedly protected by Zimbabwean security and continues to receive state housing and benefits.
In 2006, an Ethiopian court found Mengistu guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity after a 12-year trial conducted in absentia.
In July 1974 the PMAC elected Mengistu as its chairman. Mengistu Haile Mariam emerged as the most effective—and ruthless—of these. For a description of the Ethiopian revolution see Fred Halliday and Maxine Molyneax,
The Ethiopian Revolution (1981) and Pliny the Middle Aged, “The Life and Times of the Derg” in Northeast African Studies 5, 3 (1984).
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..In the rural south and west absentee landlords from the north imposed heavy taxes and tributes on peasant farmers whose lands had been conquered by northern armies a generation earlier. Many observers felt that Mengistu and other top military officials resisted pressure from the former Soviet government to form such a party since it represented a threat to Mengistu’s rule at the top.
Mengistu’s foreign policy followed closely that of his allies, and he was recognized by Fidel Castro of Cuba as a true revolutionary leader.
After the defeat of the Somali army, Mengistu and the Ethiopian government aligned the country’s foreign policy and many internal programs toward the former Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc. By 1974 Mengistu had risen to the rank of major and had developed effective leadership skills which made him popular among his fellow junior officers and the rank and file of the Third Division.
As the leader of the Derg, a Marxist-Leninist military junta, Mengistu ushered in a brutal new era following the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie. His comfortable exile in Zimbabwe, despite a court-issued death sentence, is a testament to both the resilience of impunity and the complexity of transitional justice in Africa.
Mengistu’s legacy—like Ethiopia itself—is still being written.
The revolution began in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, revelations that the Haile Selassie government had covered up a major famine in the north, and general dissatisfaction in the modern sector with the rule of Ethiopia’s elite classes. They have a son, Andenet, and daughters, Tigisit and Timihirt.
- Spouse:
- Wubanchi Bishaw
- Daughter:
- Tigisit
- Daughter:
- Timihirt
- Son:
- Andenet
Lt.
In July 1974 the PMAC elected Mengistu as its chairman. The scale of brutality shocked the nation. However, these policies failed to bring about the desired economic development and instead contributed to widespread famine and poverty.
Internationally, Mengistu aligned Ethiopia with the Soviet Union and Cuba, receiving military and economic support from these countries.
In 1991, Mengistu was ousted from power by rebel forces, primarily the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1976 and commander-in-chief of the Ethiopian armed forces in February 1977.