European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 7, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Army women marching in Addis Ababa on anniversary of Ethiopia marxist and its soviet bloc godfathers by Richard Tomkins associated press six years after marxist military officers toppled the Feudal regime of Ethiopia emperor Haile that fractured and impoverished East african country has adopted the trappings of its soviet bloc billboard sized portraits of Karl Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Ilyitch Lenin dominate revolution Square in the Center of the Addis red banners Hail ing proletarian internationalism canopy treeline streets and and hundreds of posters depicting Ethiopia communist Solidarity Are sprinkled throughout residential communities and business in the ethiopian officials collective farms and villages Are run by peasant Organiza cities Are run by hundreds of neighbourhood called which Are responsible for Community political indoctrination and and in the news items proclaiming the victories of socialist Ethiopia Side beside with foreign news briefs on events in soviet bloc the United states and its Western allies Are regularly vilified As capitalist and the ethiopian revolution is part and parcel of the worldwide International proletarian says Mengistu Haile chairman of the ruling provisional military administrative our Alli ances Are not Only with the soviet onion but with All socialist and Are not an Issue subject to change or Ethiopia was once an ally of the United West parading warriors carry portrait of ethiopian Leader Mengistu Haile february 1981 doily Magazine  Ern diplomatic us rfcs say about soviet military and civilian advisers Are currently in the together with nearly East bloc personnel and More than cuban combat soviets and East europeans Are ensconced in key government like internal Security and according to the Moscow has reportedly provided Ethiopia armed forces with about billion Worth of including Mig Jet fighters and Ultra sophisticated mi24 helicopter gunships equipped with Armor machine guns and Airt ground other indications of soviet influence in Ethiopia f several thousand students Between the Ages of 7 and 16 have been sent to Cuba for political v television and information agreements have been signed with the soviet East h Ungary and v soviet naval ships reportedly enjoy Docking facilities at Ethiopia Darlak islands in the red provincial and District administrators have been sent to East Germany and marxist South Yemen for training ethiopian foreign policy pronouncements Mirror the soviet the key to the soviet influence Here is a direct and symbiotic relationship with says an informed diplomatic it is not a question of Mengistu being a dedicated he is a dedicated opportunist who can Only Benefit and stay in Power through the the Diplomat the for their enhance their strategic position in the Region and have a foothold in a country that could conceivably become self sufficient and Possi in the Lon term provide soldiers to replace the cubans on the sources say who once received miliary training in the United is virtual dictator in the the committee of military officers who act As a ruling Moscow and its allies Are less than favored by the Man in the the soviets Are not liked by the comments a they bully ahead in lines at Are some times openly racist in the Way they treat people and stay among the soviets have apparently been Long on promises of economic but Short on according to a Survey in most of the country foreign development Aid still came from the West and the world there Are some East bloc show projects a million Dollar East German Effort to expand the red sea port of assay and donations of trucks and trac but Little else from the Ethiopia is an economic Basket says a wars in Tigre and the Ogaden Are sapping the country of Money and manpower and Are destroying Ethiopia Coffee accounts for about 77 percent of its foreign an estimated million to million but about 50 percent of that goes for buying the soviets and other East bloc types donate tractors and machinery to but Ethiopia must still buy fuel to run them and spare parts for when they break he they also have to pay Back at least half the soviet military Aid in hard primarily has an Industrial Center at but the City is in Eritrea where Independence minded guerrillas have waged an 18year Battle against the Central troops control major eritrean towns but rebels control most of the making transportation Hazar relations Between the United states and Ethiopia Are Cool at the United states withdrew its ambassador this year after Ethiopia accused him of making anti ethiopian Washington denied the charge and left the embassy in the care of a lower ranked the american presence in including peace corps military attaches and Aid was once one of the largest in Africa and numbered several plus the snack bar in the landscaped embassy com Pound is empty and the embassy 22 employees live in a politically imposed there Are no peace corpsmen nor military we Are the whipping an american official we represent everything the government finds useful to attack our system of govern our stand on human so we act mainly As a listening Post maintain ing Contact with the government by our show ing that we Are always available to the stars and stripes Page 13