The Nobel Peace Prize finances the civil war that bloods Ethiopia

Ethiopia, the ancient land of the Negus Neghesti (king of kings), the Chosen of God, the Victorious Lion of the tribe of Judah, King of Zion and the Emperor of Ethiopia, is bleeding to death in an atrocious civil war, which broke out in early November 2020 after an endless series of fratricidal clashes, repeated ceasefire violations, truces and terrorist acts between the Ethiopian government and the former Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

Although belatedly, we have placed a dissimilar lure on our map of warfare, stemming from often futile reasons that forever divide ethnic groups that enjoyed relatively peaceful relations.

Will we tell a different story this time? Will it be a story that shows the double face of diplomacy and hypocrisy that reigns in international politics? Also the hesitations and fears suffered by NGOs?

Thucydides, perhaps the greatest historian of classical antiquity, explained like few others the world of treason as part of the game, adding that peace treaties are fundamental “to be violated.”

The estimates of the leading humanitarian organizations in the region hardly differ in their estimates. The Tigray conflict contributes around 2.5 million displaced people, without considering the great mass of wounded, maimed and war disabled.

The father of the tragedy has a first and last name. It is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed Ali, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2019 for “having achieved peace and international cooperation and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the conflict with neighboring Eritrea,” the Committee said. Nobel.

The signed peace treaty ended almost two decades of continuous war with Eritrea after a border conflict. It was a true mirage for the Western powers.

When he took office, Abiy introduced revolutionary reforms that liberalized customs in a country of more than 100 million people and shook the structures of a nation that for decades had been ruled with an iron fist.

The West clapped wildly. Much more so when the prime minister released thousands of opponents from jails and allowed exiles to return home. No one noticed the ploy. At last he had them together to exterminate them.

In the months before the violence broke out, Ahmed deployed troops to Tigray and sent military cargo planes to Eritrea. Behind closed doors, his advisers and generals debated the benefits of the conflict. Those who disagreed were fired at gunpoint or forced to leave. It transpired that in those discussions there were hundreds of summary executions. Western diplomats, meanwhile, lived in a fantasy world. Blind, deaf and dumb.

Nor were they aware that the Ethiopian prime minister was touring the northern Tigray region overseeing the military preparations, wearing his old military garb.

A year before the war broke out, an important part of the diplomatic corps stationed in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, engaged in the recruitment of hundreds of soldiers of fortune. According to specialized magazines, among the mercenaries there were about fifty face-paint, experts in interrogations.

Abiy el Ahmed, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, every time a journalist or diplomat asks him about the war, he insists that it was imposed on him. He maintains that the Tigrayans fired first when attacking a federal military base in Tigray, massacring soldiers in their beds.

That tale, which is very mythological, has become an article of faith for Ahmed and his supporters. Official catechism that is recited every day by the entire bureaucratic system and the entire educational structure of the country.

International observers and the community of military attachés disbelieve the official fable. They claim it was a self-inflicted attack. A false flag operation.

The global icon of nonviolence was soon magically transformed into one of the cruelest butchers in the continent’s history.

Let’s go back to the theory of betrayal. Ahmed breaks all promises. One of the Argentine mercenaries, in a meeting held in a ranch on the western slopes of the Comechingones mountains (Córdoba), when recounting his Ethiopian adventures, stated that he returned poorer than he left. The security agency he worked for disappeared from the scene.

The Tigrayans defeated Ethiopian troops and their Eritrean allies last summer and came within 260 kilometers of Addis Ababa. Ahmed, feeling the proximity of the gallows rope, declared a state of emergency.

International analysts and editorialists say Ahmed’s journey from peacemaker to commander on the front lines must be a sobering tale for the West – he was so wrong about this leader – in its desperation to find new heroes in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Latin.

“The West has to make up for its mistakes in Ethiopia,” said Alexander George Rondos, the top European Union diplomat in the Horn of Africa. “He misjudged Ahmed. He empowered Isaiah. Now the issue is to know if the debacle of a country of 110 million inhabitants can be prevented … from collapsing ”.

Knowing the behind the scenes of the Nobel prizes would be fantastic. See how political and economic influences play on that great stage where prestige and vanities are at stake.

How much money does the long-awaited medal and each vote cost, having as a precedent the wallet of President Aznar, who spent six million euros to be recognized with the medal of the United States Congress? If anyone knows the list of lobbyists who act in the shadows of the Nobel Prize, we would appreciate it if you could share it with us free of charge.

The Addis Ababa authorities made a desperate appeal to the population: “All inhabitants must organize themselves by buildings and neighborhoods to protect peace and security in their area, in coordination with the security forces.” In addition, “the youth of the city will be recruited” and everyone who owns weapons must register them.

This heartrending cry is due to the presence of the militias of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigré (FPLT) that have taken Lalibela (a World Heritage city) and established a siege that has filled the government of the region with fear. Ahmara, to which Addis Ababa belongs.

Things have gotten even more unstable recently. The contenders claim to have recovered what was in the hands of the Tigrayans or the Ethiopian government.

The deepening turn of the war kills tens of thousands of lives in combat.

There are hundreds of thousands who die when forced to live in conditions similar to those of the famine.

Hunger that the Nobel Committee ignores, since the fate of the award ended, perhaps, at the counters where the Swedes themselves sell weapons, perhaps promoted as “buy national.” We also question the “naivety of European progressivism” that this time fell in love with the powerful lobby that the winner mounted to achieve such a fortune.

Abiy Ahmed Ali, after receiving the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, claimed that war was the “epitome of hell.” The applause was thunderous.

The same character, two years later, faced with the tragedy of the civil war in Tigray, is accused as a war criminal and genocidal. A whole lesson to learn.