Gary Putka,
"U.S. to increase
Secret Food Aid for Ethiopians," Wall Street Journal,
17 December
1984.
(Summary by Harminder
Bhullar)
Summary
Putka discusses U.S. plans to significantly increase their “secret
food aid” through Sudan to rebel-held areas in an effort to reach starving
Ethiopians that have been ignored by the Addis Ababa regime, in particular, the
northern Ethiopian provinces of Tigre and Eritrea. In addition, although not
publicly acknowledged by the
U.S., many
officials have also confirmed
U.S. plans to
give cash to two private
U.S. relief
agencies to buy grain surpluses from insurgent-held northern
Ethiopia. This
is controversial, while some believe this money will support the guerillas and
never reach the thousands starving. According to one official, the
U.S. hopes to
increase food shipments to parts of
Tigre to 3,000 metric tons, more
than three times the present level of under 1,000 tons. The greatest difficult,
however, is not the availability of grain, but rather its transportation and
distribution to these guerilla-held areas. Ehtiopia’s military rulers have not
allowed food to these areas, so trucks have to travel at night on rugged roads
to avoid being spotted and bombed by government MiGs. Often, food has to be
carried on mules or camels to “negotiate mountainous passes.”
The U.S. Agency for International Development is also expected to give a
total of $5 million to two
U.S.
organizations to purchase grain in
Tigre. Putka notes that some
U.S. diplomats
object to this “cash purchase plan” because they believe that it would not add
to grain stocks, and would “open the
U.S. up to
requests from other guerilla groups at a time when the
U.S. is trying
to improve relations with Addis Abada.” Relief workers say that some officials
stress that the cash could be used to support guerillas, and grain would be fed
to the fighters first. Relief workers emphasize that even with increased grain
shipments and purchases, relief still amounts to a trickle to the 1,500 people
dying every day due to starvation or hunger-induced diseases in
Tigre alone. He states that western
official in
Sudan said that
“the Ethiopian regime is trying to starve the insurgent-sympathizing population
of up to six million into submission, a charge the Ethiopians have heatedly
denied.”
In addition, the U.S. is also concerned about a “potentially
destabilizing crisis” with Sudan, the second largest recipient of U.S. foreign
aid in Africa, as it is faced to deal with the influx of thousands of sick and
underfed Ethiopian refugees, “bringing disease and taxing the resources of an
already poor nation that hosts Africa’s biggest refugee population,”
approximately 1.1 million. Traditionally generous to refugees,
Sudan has
already denied immediate entry to needy Ethiopian refugees due to
overcrowding.