Written: 1977
Published: May 1, 1977
Source: The Ethiopian Herald, May 1, 1977
Digitalisation: East View
Proof-reading: Vishnu Bachani
HTML: Vishnu Bachani
Let the unity of international workers be strengthened.
Down with imperialism, the arch-enemy international workers.
Comrades,
May Day, the international workers' day, which all the oppressed classes of Ethiopia and progressive forces are celebrating with warm feelings on this historic day, deserves special honour.
This is because it is the day when international workers reflect on their common struggle and explain to the exploited classes the victory and might of the working class.
Although the celebration of May Day by all workers of the world at national and international level was decided upon 88 years ago, Ethiopia, which had languished under the feudo-capitalist regime, had been denied this opportunity.
Even though the working class movement was created rather late under the feudo-capitalist system, the anti-working class and the devouring enemy of the oppressed people in general remained for long sucking the blood of the worker to fatten itself. In so doing, it emaciated the worker and rendered his existence meaningless
Nevertheless, the long simmering and bitter struggle of the oppressed and progressive Ethiopian people against the exploitative system erupted into revolution in February 1974. Thus, Ethiopian workers and progressive forces are celebrating this great holiday for the third time today in accordance with the proclamation issued on Dec. 2, 1974.
Comrades:
Since our revolution erupted, it has been progressing with remarkable speed and scoring numerous victories. Even though its offensive progress was slowed down for a while, it has been able to sweep away the many obstacles it faced in order to resume its offensive course once again.
Among the numerous victories some were of no mean achievement. The first and most historic was the closing down of American institutions which were the fountains of espionage, and exploitation as well as elements that diluted our culture.
The agreement between fascist Haile Selassie and American imperialism, an agreement of slavery which had shamed and belittled the broad masses of Ethiopia, is terminated on this day as Ethiopians workers celebrate their international day for the third time.
Comrades:
As we struggle for the genuine and praise-worthy cause we stand for as genuine revolutionaries, being humans we must pass away. Yet, the genuine and faultless inheritance we leave behind shall live forever. It is therefore our firm belief that the broad masses of today's Ethiopia and tomorrow's generation will never again bear the burdens of the past of slavery that has been burnt by the blood of genuine revolutionaries.
What Ethiopian workers and oppressed masses remember when celebrating May Day with revolutionary sentiments is not only their relations with workers the world over but also the class unity they are in the process of forging.
At this time when our revolution is waging a life and death struggle with anti-revolutionary forces, the role of Ethiopian workers in this decisive struggle is highly significant.
It must always be remembered that the worker made his struggle advance and the oppressive ruling class tremble even long before the eruption of the revolution in February 1974.
Because of the strong ties of self-interest that predominated relations between the government of Haile Selassie and imperialism, the strength of the Ethiopian worker had been mercilessly exploited for the benefit of the capitalist exploiter.
As a result numerous workers had been sacrificed in trying to withstand the unprecedented exploitation of the worker was subjected to and for the right of the worker. They were imprisoned, flogged, and even died for the struggle.
When recalling the hardships the worker went through, what is not to be especially forgotten is the double oppression of which women workers were the victims.
Women workers, who had been tightly chained by their sex and doss oppression, had been exposed to serious injustices as regards salary, annual leave and other benefits because they were regarded as inferiors.
However, militant women workers without succumbing to the oppression to which they were subjected, made a significant contribution to the eruption of the popular revolution in collaboration with their male counterparts.
The oppressed Ethiopian women have to intensify their struggle and prepare themselves for greater sacrifices in order to win their legitimate rights and get rid of the double oppression from which they suffer at present.
In this connection, we pay tributes to those gallant workers who gave their lives in the struggle to topple the former oppressive system. It is by following their worthy example and by intensifying the revolutionary struggle that workers can honour them.
It should be emphasised that in contrast to these genuine proletarian revolutionaries there were traitor labour leaders who served the interests of the ruling class of exploiters and tried to impede the working class movement in Ethiopia.
These labour leaders amassed personal wealth at the expense of the toiling workers and helped the ruling class to stay in power.
Comrades:
A review of the achievements of our revolution during the past three years shows that the broad masses have scored substantial gains. If we take the case of the working class, the replacement of the reactionary Confederation of Ethiopian Labour Unions (CELU) by the progressive All Ethiopian Trade Union (AETU) represents one of the basic victories attained by the Ethiopian working class.
The founding of AETU will play a significant role in enhancing the political consciousness of its members and prepare them for greater revolutionary struggle in the future.
Since the crushing in January of reactionary members within the PMAC, the government had tried, as far as its resources permit, to arm workers, peasants, and members of urban dwellers associations. Increased efforts in this direction will continue.
The recent role played by workers, peasants and progressive men-in-uniform in weeding out anarchists and infiltrators has proven the Marxist-Leninist theory that the working class is the most revolutionary of all other classes in society.
Although the campaign to clean Addis Ababa from anarchists and reactionaries has brought about good results, it is not yet enough. Let no one entertain any illusion that the transformation of our revolution from the defensive to the offensive position will be retarded.
The cleaning up campaign will continue in a more organized and sophisticated way.
It is gratifying to see Ethiopian workers protecting factories through their revolutionary defence squads from the evil machinations of reactionary forces.
The close collaboration of workers with progressive forces and with the men-in- uniform in different arenas of the revolutionary struggle is equally gratifying.
Ethiopian workers, peasants, men-in- uniform, and progressive intellectuals should not relax on the achievement of the revolutionary gains so far. Anti-revolutionary and anti-unity forces hatch fresh evil plots every time our revolution scores victory.
Nevertheless, they themselves will be victims of their own wicked designs.
There is no force that can impede the cause of the broad masses. Yet these victories can be consolidated only if we maintain constant vigilance and unity and continue the struggle in unison.
When we measure the steps which the struggle has covered up to now, we are forced to pay attention to the following: Foremost we must increase our struggle to stop the counter-revolutionary plot masterminded by imperialism with the cooperation of the surrounding reactionary forces in collaboration with our internal enemies the EDU, the EPRP, and the ELF who are in their pay.
Imperialism spreads its nets of exploitation in a country where cheap labour and abundant raw material are available. It opposes the Ethiopian revolution because it has realised that exploitation has ended here.
It takes out the huge profits it has amassed by exploiting the workers of one country and transfers the same as investment in another country in the guise of opening job opportunities but with the aim of amassing additional profits and lengthening the life span of oppressive systems.
Henceforth, Ethiopian workers must free themselves forever through their struggle from such exploitation.
Production being a generative force of the revolution, workers observing strict discipline must strive hard to increase production.
Since it is stated in the Programme of the National Democratic Revolution that the revolution will only be guaranteed if a working class party is established, the workers must increase their participation in the struggle to be made for the founding of a working class party.
Because the establishment of a working class party will enable the formation of a front of national revolutionaries, the contribution expected from real Marxists and progressive workers in this respect is very great.
The road-opener for the establishment of a party being the unity of true Marxists with the workers and the spread of ideology, this must increase in tempo from now onwards.
Comrades:
Let the unity of genuinely progressive organisations be strengthened.
Let us form a proletarian party as a matter of urgency.
The areas of struggle just mentioned are closely interrelated. The revolution cannot be strengthened without increased production. Likewise, the revolution cannot have a lasting guarantee unless a proletarian party is formed.
Since the working class is at the vanguard of the revolutionary struggle, there is no viable alternative but that it should ideologically arm and equip itself for the long struggle it makes with the revolutionary torch carried aloft.
As the awakened, organised, and armed working class is thus unified and its struggle intensified, the counter-revolutionary and subversive plots hatched by imperialists and other enemies will undoubtedly be defused.
Comrades:
The present moment is a decisive moment of struggle. Not only is our revolution surrounded by audacious neighbouring reactionary forces coordinated and organized by imperialism, the sworn enemy of the oppressed peoples of the world, but the armed intervention being supported by tanks and artillery of the armed forces of the dictatorial ruler of the Sudan, El Nimeiri, also continues.
As I brought to the notice of the Ethiopian people last April 12, the situation created on our northern and western borders has not improved but is in fact deteriorating and heavy fighting is taking place at Aighider and Tessenei.
Preparations are being finalized to withstand this aggression and crush the enemies of the broad masses of the people. The revolutionary resolve of the broad masses to fight for their unity and the popular revolution until shedding the last drop of blood and under the slogan of Revolutionary Motherland or Death ensures them victory.
Since the united revolutionary muscle of the broad masses is many times stronger than that of its enemies, we shall not doubt triumph.
The reactionary leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Sudan are presently fuelling the invasion plans against our country and bringing the Red Sea under their control.
The anti-popular movement in Eritrea, which from the very beginning was behind the scenes controlled and directed by imperialists and reactionary Arab rulers, has always betrayed a chameleon-like characteristic.
It used to be given credit for opposing the oppression and exploitation perpetrated by the discredited pre-February 1974 regime and spearheading the struggle of the broad masses of the Ethiopian people to rid themselves of the feudo-capitalist yoke.
Showing their other face, those leading the movement since the eruption of the popular revolution in February 1974 and who are in the pay of imperialism and neighbouring reactionary forces declared that they are committed only to separatism and that they will have no part in fighting oppression and exploitation alongside the broad masses of the Ethiopian people.
When it was declared in the programme of the National Democratic Revolution that the solution to the problem of nationalities, including those in Eritrea, was to be found in regional autonomy, they slid from their second posture to a third and began claiming that the Eritrean question was one of colonialism.
These brokers of imperialism and the the reactionary Arab ruling class to masquerade as leaders of the so-called Eritrean Liberation Front have been cheating and doing injustice to the Ethiopian people and more particularly to the oppressed masses in Eritrea region.
As Ethiopia's revolution got more intensified and scored more victories, those in the pay of imperialism were exposed and it has now been confirmed that they are the puppets of imperialism and the reactionary Arab ruling class.
That the reactionary acts of banditry they have been committing for a long time was always aimed at selling out the Eritrean region as well as the Red Sea has now been clearly shown not only by their own behaviour but also by the admittance of their overlords.
For this reason, not only the leaders of non-African countries like Saudi Arabia but of OAU member states including Egypt and the Sudan are underscoring their commitment to violate Ethiopia's unity through armed intervention.
That is why the broad masses of the Ethiopian people are now poised to repel imperialist and reactionary Arab armed intervention to dismember Eritrea from the rest of the country and to break the blockade.
We are unswervingly pledged to free our Eritrean region and our oppressed brethren from threats of dangerous invasion and servitude by crushing those who for a long time have been bartering their destiny in Arab markets.
Oppressed groups in Eritrea will not be put under the yoke of reactionary Arab regimes while the Ethiopian people as a whole are being led along the path of total justice and freedom through democratic revolution.
The stand of the oppressed masses of Eritrea has been and remains clear.
Their wish is to live with the rest of the oppressed masses of Ethiopia in freedom and equality. No foreign puppet can deny them this wish at the point of the gun, nor is there any force that can barter with reactionary Arab ruling classes the dignity and honour which the Eritrean people wrested from Italian Fascism and British imperialism through great sacrifice and burning patriotism.
The plot being hatched by imperialists and their stooges around the Red Sea is not only aimed at the Ethiopian revolution but is also part of the coordinated and grand strategy being drawn up to arrest the anti-imperialist tide in the whole of Africa, more particularly in the eastern, western, and southern parts of the continent.
This anti-popular strategy is particularly targeted against Ethiopia and Angola. While reactionary neighbouring forces are conducting an imperialist-led invasion against Ethiopia on all four corners by arming anti-popular groups in Ethiopia—namely, the separatist ELF, the EDU, and the EPRP, and while spreading baseless rumours to the effect that Ethiopia is about to invade her neighbours in an effort to camouflage their own perfidious intentions, they are, in a similar fashion, projecting the new Angola as an aggressor with the object of weakening and destroying that country before it consolidates the democratic republic it has formed after a protracted struggle which demanded the highest sacrifices.
In order to annex the northern Angolan enclave of Cabinda and eventually invade Angola itself, they are making it appear that the latter is an aggressor; they are arming and are trying to regroup the so-called FNLA and UNITA, which had been waging war against the Angolan people as tools of imperialism and in league with the fascist South African government and mercenaries in the pay of Western powers, and powerful armed forces code-named Christmas and Cobra and organized and led by imperialist powers with the tacit understanding of neighbouring reactionary regimes are now poised to invade Angola.
Insofar as Ethiopia is concerned, reactionary rulers gathered round the Saudi Arabian ruling class and the entire world will do well to recognize that no lasting peace is possible in the Red Sea region unless Ethiopia's rights and interests in the area, that date back millennia, are respected and recognized.
Notwithstanding what the sworn enemies of our revolution, imperialism and the reactionary powers mentioned, choose to think, the Red Sea can never be an instrument for strangling and weakening revolutionary Ethiopia.
Since this is the irrevocable resolution of the broad masses of the Ethiopian, people, our Red Sea rights will be made to remain sacred through our red blood. Reactionary Arab ruling classes are presently bamboozling the broad masses of the Arab peoples by claiming that (a) Ethiopia is about to invade the Sudan, and (b) Israel is back in Ethiopia. It should be clear to all that Ethiopia will neither invade nor encroach on any country.
We have made this repeatedly clear to peace-loving peoples. What we would like to remind those reactionary Arab leaders who talk of Israeli presence in Ethiopia is that Israel is present not in Ethiopia but on their own gates: the Sinai Desert, Golan Heights, and other occupied Arab territories.
Ever since El Nimeiri, who has been the main tool and collaborator of the enemies of the broad masses now invading our country to violate our national unity and subvert our revolution, began encroaching on our borders, President Anwar Sadat has been boasting that he would be fighting alongside Nimeiri if Ethiopia invaded the Sudan, and the air and naval manoeuvres he conducted recently is clear proof of the groundwork he is laying in preparation of the campaign he is about to launch against Ethiopia.
However, we will not be disturbed by President Sadat's aggression being made under the pretext of a non-existent threat by Ethiopia. President Sadat's warmongering actions will not poison the long-standing relations between the oppressed masses of Ethiopia and Egypt.
The relations between the oppressed masses of the two countries existed long before the Egyptian pyramids were constructed.
We do not believe that the anti-imperialist struggle of the politically conscious Egyptian broad masses is buried with the remains of their respected leader, President Nasser.
At a time when Djibouti's independence is approaching, we support the struggle the peoples there are making for the setting up of a national government of their own will without any external pressure.
Because the peoples of Djibouti and Ethiopia have a common destiny we are closely following the plots being hatched against our common interests by imperialists and the surrounding reactionary ruling regimes. The imperialists and their lackeys are conspiring to fulfill their wish of seeing the Horn of Africa ravaged by war.
This will not cause us to discontinue our efforts to curb their evil wishes and foil their conspiracies so that we can make the region peaceful.
The Ethiopian revolution being part of the worldwide revolutionary movement, what I want to reveal to the broad masses of the Ethiopian people, particularly on this historic day when we are celebrating May Day, is that in our struggle to halt counter-revolutionary encroachments and march forward to eternal victory, progressive and democratic forces will stand on our side.
It is our firm conviction that in addition to them, peace-loving and progressive African, Asian, and Latin American peoples and governments who have understood the just cause of our struggle will also support us.
The workers of my country listen to me; farmers of my country listen to me:
Genuine freedom and equality are not won by words, but by a decisive and uncompromising struggle and efforts.
These two things to be gained after a lot of sweating and blood-shedding are at the top of the admired and respected tasks accomplished only by a struggling people.
It is false to assume that there is political independence without economic independence.
It is like crowing like a crow stranded in a vast waterless desert to shout for freedom and rights. What is important is to become self-reliant by increasing production through working day and night.
Without economic independence, political independence will not relieve us from external pressure and influences.
Now, therefore, Ethiopia's independence and rights will be honoured by the efforts of her struggling and toiling sons and daughters.
Avoiding laziness,
Let us work day and night,
Let us work day and night,
Let us work day and night,
Down with imperialism,
Down with EDU,
Down with ELF,
Down with EPRP.
Let the unity of the international proletariat live forever and be strengthened.
[1] Given that the original scan is available, minor typos have been corrected without using [sic].
[2] Oxford commas have been added to lists to avoid unnecessary ambiguity.