1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. Mengistu Haile Mariam

Mengistu Haile Mariam Quotes

Mengistu Haile Mariam is an Ethiopian soldier and politician who was the leader of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991. He was the chairman of the Derg, the socialist military junta that governed Ethiopia, from 1977–87, and the President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987–91.

The Derg took power in the Ethiopian Revolution following the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1974, marking the end of the Solomonic dynasty which had ruled Ethiopia since the 13th century. Mengistu purged rivals for power from the Derg and made himself Ethiopia's dictator, attempting to modernize Ethiopia's feudal economy through Marxist-Leninist-inspired policies such as nationalization and land redistribution. His bloody consolidation of power in 1977–78 is known as the Ethiopian Red Terror, a brutal crackdown on opposition groups and civilians following a failed assassination attempt by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party in September 1976, after they had ignored the Derg's invitation to join the union of socialist parties.

Internal rebellion and government repression characterized Mengistu's presidency, the Red Terror period being a battle for dominance between the Derg, the EPRP and their rivals the All-Ethiopia Socialist Movement, who had initially aligned themselves with the Derg. While this internal conflict was being fought Ethiopia was threatened by both Somali invasion and the guerilla campaign of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front who demanded independence for Eritrea, then a province of Ethiopia. The Ogaden War of 1977–78 over a disputed border region with Somalia was notable for the prominent role of Mengistu's Soviet and Cuban allies in securing an Ethiopian victory. The catastrophic famine of 1983–85 is what brought his government the most international attention.

Mengistu left for Zimbabwe in May 1991 after the PDRE National Assembly dissolved itself and called for a transitional government. His departure brought an abrupt end to the Ethiopian Civil War. Mengistu Haile Mariam still lives in Harare, Zimbabwe, and remains there despite an Ethiopian court verdict finding him guilty in absentia of genocide.Mengistu's government is estimated to be responsible for the deaths of 1,200,000 to over 2,000,000 Ethiopians. Wikipedia  

✵ 21. May 1937
Mengistu Haile Mariam photo
Mengistu Haile Mariam: 18 quotes0 likes

Famous Mengistu Haile Mariam Quotes

“One of the fundamental preconditions of successful socialist construction is to ensure the people's readiness to defend themselves from the ravages of probable regional or global wars on the basis of the balance of forces generating from the basic contradictions of our epoch.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in Edmund J. Keller (1991) Revolutionary Ethiopia: From Empire to People's Republic, Indiana University Press, p. 212

“In this country, some aristocratic families automatically categorize persons with dark skin, thick lips, and kinky hair as "Barias" [Amharic for slave]… let it be clear to everybody that I shall soon make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in Dr. Paulos Milkia's "Mengistu Haile Mariam: The Profile of a Dictator", reprinted from the February 1994 Ethiopian Review

“I'm a military man, I did what I did only because my country had to be saved from tribalism and feudalism. If I failed, it was only because I was betrayed. The so-called genocide was nothing more than just a war in defence of the revolution and a system from which all have benefited.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in Riccardo Orizio, Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators, (Walker and Company, 2003), p. 150

“When we planned our country's economic development, we had the strategic objective of our Revolution in mind. It was not planned for economic development [to be] solely an end in itself. There are some who have forgotten that the sole basis of our revolutionary struggle was the ideology and politics which we follow…”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in John M. Cohen (1987) Integrated Rural Development: The Ethiopian Experience and the Debate, p. 213

“Mugabe fought and liberated his country from colonists. But I am here as a guest of the Zimbabwe people. I am not a personal guest of Mugabe. And veterans of the liberation struggle are well aware of this fact.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010) http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Mengistu_blames_Meles_for_helping_Eritrea_at_UN_to_split_Ethiopia/33629

“[Haile Selassie] died a natural death, as far as I know. I can't deny that there were many of my men who would have been glad to kill him with their bare hands to avenge the fathers and brothers they had lost due to him. The doctor looking after him told me nothing about any deterioration in his health, so there was no way I could personally ascertain what happened.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in Riccardo Orizio, Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators, (Walker and Company, 2003), p. 145

Mengistu Haile Mariam Quotes about people

“We thought that the proletariat would eventually run the world. But it is the Americans who have assumed that position… The American people have changed.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010) http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Mengistu_blames_Meles_for_helping_Eritrea_at_UN_to_split_Ethiopia/33629

“I am a revolutionary; my life is dedicated to freeing the people.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in David A. Korn (1986) Ethiopia, the United States and the Soviet Union, Southern Illinois University Press, page 61

“What is important to me as it is for the Ethiopian people, is the unity of the country, the sovereignty of the country and I'm not ready to compromise on that.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

1990 interview to news maker

Mengistu Haile Mariam Quotes

“Henceforth we will tackle our enemies that come face to face with us and we will not be stabbed in from behind by internal foes… To this end, we will arm the allies and comrades of the broad masses without giving respite to reactionaries, and avenge the blood of our comrades double - and triple - fold.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

February 5 (1977), as quoted by Dawit Wolde Giorgis (1989) Red Tears: War, Famine and Revolution in Ethiopia, The Red Sea Press Inc., p. 31

“If I had resigned on my own accord, to whom would I have transferred the reigns of power?”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010) http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Mengistu_blames_Meles_for_helping_Eritrea_at_UN_to_split_Ethiopia/33629

“Ethiopia did not have the same problem [of corruption]. African leaders looked at us with envy.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010) http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Mengistu_blames_Meles_for_helping_Eritrea_at_UN_to_split_Ethiopia/33629

“We fought them when they sought to dismember the nation. Is this why I should seek exoneration?”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010) http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Mengistu_blames_Meles_for_helping_Eritrea_at_UN_to_split_Ethiopia/33629

“[Haile Selassie] was 80 years old and a very weak man. We tried our best to save him but we could not keep him.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in "Mengistu defends 'Red Terror'", in BBC News (28 December 1999) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/581098.stm

“When [Nelson Mandela] was in prison I admired him for his moral strength…
Of his period in power I can see few results. Apartheid no longer exists, at least to all appearances, but no one understands what the new government in South Africa is doing.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in Riccardo Orizio, Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators, (Walker and Company, 2003), p. 148

“We did not even know his name.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010) http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/Latest_News/Latest_News/Mengistu_blames_Meles_for_helping_Eritrea_at_UN_to_split_Ethiopia/33629

“Mengistu does not understand the meaning of self-determination, either historically or in the abstract. He cannot conceive of a nation as anything but an absolute centralized authority, totalitarianism, for his rule is nothing less than that now.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

Dawit Wolde Giorgis (1989) Red Tears: War, Famine and Revolution in Ethiopia, The Red Sea Press Inc., p. 112
About Mengistu

“Mengistu seemed to symbolize the revolution. He was the baria, the slave who overthrew the master, the member of the conquered tribe who got even with the conquerors, the poorly educated son of a servant who rose against the intellectual elite.”

Mengistu Haile Mariam

David Ottaway (1978) Ethiopia: Empire in Revolution, Africana Publishing Company, p. 135
About Mengistu

Similar authors

Augusto Pinochet photo
Augusto Pinochet28
Former dictator of the republic of Chile None
Francisco Franco photo
Francisco Franco14
Spanish general and dictator None
Golda Meir photo
Golda Meir38
former prime minister of Israel None
Charlie Chaplin photo
Charlie Chaplin75
British comic actor and filmmaker None
Fidel Castro photo
Fidel Castro77
former First Secretary of the Communist Party and President… None
Benito Mussolini photo
Benito Mussolini127
Duce and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Le… None
Les Brown photo
Les Brown24
American politician None
Joseph Stalin photo
Joseph Stalin95
General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union None
Ernesto Che Guevara photo
Ernesto Che Guevara258
Argentine Marxist revolutionary None
George Harrison photo
George Harrison61
British musician, former member of the Beatles None