Since the African state ofEritreaformer Italian capital colony Asmarait became formally independentThe May 24, 1993was continuously governed with an iron fist from the same party, the Popular Front for Democracy and Justiceand by the same man, the now almost eighty-year-old president Isaias Afwerkitransformed over the decades from a hero of independence to an oppressor of his own people and dictator de facto of the State. The brutal methods and militarism implemented by the regime, the political and social control over the population and the conditions of extreme poverty of Eritrea have thus earned her the sad nickname Of “North Korea of Africa”.
What is Eritrea and what are its general characteristics
Located in the region of Horn of Africa and bordered to the north and north-east by the Red Sea, to the south-east by Djibouti, to the south by Ethiopia and to the west by Sudan, Eritrea is a state covering approximately 120,000 km2 (just over a third of Italy) and inhabited by an inclusive number between 4 and 7 million inhabitants (the Eritrean authorities have never carried out any census from independence to today) belonging to 9 ethnic groups recognized (Tigray, Tigrinya, Saho, Afar, Cunama, Bilen, Nara, Bègia and Rashaida) speaking as many languages. There is also a small community of approx 700 Italianslast descendants of a large population which at the time of the colonial empire numbered over 40,000 souls.
The two main ethnic groups are i Tiger and i Tigrinyawhich taken together constitute approximately the 75-80% of the population and are culturally and linguistically similar to the Tigrayans who live in Ethiopia, in the neighboring region of Tigray. From a religious point of view, Eritreans are divided between Christians (about 60% of the population, mostly belonging to the Eritrean Tewahedo Orthodox Church) and Muslims (the remaining approximately 40%, almost entirely Sunni). The most important city, and capital of the state, is Asmarathe only inhabited center to exceed one million inhabitants and also known by the nickname of “Rome of Africa” for its elegant urban architecture of Italian origin.
The dictatorial regime of Eritrea
After being part of theItalian colonial empire for about sixty years, after the Second World War Eritrea was incorporated byEthiopiafirst as a federated state and then as a pure and simple province. In the 1961 the Eritrean patriots began what has gone down in history as “Eritrean War of Independence” which only ended in 1991 with the complete military defeat of the Ethiopians, their expulsion from Eritrean territory and theindependence of the country.
One of the main leaders of the insurgents was the young man Isaias Afwerki who, at just twenty years old, went underground in 1966, joining the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF), and then distanced himself from it and contributed, in 1970, to the foundation of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) of which he became secretary and supreme commander in 1987. After the military victory obtained in 1991, Afwerki managed to negotiate an orderly transfer of power with the new Ethiopian government, the main world powers and the UN, culminating in the popular referendum of 1993, which definitively sanctioned independence de jure of Eritrea.
Despite the enormous personal prestige acquired during the war, Afwerki made no attempt to implement in practice the dictates of the Eritrean constitution by immediately establishing a totalitarian personal regime which left no room for any type of opposition and indeed quickly gained international attention for its extreme militarismfor the persecution of opponents true or presumed, for the immoderate use of censorship and for the imposition of a conditions of servile work to which almost the entire population.
What future lies ahead for Eritrea?
In the 2026 Afewerki will accomplish 80 years old and, leaving aside the period of the war of independence, he will have governed the fate of his country, first as secretary-general of the provisional government and then as president of the state, for good 35 years old. In this very long period of time he has demonstrated an uncommon ability to navigate international politics and an obsession with power.
The practical result of this long period of “kingdom” is that Afewerki has literally built a state around himself, without any other constitutional checks and balances and where the only functioning institution is the Armed forces. However, it is good to remember that, beyond their natural vocation as an instrument for the defense of national integrity, the Eritrean Defense Forces are now increasingly used as suppliers of free labor for regime-sponsored construction programs and as a tool to control and regiment the people given that the period of compulsory military conscriptionwhich formally begins at age 18, is extended arbitrarily based on the president’s wishes and has effectively turned into a life servitude system.
In light of these and other facts, it is legitimate to ask how much longer this state of affairs can last and whether Eritrea as a country has the ability to survive the demise of its “master father” in the future.
